Week 48 - The Stampede!!!

What a week! I've had the luxury of being a lady of leisure as I am on holiday. We celebrated our first Canada Day with friends, saw the parade for the opening of the Stampede and we went to the world famous stampede and saw the rodeo. 

Monday I managed to drag myself out of bed and accompany Pete to work as I wanted the use of our trusted stead that day. The reason. Value Village was having a 50% sale. Now how could a bargain hunter like me refuse that. Before I made my way to thrift shop, I relaxed at home and then headed into Pete's work as he wanted me to come for lunch. They were having a BBQ. I loved hanging out with his colleagues and chatting. I then made my way to Value Village. As I wasn't the only one who had bargains on the mind, the place was packed. So I managed to pick up a few things before choosing to leave. That night was a quiet one. Dinner in and a couple of episodes of our new favorite series - Heartland. It's filmed and based in Calgary, so why wouldn't we fall in love with it.

Tuesday I enjoyed sleeping in and keeping myself busy around the house. That evening, I had sewing, so I headed off to finish another project. I loved the chats with the girls, and of course the sewing. I think the thing I enjoy most though is coming home to show off my creations. Pete is the ever supportive husband and marvels over the items I make.

Wednesday saw us getting up at the crack of dawn. Strange as today was a public holiday - Canada Day. We arose early to make our way to our friends Peter and Carols as we were accompanying them to Drumheller where we were meeting other friends (Les and Val) to go to the Drumheller Canada Day parade. As the weather has been pretty hot as of late, we all dressed fairly cool, not thinking it would rain. Alas rain it did. I loved the parade and the candy that was thrown out by every float. After the parade, we went back to Val's parents house and had an awesome afternoon of socializing and eating. We clicked with Val's family and it made me slightly homesick as one of her brothers was the spitting image of mine. Not looks wise, more mannerisms. After a few hours, we made our way home.

Ahhh, the RCMP, they get me every time.

For Dad.

One of the princesses of the parade.

Loved his outfit.

Us!

Thursday I spent the day at Daphne's house helping her with sewing. The theme was the Stampede, and we all had an awesome time. Later that evening, Pete and I decided to go out for dinner. The restaurant was at the end of our road, and the place was nice. We had a voucher thankfully as the meals were fairly pricey. It was an awesome evening though, hanging out and chatting over great food.

Friday was another early morning as we were heading into downtown to watch the Calgary Stampede parade. We (Pete and I and Darrin and Daphne) got there early to ensure we got a good spot. We did. Val decided to join us a little later which was cool. After an hour or so, the parade started. I was blown away by the marching bands and the amount of horses in the parade. To say we had a good time was an understatement. As Pete had to get back to work, and I had to pop into work to set up for Summer camp the following week, we left early to avoid huge crowds on the train. We grabbed a bite to eat (McDonalds, my guilty pleasure) before Pete rushed off for work and I relaxed at home a bit before walking to work. I didn't spend long at work, but managed to get myself organized for the following Monday. When Pete arrived home from work, we indulged in more of Heartland.

The Stampede marching band.

Pete's boss's daughter Willow was one of the flag holders.

Don't they look dashing.

A cool float.

More of the dashing men and women in uniform.

Super cute.

The tanks were a big success.

The did wheelies which enraptured Pete.

Saturday was a day where we ran errands. So we visited the library, the dollar store, the book shop oh and my beloved Denny's. Jeez, I'm sensing the pattern that we ate fairly badly this week. Before we knew it, we were heading home to have a night in and get some rest before our big day at the Stampede the next day.

Sunday we had a leisurely start to the morning before heading to the train station to make our way to the Stampede. We had brought tickets for the rodeo in the afternoon, so spent some time browsing the markets there and sampling the cuisine and taking in the sights. We then made our way to the rodeo and I was blown away. We had seats (thank goodness) so could see all the rodeo had to offer. The beginning of the rodeo got me excited as there blowing around in all its glory was the New Zealand flag. Was I proud to be a kiwi or what! The rodeo was sensational, making the ones I have seen in New Zealand look like child's play. I loved every minute of it. I particuly loved seeing a kiwi barrel race. She didn't place, but the day before a kiwi had won the barrel races so I was happy about that. I had my best friend with me and was deleriously happy to be experiencing this with him. But we both felt that my dad should have been with us as he would have loved the whole thing. Once the rodeo was over, we made our way to the First Nations village to take a look. We saw some cultural dances and again I was proud to be a kiwi as we are so lucky to have Maori in our country whose cultural performances are mind blowingly awesome. I did sample the First Nations version of fried bread and was in heaven. When we head to the Stampede again next week, I will definitely be getting more of that! As I was exhausted, we made our way home at around 5. The train was crowded but we didn't have to wait too long.

At the train station.

My sexy cowboy!

Our view of the rodeo.

Can you see the NZ flag?

The introduction to the rodeo.

Broncos!

Broncos!

More broncos.

Half time and the marching band.

Barrel racing by a kiwi.

The kids even got in on it.

Gorgeous ponies.

First Nations looking amazing.

Tipi.

Me eating fried bread.

And that ends another amazing week here in Calgary. I love this city and especially more so as it has the Stampede. It exceeded my expectations and I am so looking forward to heading back there next week to experience the chuck wagon races.