Stampede, Final Night Tonight!

Well, Calgary has been more than ACTIVE in the past 10 days. It would be more correct to say that this city has been a bit CRAZY! Cowboy hats and boots, "Yeeeeehhaaaawe" and "Woo Hoooooooo" are present at any time of the night and day. It's quite a phenomenon, actually, The Calgary Stampede.

For 10 days, every summer, Calgary gets 'Cowboy-i-fied' and did I mention the Fireworks?

No, I didn't, so I will now...

Woe to those living in the immediate, surrounding area close to the grounds - whose kids can hear the fireworks as if they're right 'at the show.' Many of these families haven't sleep through an evening in 10 days. Most are okay with this, however, 'cos its Calgary Stampede time and this only happens once a year. (Free Fireworks Show every night tho', too - not a bad deal).

"Bam - Pop - Ka-BOOOOOM" what kid can sleep through that - knowing that pretty colours and sizzlers and streaks across the blackened night sky are attached to all that SOUND?

Yep, tonight's the final night for EVERYTHING...in fact, as I type right now, some of the daytime Rodeo events are all finished, the winners (and losers) all firmly decided. They'll be announced later this evening and contestants will be picking up their awards will be part of the Grandstand Show this evening - immediately following The Rangeland Derby event.

I have a special interest in the evening event because I like the Chuckwagon Races (The Rangeland Derby) the most. I'll be rooting for Rick Fraser again this year and am ECSTATIC that he is one of the top drivers in the final heat of Chuckwagon Races tonight!

GO RICK!

I'm not sure who's reading this blog or where people are from who read this blog, but I hope that some people got the chance to be in Calgary this summer to take part in some Calgary Stampede celebrations. The annual Stampede, 10-day celebration is called 'The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth" with good reason. Even on some 'non-peak' years where attendance was down overall during the 10 days, The Calgary Stampede has always been considered 'a success,' has never caused a 'deficit' economically, and has been an exciting occassion that brings a ton of people together from all over the world.

The final night is always exciting for me - even if I can't go watch Rick race at The Rangeland Derby. Even if I can't attend, the Stampede Spirit will be all around. People will YAAAAAH HOOO and YEEE HAAAAWE and WOOO HOOOO at the Safeway store nearby, or tip their cowboy hats if I simply take a walk later on this evening as the summer air cools for the night. (A few people who celebrate with drink tonight will still be saying YAH HOO tomorrow morning - though more quietly and through swollen heads that are not too sure if Stampede is over or not lol)

I'll go walk down to the Elbow River later on and watch the fireworks on this final night and for tonight, be excited to be watching the bright lights, sizzlers and kaleidoscope of colours with over a MILLION people all at the same time. Likely, if this year is anything like last year - at about 11:40, traffic will necessarily just STOP in many streets as people in communities located close to the grounds come out into the street to just stand and watch. A few thousand people have the benefit of just stepping outside in their yards to be able to view the fireworks show. No SANE PERSON who is a native Calgarian and who lives in a 'nearby to the Stampede grounds community' will DARE to hop in their car and dash to the store between 11:30pm or so and 12:30am - 'cos they KNOW that 'pedestrians' are all over the place. Pedestrians who can't help but have their eyes skyward, unaware of what's in the street.

Anyhow - it's about 6 hours now 'til Racetime and about 10 hours 'til the Fireworks Display. I'll be back after midnight!