Larimer County Fair & Rodeo (2022) (Denver, Loveland: sales, houses, living)

[BabyBoomers2]

Did you go/who went?

We went on Sunday afternoon to both. Was in Livestock Barn looking at hogs, goats and cattle when it started raining outside. Actually, we could see rain clouds coming in from the mountains as we were driving there. Fortunately, for us, we had two umbrellas/rain ponchos and plastic covers for our hats.

As we left the Livestock Barn, with umbrellas up, looking for something to eat/drink, it started raining harder. So, we headed to the large tent where there were tables set up and a beer vendor. Next thing we know, the wind started blowing pretty hard and really hard rain coming down. Could hardly see the Fair rides! Then, all of a sudden, a flow (river) of water entered the tent grass and everyone was heading to dry grass inside. However, the river of water was coming very fast and even the Loveland P.D. couldn't get out of it.

I put the plastic hat covers on our hats, put the umbrellas up and headed for The Ranch building. It was absolutely pouring down rain!

The rodeo was nice, although, wish all of the military veterans and any active-duty fans would've been recognized and each military service flag brought into the arena. I'm former Navy, Vietnam Era, and that's why we went that evening.

I took a picture of my wife with the Barrel Clown. We knew him from seeing him on the Cowboy Channel that we get for "live" PRCA rodeos.

But, now that it's all over, all of the western attire go into the closet for most-to-all of the rodeo fans, except for us. Our hats go on our hat rack in our living room.

[Mike from back east]

Haven't been to a rodeo in years, but did a few back in the 2005-6 timeframe. Watched the NWSS parade in Denver a few years, and attended the Stock Show one year. Very enjoyable. Paid extra for front row seats for saddle bronc riding, that horse came right at me but turned away at the last second before he would've smacked into the fence in front of me, but not before he kicked up a dirt clod that fell in my beer cup.

I recall a rodeo clown at CFD one year; IIRC his name was Flint Rasmussen. In addition to popping up and down in the barrel, taunting bulls, he did an Evel Knievel motorcycle jump over a bunch of vehicles, and capped it off by dancing the Cotton Eyed Joe. Quite the show. Now we watch it on the Cowboy Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p82vaFIxnBM


FYI: The nation's longest running weekly rodeo is in, of all places, New Jersey.

Excerpt: "Tucked along the rural western flank of a state better known for suburban sprawl, mobster lore and its tangle of highways, Cowtown has held rodeo competitions in Salem County, N.J., nearly every week since 1955, rain or shine. The only exceptions were six Saturdays at the start of the pandemic. No other rodeo in the United States has operated a weekly show for longer, according to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. ... Cowtown’s ticket sales last summer were 50 percent higher than ever before, its owners said. On a recent Saturday, the rodeo’s 4,000-seat outdoor stadium hosted its first-ever event for the Professional Bull Riders — rodeo’s equivalent of the N.B.A. ... The farming family that runs Cowtown says it continues to rebuff offers to sell parcels of its sprawling property to companies hoping to build warehouses on it. Confident in the future, the family has passed the rodeo’s reins to a fifth generation..."

[BabyBoomers2]

We have the Cowboy Channel also. Our second year of having it.

When we lived in Colorado before, mid 2002 thru Oct 2007, we went to darn near every PRCA rodeo on the Eastern Slope, plus up to CFD and Laramie. Heck, we even drove up to Evergreen and Estes Park and out to Elizabeth for theirs.

When we went to the Larimer County Fair last year (2021), there seemed to be much more display of farm/ranch equipment than this year. There are those people that live in Loveland and Ft Collins that see this equipment and think "where in the heck are farms/ranches around here?" The Colorado State Fair has a very nice assortment of farm/ranch equipment, or at least they did years back. Unfortunately, a lot of the Front Range has changed, but, for those not into farming/ranching, "big-city" jobs are now there.

However, even though there seems to be large crowds at Eastern Slope/Colorado rodeos, the interest for rodeo doesn't seem to be nearly as high as it was during those years we lived here before.

There's a good possibility we will be moving up to northern Wyoming, which seems to be much more western/cowboy/rodeo related than the Eastern Slope is. Other than a few open-land spots on the I-25 south and north, the Front Range is a lot of "big city" today. Then again, for those that have to still work, that would be good. That would not be us! Retirement is nice and not having to work is really nice.