Just got home from our first rodeo in Asotin, Washington - a small, Pro-West rodeo near Lewiston, Idaho. Had a blast with Brooke! Left Friday afternoon so we had time to hang up posters for CJD along the way and get some stuff organized for the big day which marked the start of our season of rodeos. After arriving at the Americas Inn, we organized for the morning and put in my sponge rollers while watching some gruesome horror CIAish show. We went to bed around 12 after ironing and agreeing to get up at 6:45. The next morning we woke up and went directly to continental breakfast after putting Brooke's hot rollers in (I was still in my curlers and pajamas). After some skeptical looks at the breakfast room, we hurried up to get dressed, do makeup, and pack. Before we knew it, we were running a little more than fashionably late to the parade. Brinda Stanley (our chaperone) pushed our retro van to its limits while trying to make it to our tacked-up horses and parents waiting in Asotin. When there, we mounted our horses and then waited for at least an hour for the parade to start (definition of hurry up and wait if you ask me). We looked pretty sharp in our new suedes (parade outfits). The horses were all spiffed up by our parents who are taking active roles as the court girls' grooms (which is greatly appreciated!) It was a beautiful day - the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect with a gentle breeze. Met some of the other courts - Lewiston Round-Up being my favorite girls. The parade started and Andy (Brooke's horse) started to get pretty excited and nervous, but relaxed and did really well for the rest. At the beginning of the parade, it looked as if there were hardly any people, but as we moseyed down the clippity-clopping pavement streets, the crowds enveloped around us on either side - full of little children with candy bags and adults in lawn chairs. My favorite part was when we passed a group of people who cheered and told us how great of a rodeo we had - it feels pretty good to represent such a renowned rodeo! When we got done, we headed straight for the Queen's Luncheon hosted by the Asotin Rodeo Court. As we walked in, we signed up for the Grand Entry (run-ins) and right as we walked in the secretary said, "You guys must be Pendleton or Joseph." (by the looks of our suede split-skirt outfits) Pretty good rodeos to be associated with! The luncheon was laid back and nice, but when we reached the time to introduce the courts, the scripted awkwardness began (not with Brooke and I of course) (: After the luncheon, we hurried to get changed and on our horses to warm up for the run-ins. Purple shirt, blue jeans, tan and silver chaps, white neck tie, CJD jewelry, hat, and purple boots. Warm up was dusty as heck, but I'm not complaining - it's better than muddy and rainy! Fun to finally do a run-in again! However, this one was not the full arena - it was more like a backwards P. First time going in wasn't as fast, but as we went out we picked up the pace. It'll only get faster from here!
