03-06SEP07 - Kittitas, WA

On Monday, Labor Day, Bonnie, Corrie and Dan attended the championship finals for all the individual events that had been held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The rodeo opens with Yakama Indians performing traditional dances, including the circle dance which Bonnie and Corrie joined. We saw the traditional events like calf roping, bareback broncos, saddled broncos, bull riding, etc; and non-traditional ones like wild cow milking and posse hide riding. Although the Ellensburg Rodeo is not one of the biggest, it still gets many top five competitors. This is because the points earned here count toward the national finals in Las Vegas, where only the top fifteen in points are invited. In the middle of the Rodeo we were entertained by John Payne “The One Arm Bandit”. John is a one armed cowboy who’s act consists of herding buffalos from horseback using verbal commands and a bull whip. Apparently, it is almost impossible to train buffalo, let alone two. The finale is when he herds the buffalo up a ramp to stand motionless on top of his horse trailer.

http://www.theonearmbandit.net/

After the rodeo we met Steve at a private area of the fairgrounds called “Behind the Chutes”. This area is for the volunteers and people who have donated to the rodeo. The area is only open after each day’s rodeo has concluded. Live entertainment is provided, and it is relaxing place to unwind after a full day of rodeo. We were fortunate to be entertained by Jonathan Harris who has a new CD out called “Where Concrete Don’t Grow”.

http://www.jonathanharris.net/

The last couple of days have been a much slower pace than during the rodeo! On occasion Steve and Dan have left the house 0530 so Steve can hunt elk (or as Dan says – not hunting; since they are batting 000). Although they have seen close to a hundred elk each day, they are always on posted land! But the views of the valley, Mt Adams, Mt Rainier, and the Cascades make the loss of sleep worthwhile. In addition we have sampled many of the fresh fruit and veggies available at the local roadside stands, like white and yellow corn, Yakima peaches, apples, rhubarb, plums, etc. And as always the stands in this area sell boxes of Aplets and Cotlets candies from Liberty Orchards. If you have never sampled these, we strongly recommend going to below website and ordering some now!

http://www.libertyorchards.com/