As I rolled over and opened my eyes this morning, I realized I was the only one in bed. Rick had gotten up and headed the barn and I didn’t even hear him. This is quite unusual for me, not to wake up when he does. I must have been tired.

I jumped up and got the percolator going while I got ready for the day. It was just after 7 when I got to the barn. My hubby said he didn’t think I was coming. He had decided we were hooking two outfits but unfortunately I didn’t get the memo the night before. At any rate, I arrived just in time to help with the first hook and then the second one too.

It was a bit soggy out this morning, as it had decided to rain on our parade. Enough so that it settled all the dust around the area.

I decided to send Rick and the girls to have breakfast over at the legion. I said I would stay back and wait for our bale of straw to be delivered. Well, the straw arrived and then so did my friends, Bev and Norm Little. We sat shootin’ the breeze in front of the barn and enjoyed a cup of coffee too. They had lots of stories to tell of days gone by, which made for some pretty good laughs.

A couple of gentlemen stopped by to meet us. The one fella phoned us up this past winter and asked about obtaining one of our mini chuckwagons. I told him to come by when we were in his area. Well, he did, we chatted and I asked him what the reasoning was for the little chuckwagon. Back home in their small town of Killam, there are a group of eight guys who meet at the local coffee shop in the mornings. They are all avid followers of…you guessed it…the WPCA chuckwagon races. So these guys do up a draft just like in the NHL. They all have a pool of four wagon drivers and collect points throughout the season. And this year they are awarding the winner with a trophy. It will be our mini chuckwagon mounted on a base of some sort. How cool is that?

Tonight we also met another HUGE fan of ours. His name is Richard Zeluf. Last year we gave him one of our Team 23 hats. According to his daughter-in-law Janine, his hat is one of his prized possessions. Tonight we surprised him with a mini chuckwagon to take back home with him. The look on his face was priceless. “Is this for me?” he said as Rick handed it to him. He was in disbelief. He is very excited to show the boys during tomorrow morning’s coffee.

I trucked on over to get a few horse supplies at McFeeds today, then decided it was time to get the laundry done before we head to Calgary in a couple of days. I think others had the same idea, as it was pretty busy in there. But with so many machines it really doesn’t take too long to get things done.

Back at the trailer with the clean clothes and such, I thought I’d better tidy up and prepare the supper for the crew. A big pot of chili sounded good, as it was much cooler out today with the rains that came down.

During chore time this afternoon, our son Cody took advantage of the girls and made them pull just a little bit harder while he took a break.

The kids are great to have around, as they are all pretty good sports and love to have a good time.

Rick decided to hook Spirit on Left Lead, Ranger on Right Lead, Vegas on Left Wheel and Zorba on the Right Wheel. Cole rode Beau and Dustin threw stove with Trixter for his ride.

Just as Rick got stopped and ready, the horses moved forward just a bit. Not sure which horse caused it, but Rick pulled back and he was good enough to not be ahead of the barrel, thank goodness.

When the horn finally went, one of the horses reared up a bit, then away they went, around the bottom barrel and onto the track to pull and follow Kelly Sutherland.  Not sure if this helped us or not, as I think the running was two wide and not on the rail. We posted a 1:19.60 for 23rd on the day. Unfortunately our running time was not good enough to keep us in the top eight for the redraw tomorrow. So in other words, we will not have the chance to compete for the final dash of $50,000.

On another note, we have been very consistent and we are ready for the Calgary Stampede.

Tonight we met a young fan, Kaden, right from our hometown Wetaskiwn. Kaden, his sister and his dad came out to see the chuckwagon races. They knew that when Rick is finished the race he hands out a mini chuckwagon. So Kaden’s dad told the sister to go to one end of the stands and for Kaden to go to the other end. He thought this might give them a good chance in receiving the mini wagon. Well, his dad must be pretty smart because it worked. Kaden got the wagon. He was one proud young fella.

The next two days are going to be busier than normal. It will be time to start packing up, picking up and dropping off things at home before we head to Calgary on Wednesday. I hope I get my list figured out so I don’t forget anything that I might need when we are there. It’s getting pretty exciting as the Big Show, the Calgary Stampede, begins in only four short days. So hard to believe.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.