Howdy Chuckwagon Friends!

Yesterday was pretty much a slow day. Yes, the chores still had to be done, one outfit had to be hooked, water buckets had to be emptied and refilled, manure had to be hauled away and new bedding had to be forked in, but with that all aside, it was pretty much a relaxing kind of day. Our two hired gals, Kim (AKA Fiona) and Cayley (AKA Rapunzel), were excited and thrilled to go to the lake to go on some pontoon boats with many of the other WPCA members, families and hired hands. You see, the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Committee members  donate their time and their boats to give our group a day at the lake. So awesome to get away from the grounds, have some fun and take a much-needed bath in the lake. This committee here does it up so good for us. We do appreciate them.

I, on the other hand, got to do some cuddling. I was the lucky gal who got to look after baby Rose, while her mom and dad Adrian and Evan enjoyed time at the lake too. I think I was the spoiled one. What a beautiful baby she is. Will take that job on at a moment’s notice; just call me Nana Sue!

The evening came and we were treated to a lovely meal by some of our local friends, Nicole and Sandy and their families. Oh, how this is so enjoyable for me because I don’t have to cook and it’s a most delicious home-cooked meal. Rick and I also had to scoot over to the Sponsors Meet and Greet tent for a bit to enjoy a beverage or two there.

Another beautiful day today. With Bruce and Bonnie, Rick’s relatives, camping with us, we enjoy our meals together. Bruce loves to cook so he brings along the grill, deep fryer and barbecue. This morning we had a classic breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast. My Ricky was excited as it wasn’t the turkey bacon I normally fry up.

Our friend Pete likes to makes his rounds in the morning at most of the camps. He is one friendly soul and makes everybody smile that he meets. Gotta love this guy.

Our grandson Coy loves to play with the other chuckwagon kids. And there are plenty. Our daughter Amy arrived with Coy last night to spend the weekend with us. This morning he could hardly wait to get up and go to play with the Gorst girls. Today they played dinosaur games and even made some pretty scary faces for the camera. Pretty good imaginations they have.

When in Bonnyville, I like to go out with Bruce and Bonnie and whoever else wants to come along and venture around the community to see different things each year. Today we stopped by the local cemetery to search for a friend’s headstone. We found the ones we were looking for, and in doing that we came upon the late and  famous chuckwagon driver George Normand. At the young age of 38, George lost his life doing what he did best, driving a chuckwagon. He was on his way to being the king of chuckwagon racing. He was a great one and they named him The Bonnyville Bullet. Forever remembered.

After 10 days off it was time to get back at ‘er. Tonight we continued to hire outriders Cole, holding leaders and  riding Bingo, and Dustin, throwing the stove on Andy. I tell you, these guys are doing a heck of a job this year. So much so that we don’t even have to worry about them. We are totally confident that they can do the job and do the job well.

As Cody, our son, is not here with us this weekend, we have fellow competitor Chad Fike up in the wagon box with Rick giving him a hand if need be. This is a great thing, as Chad is young and he can get pointers from Rick on some aspects of wagon racing. No different than when Rick was young and rode with the likes of his Uncle Dallas Dorchester and his dad Dave Lewis. No matter what you do in life, there is always something to learn from someone better than you. You just have to be open to it.

Tonight’s hook was Air on Left Lead, Speedy on Right Lead, Trick on the Left Wheel and Law on the Right Wheel. When that horn went, boy, did they start. Almost as good as Luke Tournier on barrel 4. Luke fired out of there to grab the rail. Rick was not too far behind, with Kelly Sutherland on the inside of Rick and Evan in behind. The outfit ran hard, Rick said.  Luke ended up with a day money run and we managed a fifth on the day. Fairly excited with that.

Looking forward to another day up north, hoping the weather stays sunny and warm.

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.