A Special Meeting at Home on The Ranch

Howdy Chuckwagon Friends

You know, every time you turn on the T.V. or read the newspaper, there are always stories told of bad things.   I prefer not to listen to all that, so I want to share with you a feel good story.

Last summer, a local friend of a friend, got a hold of us during our Chuckwagon season.  Her Grandma Elsie’s 80th birthday was coming up, and she wanted to surprise her with a meeting up with my husband Rick.  Elsie loves Chuckwagon Racing, and since watching the T.V. Series The Half Mile of Hell a number of years ago, she since then claimed Rick as her favorite driver.  Elsie never dreamed possible she would ever have the chance to meet up with us.  But little did she know,  anything is possible if you just dream it.

So we got the call, and planned a nice surprise luncheon out at our Ranch inviting Shannon  to bring “Grams” as she’s called, to spend the afternoon.  Well let me tell you, when Grams realized where she was and who she was to meet, this O’L gal was excited to say the least.  You would thought she died and went to heaven.

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Unbeknownst to Grandma Elsie, she made our day too!  The joy and laughter this lady holds, and also her wit, fills anyone’s day with Joy!  So here are a few photos of the fun we had that day.

 

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We are now into our 4rth show of the season.  So many folks are not able to come to each venue to watch us race, but what they can do is sit and listen on the Sirius Sattelite Rural Radio channel 147.  And that’s just what Grandma Elsie does.  So we thought we would make her day, and give her a shout out of “Hello” from her favorite driver Rick.  Her reaction tells the story.

And Grandma Elsie listening to Chuckwagon Driver Ricks race.

Trust our story puts a smile on your face today.

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue, with Rick and Team 23

P.S. Life is an opportunity to contribute love in your own way.

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Sue

High River, Alberta Day #2

Howdy Chuckwagon Friends

What a beautiful morning.  The sky was clear as ever and it looked like it was going to be a great day weather wise.  With the morning chores and breakfast out of the way, Rick and I watched a few wagons doing a practice session out at the track.

As I didn’t have the best sleep last night,  I decided I better lay down for an early nap to keep up with my rest.  10:30am I put my head phones on and dozed off.  Next thing I knew it was after 1 o’clock.  I knew I needed that rest.

Early afternoon, and I needed to get out and exercise.  I decided to jump on my pedal bike and go for a cruise.  I pedaled through the nearby community of High River, then headed out onto the road that leads to a little town called Longview.  The site out west is so breathtaking.  The Great Canadian Rockies were in view, despite the clouds that rolled in.  If you are not from Alberta, and you ever get the chance to come our way, you need to put our province on your bucket list, because there are so many great places to come and see.

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The Threateing Sky’s

5 pm, and we heard that the rain was coming down in the city of  Calgary just to the north of us.  It looked like it could have dumped on us too at any moment.  Fortunately, it never did and the races rolled on.

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Turning the Top

Cody had a nice turn tonight around his top barrel.  But when he continued on to turn the bottom,  he just didn’t drive around it far enough and shazam, it was down.  So unfortunate.  As there were so few penalties tonight, it placed him down at 35th spot.

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Going Full Force to the Track

Ricks hook tonight were Trick (LW), Law (RW), Nickle (LL) and Speedy (RL) .  He moved to the three barrel tonight and had a very decent run considering he ran 3 wide the whole way round.  Its quite heavy out there three wide.  Unfortunate to be assessed 1 second in penalty, as the one outrider was late.  Cole was riding Stadium and holding the leaders, while Shawn rode Corn Whiskey throwing the stove. 30th on the day is where we finished.  We are going to get these penalties out of our system yet.

 

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The Shadow

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Checkin for Outriders

Rick wears a Go-Pro pretty much every night.  Here, you can see how he checks back to make sure his outriders are within their allotted length before the Chuckwagon crosses the finish line.  In this game, you just cannot afford any infractions.  With our penalty tonight, we sat 30th for the day, and 29th overall.

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The Biggest Smile and Pretty in Pink

When I saw this young lady, it made me happy.  She was the lucky one to receive our mini chuckwagon giveaway.  It feels good to put a smile on someone elses face.

As I close up this letter, the rain is coming down.  Its going to be muddy tomorrow around here.  I best get the rubber boots out from the storage compartment.

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue, with Rick and Team 23

P.S. The more we give of anything, the more we shall get back.

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Sue