Howdy All!

Throughout our many years of this Chuckwagon life we lead, we have met many, many great people. This year, we have an amazing sponsor that has come on board to support us on our adventure down the trail.

This sponsor is not new to us, as they have teamed up with us in the past.  Up here in Grande Prairie, Alberta, we ran the canvas tarp of Terracore Rentals Ltd. for the first two days of racing.  The last three days we will carry the Direct Horizontal Inc. tarp.  These companies are located in the Acheson AB area, which is located on the outskirts of Edmonton.  We very much appreciate all that they provide us with and more importantly, their friendship.

The morning track can be busy as there are many drivers that hook up an outfit or two.  The outriding horses need some excercie too, so the outriders are very busy as well.  The outriders are group of fit guys that are aged from 16 to 45ish.  All these guys show up for the show, get hired to ride for an outfit and sometimes get fired too.  I believe there are around 13 drivers on our circuit.  Some of the very good riders will ride in all 9 heats.  Each driver pays a fee per ride and that can range anywhere from $40 to maybe $80 or $100 or somewhere in between.  So if your a good rider, you can make some pretty good coin throughout the summer.

Back at home, my little grandson Ryker has been busy in training.  Unfortunately, when he gets old enough to ride,  Papa Rick wont be driving anymore to hire him,  but he will be sitting on the sidelines watching.

When we live the life we lead, being on the road for several months, we  unfortunately tend to miss a few important events.  Today our son Cody’s  gal, Allie graduated from  a Nursing program at the Red Deer College, and to top it off, she was on the Dean’s Honor Roll.  We’re very proud of her and know that she will be an awesome nurse with a great sense of humor.  I know she will put a lot of smiles on peoples faces.  Congratulations Allie!

Duncan, has come to us from Australia.  Since arriving in April he has been an asset to “Team 23”.  He brings many followers to Chuckwagon Racing.  You see,  he has many friends down under who have no idea what the heck we are about,  that is until now.  Thanks to the World Wide Web, this blog connects us in so many ways.  Since his mom Kate and I have connected on Facebook, the word of my blog, The Travelintrailer has gotten out.  My stats show over 50 followers from Austrailia have poked their nose in the last day or two to see whats happening.  So, enjoy!  And feel free to also to look up http://www.wpca.com our Chuckwagon associations website.  There is plenty of information, bio’s, videos and stats on there as well.

We got a bit of rain and hail shortly after lunch down here on the grounds.  Enough to settle the dust.  It didn’t last longs and the sun had come out for the evening performance.

Ricks hook tonight was Bacardi (Left Lead), Spin (Right Lead), Regal (Left wheel) and Vegas (Right Wheel).  When your on the four barrel you drive into the arena first.  Then the three barrel, two barrel and finally the one barrel outfit.  So depending on how fast and close they are coming in, the outfit on four can be set and ready for what seems a long time.  Tonight was one of those nights.  It’s hard, because the horses stop, and are ready and waiting for that horn to sound to fire out of there.  When the horn finally sounded, Rick drove the team around the barrels nicely and ran a great race 3 wide keeping up with the other wagons.  Our heat was slower than most, so we placed 23rd on the night.  We have the same two outriders, Cole and Casey riding the same horses as last night, Ed and Stadium.  They both had good clean runs.

Back home, Coy and Amy’s little filly is as lively and cute as ever.  She is getting lots of human attention so will be easier to handle and train.  It will be exciting to meet the new little one when we stop in on our way to the next venue in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Until tomorrow,

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue, with Rick and “Team 23”

P.S.  One of the simplest ways to stay happy is, letting go of the things that makes you sad.