Howdy All!

With all things considered, today was a very good day.  With morning chores done and out-of-the-way, Rick and I attended a friends fathers funeral .  There is always sorrow when we lose a loved one, but I always see it as a time to cherish the all the  good memories that that person made while here on this earth.  This was also a good time, as we got to visit with so many folks that we had grown up with in the Grande Prairie area.

My father was in attendance so it was very good to see him as well.  As I don’t see him often, it was good to chat in person.  He’s looking and feeling great at the young age of 85.

The barrel draw was drawn in the early AM this morning.  Ross Knight drew 1, Rick got 2,  Layne MacGillvray on 3 and Obrey Motowylo was on 4.   Our horses on the outfit were Cowboy on the left wheel, Spirit on the left lead, Sporty on the right lead and Law on the right wheel.  Beau was rode by Cole tonight and Chanse Vigen threw the stove with Ice.

When the horn sounded, all wagons got off to a good start.  Rick skinned that team very nicely around the top barrel and away they went.  The crowd was cheering wildly for their favorite driver.  Obrey and Rick shared the lead pretty  much the whole race. When they hit the backstretch, Obrey was pulling ahead by just a bit.  When they crossed the finish line, it was the Motowylo team winning the Dash and “Team 23” coming in second.  It was a great, penalty free race just the way it should be.  My thinking is, its thrilling, exciting and happy to make it to the dash, and then its a bonus if you win the race.  Cheers to Obrey, Ang and the boys on their win.

My dad also came out to see the races, and then ventured on over to see us back at the barns.  Our son Cody and his girl Allie, surprised us by driving up for the Races too.    Grandpa was excited to see them.  We all had a great visit.

We again are handing out a mini souviner chuckwagon to some lucky fan each and every night of the races at all the venues this summer.  This young gal got the chuckwagon, and then wanted to come back to the barns to meet Rick.  And that’s what she did.  It’s heartwarming to see the smiles on the kids and adults alike.

Well, the sun has set on another day.  Tomorrow the Chuckwagon Gypsies will be on their way to our next stop on the tour, Saskatoon Saskatchewan.   The grounds of Evergreen park will  be a deserted little place.  We collected many new wonderful memories here in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  It’s time to move on.

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue with Rick and “Team 23”

P.S.  You will never have this day again, so make it count.

Howdy All!

It hard to believe it’s Saturday already.   These past 13 days up here in Grande Prairie have flown by.  Today Rick and I made a quick stop in at Keddies Tack and Western Wear to meet and greet the good folks there at their annual Stompede Barbeque.  Glenn, Judy, Jeff and the crew are always  excellent hosts during the Stompede.  They have been supporting many of the drivers through sponsorship every year for as long as I can remember.

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Our next stop was the Tourist Centre 2000 located on the by-pass.  Downstairs in the facility, they host a unique smaller museum of the history in and around the Grande Prairie area.  This year, they put together an amazing display of artifacts and information on the sport of Chuckwagon Racing.  Rick and I donated one of Dave Lewis’s (Rick’s dad) Calgary Stampede trophy to put on display as part of the history.  If you happen to be passing by the area, do stop in as it will fill you in on so much of the Western Heritage we so love.

 

 

So much preparation and work goes into our thoroughbreds to prepare them for a race. The horses that do go that day, all get a nice shower to get them clean and shiny.  Then when the race is complete and they’ve cooled down, they get another shower before their put into their stalls for the night.  My Nephew and Niece popped by with their little ones who I must say are, I’m pretty sure our biggest fans.

Duncan and Karina have been great workers on our team.  From shoveling manure, feeding hay, filling water buckets to harnessing the horses.  A good team works like clock work keeping everything in order, neat and tidy.

Together as a team, we are looking after 19 horses here on the road.  It’s quite similar to looking after 19 babies.  They need constant care of feeding, grooming, and giving lots of love and attention.

 

And Karina shows no shortage love and care.  She might be small, but she is mighty.

Tonight, Rick decided to hook Spirit on the Left Lead, Sporty on the Right Lead, Cowboy on the Left Wheel and Glory on the Right Wheel.  Cole held the leaders with good o’l Beau and Casey rode Ice throwing the stove.  When the horn sounded, away they went.  The barrel figure eight turn was clean and the race was fast.  A 1:17.63 was posted on the clock.  When we got back to the barns, unharnessed the horses, and got busy with the evening chores, we got news on the quick time.  We were really hoping that time would stick for a Day Money run.  Well little did we know, we posted a speedy Day Money run, but we also were informed, we made the final Dash for Cash in tomorrows last heat!!!  We totally had no idea that a time such as that would get us in.  I tell you, our team hooted and hollered and enjoyed a big group hug for all our hard work thus far.

Some one else back home was quite excited too!  Rick’s biggest fan, Grandma Elsie from Gwynn AB.  She lives just up the road from us and was just as elated as us.

Jumping for Joy

And a call was made, From Rick, Sue and Elsie too!

So tomorrow, there will be what they call a barrel draw for the four competitors in the final heat.  They each will have a turn picking a ball with a number of 1 to 4 out of a hat to determine where each will be positioned in the race.   Congrats goes out to Obrey Motowylo, Ross Knight and Layne MacGillivray in their success in making the dash as well.

Until Tomorrow

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue with Rick and “Team 23”

P.S. Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success.

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.

Howdy All!

The jitters are all gone from the first night of racing.  The Chuckwagon Drivers, the outriders, the barn hands and all the outstanding volunteers feel them on the first day of competition.  Once that first race day is under our belt, it is full force from then on.  Routine sets in.

The mornings here are just fabulous when the weather is cooperating.  We’ve had such amazing warm temperatures here in Grande Prairie, AB, which tends to put horses and humans in really good arrays.   Once the ponies run around stretch, buck and kick  after they are let out of their stalls, they settle themselves down, and rest.  They can sleep either lying down or standing up.

With 19 horses to look after day in and day out, there is a unique routine that we follow each and every day.  Our on the road “Team 23” consists of Rick and I and our 2 helpers, Duncan and Karina.  Dunce hails from across the waters, in Australia.  He ventured over to Canada just under two years ago to explore our great country.  Karina, comes to us from Ontario.  They met up in the beautiful mountainous area called Banff.  Duncan happened to be working on a Ranch down south near Bassano, AB some time ago where he met our friend Derek who worked for us prior.  They got chatting about life in general and Chuckwagon racing came into the conversation.  Duncan was given our number in case he would be interested in checking us out.  Well he kept that number in his pocket and decided to give us a call this spring.  He and Karina were ready for an adventure.  They packed up their belongings and headed out west to the Fraser Ranch.  These two have been hard-working young kids enjoying the  tour thus far.

Our Team is always up for some helpers.  These two young fellas,  Karter and Ethan, (our World Professional Chuckwagon Association Secretary Tammy’s Boy’s) happened to stop by with their mom.  Well we put them right to work helping us make the evening mash for the horses.  As they are city kids, they found this quite appealing.  We had to make sure they left with a little something, something, so the candy dish came out.

The horses love their oats, beet pulp and mineral.  Especially Nickle.  He tries his darndest to get an extra nibble any time he can when we’re not looking.  We have to be very careful where we place the wheel barrow.   The horses all have a personality, just like people.  He’s one of our older right hand lead horses which we have had for quite some time now.  He’s a keeper.

When race time arrives, and the horses hear the rumbling of the passing chuckwagons and the sound of the starting horn, their ears perk up.  They know its time to race.  They get their adrenaline pumping.  They were born to run.  They amaze me, as they are very much like a human athlete.

Tonight our hook coming off the 3 barrel, we had Bicardi on the Left Lead, Spin on the Right Lead, Jim on the Left Wheel and Law on the Right Wheel.  Ed was rode by our lead outrider man, Cole Somerville, and Stadium was our stove horse rode by Casey Knight.

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Things went according to plan getting out of the infield.  Rick drove a great race placing 13th on the night, and 8th overall.  Still sitting not to bad in the show.  Need two more real good runs.  It looks like the sunny warm weather is going to hold for us for the rest of the event.

As I was walking from our trailer to our horse barn, which happens many times a day, I spied this very beautiful, bright yellow dandelion.  Now many may curse this plant, but when you look close up and see the beauty within, it may just give you a different opinion.

Until Tomorrow,

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue, with Rick and “Team 23”

P.S. Everything has its beauty, but not everyone see’s it.

Confucius

Howdy All!

On Tuesday, Rick and I and a few other drivers, attended the Grande Prairie Stompede Bust Out Kick Off.  This was like the main start to the week of Stompede here in the city.  There was a free lunch provided to all that came out, and many presentations were made.

We were thrilled to see our friend Dougie.  He was born and raised here in Grande Prairie.  He attends so many functions of every nature in the city.  From hockey games to the rodeo and chuckwagons, special olympics and more.  He is always a ray of sunshine when you see him.  He will be down on the grounds greeting the fans these next few days.

The crowd was many that came out on this beautiful afternoon.  We met a lot of new faces and were able to catch up with some of the others that we’ve known over the years.

Jim Watson has contributed countless hours over the years to making what the Stompede is today here in the city of Grande Prairie.  We appreciate all the work that he and many others have done to put together such a successful venue.

Another team of special folks, are the Grande Prairie Heritage Foundation.  They are a not for profit group dedicated volunteers that promote the preservation of Alberta’s number one sport, professional Chuckwagon Racing.  Since the conception of the group, they also have put countless hours into keeping our heritage alive.   The world revolves around so many volunteers and all of them are great people who want to make an impact in life and they are doing just that.

While at the Kick Off, a special moment occurred.  The unveiling of a unique chuckwagon.  The Stompede committee were looking for a Chucwkagon that they could use to take to different functions to utilize  to promote the sport.  Rick and I donated Rick’s dads, the late Dave Lewis’s chuckwagon.  They took it and did an amazing job shining it all up.

The luncheon ended with some highfives with some cute little kids that were enjoying a hotdog, pop and received a poster too.

Well race day #1 of the 2017 Chuckwagon season arrived.  Rick likes to have a little pep talk with the boys before they go out to run.

Tonight we were off the 2 barrel.  Rick felt really good about the crew that was going.  We had Spirit on the Left Lead, Speedy on the Right Lead, Cowboy on the Left Wheel, and Glory on the Right Wheel.  Our outriders were Cole, as the lead man riding Beau, and Casey in behind throwing the stove with Ice.  Both these fellas are very good riders.  And tonight they made things happen.  When the horn sounded the team started fairly hard.   They didn’t get around the barrels as fast as Rick would have like, so he ended up trailing behind.  On the 3rd turn, he decided to pull and go to the rail, which was good thing.  The team picked up speed, and almost caught the others at the finish line.  We managed a 10th place on the day with a time of 1:19.52.  All around for all the outfits, it was a pretty good night.

The northern country up here in Grande Prairie, can produce such amazing skies at night with beautiful sunsets and fantastic northern lights.  But to see those, you need to stay up fairly late as the sun doesn’t go down until pretty near midnight.

Until tomorrow,

From the Travelin Trailer

Sue, with Rick and “Team 23”

P.S.  No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.