Look out Canada – here we come STAMPEDING ALL THE WAY;-)

Home for the next 5 days is the Mount Kidd RV Park at the foot of Mount Kidd in Kananaskis Country.  The jagged peaks and u-shaped valleys in Kananaskis Country that provided our fabulous environment are 12,000 year-old reminders of the last ice age.  The rock is mainly limestone made from layers of fossilized sea creatures that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in the inland sea that covered southern Alberta.  Archaeological evidence of humans in the area goes back over 8000 years to First Nations people who have deep connections to this land.  The area is named from the Cree “Kin-e-a-kis” – the name of one of their warriors.  Today – it is just plain beautiful every where one turns – –

 

The primary reason for the stop here was to fulfill another “Bucket List” item of attending the Calgary Stampede (at the insistence of our Scottsdale neighbors who also reside in Calgary).  What an event the city of Calgary puts on every year for 10 days!!

The opening ceremony for the Rodeo was full of surprises – including the arrival of several of the bare bronc riders ‘flying’ in over our heads on a zip-line with fireworks in the background!  This may have been scarier for them than that ride on the bronc?!?!?!

AND NOW – we were ready for the good stuff.  Bring on the bare bronc riding – –

Apparently the Calgary Stampede has become such a HUGE deal – that the organization now has its own ranch and animal breeding program to provide much of the ‘stock’ for the rodeo.  Some of the new yearlings and their Moms were introduced to the crowd.

 

And then it was time for the main event – bring on those bulls – and pray!!

 

Whew!  Don’t know about those cowboys – but we were sure worn out after that.  However –  the day was not over.  After a walk into downtown for dinner, we were back in our seats for the evenings entertainment of Chuckwagon races and the Grandstand Show with fireworks;-)  This was like watching the Kentucky Derby – BUT, the horses had a chuckwagon attached to them.  Great news – one of the heats was won by a wagon sponsored by Arizona Tourism.  How fun is that?!?!

 

After a very long and exhausting day we returned home with neighbors, friends and hosts for the weekend – Karen & Doug – for a short nights sleep.  We are very grateful for their hospitality, friendship and all their wonderful ideas for our 5 days in and around Calgary/Canmore/Kananaskis.  After a quick evenings sleep, we returned to Magic who had been enjoying the quiet of Mount Kidd.

BUT – we weren’t done here yet.  There were still two days of golf, lunches and many more hours of visiting to be had.  One of those days was spent in Canmore – golfing Stewart Creek (awesome!!!!) and checking out Karen & Doug’s Canmore ‘digs’.

 

And then it was a new fresh day and we were all off to another day of beautiful scenery (and a round of golf) at Kananaskis Country GC at the foot of Mount Kidd;-)

 

Like all good things – this stay must come to an end.  Karen & Doug were incredible hosts and excursion planners – for which we are most grateful;-)  We just wish they would spend more time in Scottsdale, as they are fun people and wonderful neighbors.

With one more ‘Bucket List’ item crossed off, we are on our way to Jasper NP.

An Overwhelmed E & G