Growing up in Wisconsin, I had never been to a rodeo. Truck and tractor pulls are much bigger up there, and I have been to plenty of those. Victoria wanted to change this, so she bought tickets to the Austin rodeo. We hit the road and headed to the rodeo.
We even got behind this sketchy mechanic as we got close to the parking.
We pulled in and then parked a ways away from the rodeo itself. It was a bit of a walk to get inside the rodeo.
After walking in, we checked out the carnival and other things on display. In many ways, it was just like a fair with the rodeo being the main event.
One awesome thing that HEB is doing is a thing called "Taste of Texas." This is where local vendors show off their products. They are hoping to get them on the shelves of HEB. Being that I am a huge proponent of this, I decided to check out what was offered.
I was especially intrigued by the El Norteno jerky. Instead of being smoked, it is air dried. It is packaged with hot sauce. The packaging contains the member of a conjunto band. I even found they have some roots in Wisconsin.
All the walking made us hungry. We stopped by a food vendor. I always get a corndog at the fair, so this was no different. Victoria got some fries to munch on.
There was still some time to kill before the gates opened for the rodeo. We had done a lot of walking and it was hot. We decided to sit down until the gates opened. After the gates opened, we did a little wandering until we finally found our seats.
The lights got dim for a little bit and then came the National Anthem. After that, everything started. This was definitely a sight to watch!
After the rodeo is done, there is a concert. For the rodeo I went to, it was Josh Turner. After the animals are all gone, they pull in a stage. Eventually, the performer is brought in on a truck and performs on a spinning stage. They then leave on that same truck.
When the concert was done Victoria and I walked around a little bit more to see the carnival all lit up.
In many ways, it was good we parked a ways away. The traffic was horrible leaving. We still ended up having to sit for a while.
Now I can say I've been to my first rodeo! I can officially say the next rodeo I go to, "Ain't my first rodeo." It was a cool experience overall! I got to see the fair portion of it and discover some awesome local products. The rodeo itself was something different than the truck and tractor pulls I'm used to. I can see where it takes a ton of skill to do what those guys do!
The concert was also pretty awesome. Josh Turner was great live! Some bands there's a definite difference between studio and live. With Josh Turner, I did not notice much of a difference. He pretty much nailed it, and it was good hearing some of his songs that I haven't heard in a while.
Being that I live in Texas, I'm sure there's plenty more rodeos around. If I see another one, I might have to check it out. I'm sure there will be plenty of new things to discover!