All too soon, it was time to hook up and head west again. One of our goals for this year’s trip was to return to Buffalo, Wyoming, one of our favorite places to visit. We had been uninvited to stay at our previous camping spot at Deer Park RV because they said we had too many dogs. Imagine that…. Instead, we camped for another ten days at the lovely Johnson County Fairgrounds. Our beautiful, shady site had 50 amp service, and the water faucet was just a hose length away.
The fairgrounds have plenty of space for dogs to run, and there was even a resident pronghorn. The first time I took Bit out for a little off-leash run, she spotted him and was off in pursuit in a flash. My heart almost stopped, and I began frantically calling her, using my recall whistle and shouting for her to lie down. Nothing worked. Bit and the pronghorn disappeared into the trees, and I had no way of knowing what lay on the other side. The fairgrounds are fenced...well, except for the access roads. I was terrified that they might find one of them and leave the grounds. Thankfully, in about 5 minutes or so (though it felt much longer) Bit came trotting out of the trees, tongue lolling and a smile on her face.
We didn't see the pronghorn for several days, but when we did, he started walking toward us as John and I quickly collected the dogs and headed back for our camp sight. I don't know if the pronghorn was looking for a handout or revenge, but we weren't waiting around to find out.
An added benefit this year of Tuesday night performances of the Johnson County Cowgirl Rodeo. We had no sooner settled in on the Tuesday we arrived than horse trailers…it seemed like a hundred of them…began arriving. In no time at all, the rodeo arena and grounds were alive with cowgirls on their horses and the competition began. As I said, we had the opportunity to attend two of the performances, and I took a bejillion images. Here are some of my favorites, and I will try to post some on the Johnson County Cowgirl Facebook page as well.
The grandstands are covered, and after dark the arena was well-lit so we had a great opportunity to watch. And, I had a good opportunity to try out some new camera equipment. There were barrel races for cowgirls of all ages, and a few young cowboys as well.
And then, there was pole bending that happened almost at our feet, again with the young and the young at heart, sometimes with the help of Mom or Dad.
The goat roping followed, and I laughed until I cried, but the young competitors were all business.
There was also roping, but it was getting dark so I don't have many photos of those cowgirls.
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