On Monday afternoon we left Coeur D'Alene and headed towards Walla Walla, WA. Along the way, we stopped by the Urbach Ranch to run some calves. We made it to Walla Walla a little after midnight and were lucky enough to find a plug for the trailer!
Tuesday morning slack started at 7am. We set our alarms for 6:30am, so we didn't leave too much time for all three of us to get ready in our small trailer bathroom, in an orderly fashion. So, the guys had to squeeze in together to put their contacts in!
The guys went to watch the slack while I stayed in the trailer. I think I developed a stye under my eyelid and woke up on Tuesday with a pretty swollen right eye. I couldn't put contacts in and had to wear glasses to see. My eyes are super sensitive to light and this just made it even worse for me. Being in the sunlight to watch the rest of slack just seemed like torture!
After slack was over, we went to have a late lunch at The Stone Hut.
We headed to a golf course after lunch, to have some time out of the trailer. Ace loves to golf and Cody is like me, a beginner going on pro. Here's an action shot of Cody's first hole. The ball went right around the hole and it was a close shot, but didn't quite go in - resulting in the last picture in the frame! "Oh, shucks!"
Luckily, I grabbed a hat before we left the trailer for the afternoon. It really took some stress off my eye. The golf game was over when the sun completely disappeared for the night. We headed back to the trailer and stopped at Walgreens to grab some ranch dressing. While there, I decided to see the pharmacist and see if there were any OTC drops that could help. She told me no, and that it'll resolve itself but to keep an 'eye' on it - no pun intended!
We got back to the trailer and got our mini grill lit and ready for dinner. We picked up some chicken at Costco in Coeur D'Alene and grilled our chicken dinner.
Ace decided to put the grill on the tailgate instead of putting together our table. I guess he didn't think about how hot it would get....
Well, now we have a perfect circle to grill on the tailgate! (Always have to search for a positive in ANY situation!)
On Wednesday morning we woke up, grabbed some McDonald's breakfast and headed to a roping jackpot at West Star arena in Ellensburg, WA. After the roping, we grilled salmon and asparagus for dinner. It was pretty amazing and was by far the healthiest meal we've had all summer!
On Thursday morning, the guys were up in the 7am slack in Ellensburg. Mexico and Ace had a good start, but Mexico didn't quite do his job in the field.
After the slack, we went to have a late breakfast at the Palace Cafe. The West Star roping gave the guys coupons, so we had to get their $10 off! After breakfast we loaded the horses and went to Jake Pratt's house to hang out for a few hours before the guys ran a few calves. We took a quick nap and then Ace put on the Aggie football game. Cody and I were still trying to nap but of course Ace was "whooping" and hollering, so he made it pretty difficult! After the guys ran calves, we went up to Jake's parent's house. They had cooked dinner for everyone and invited us all up to join them.
On Friday morning, Ace and Cody ran their second calf at Ellensburg. Mexico was good out of the box but didn't stop his best or work hard enough in the field. There was still quite a bit of slack in the rope when Ace got to the calf. The calf's horn got stuck on the string in Ace's mouth and jerked it out of his mouth. This isn't quite how I taught him how to floss, but I'm glad it didn't jerk any teeth out!
After slack we headed towards Plains, Montana where the guys were up in the evening perf. We got to Plains about 6pm and relaxed before the perf. We watched the UTSA football game and this time it was me cheering loud for my alma mater! The perf was another "Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night" and the winner of the perf gets a bonus if he wears pink. Both Ace and Cody had on their pink shirts and were ready to rope.
Ace and Mexico had a great run. Mexico worked much better than he has the past few runs and Ace tied her to be winning second. Unfortunately, the calf got up, so we left with empty hands.
We talked to another rodeo couple, She'rae Duncan and Josh Torres, about their travel plans for Filer, ID. We all have to be there Saturday night and it is about 9 hours from Plains, MT. We decided to just head that direction, so we got on the road and headed to Dillon, MT and made it there about 3am.
Dillon is about half way and left us with a much shorter drive on Saturday.
Since we made it to Dillon pretty late, we slept a little later on Saturday. Ace cooked breakfast and we got on the road about noon. We made it to Filer, ate at the hospitality tent, and got ready for the perf. Ace and Mexico had a good run and split fifth in the rodeo.
After the perf, we had to get on the road back to Dillon, MT because the guys were up in the slack on Sunday morning. Ace started the driving shift and Cody finished. We made it to Dillon around 2:30am and luckily saved stalls for the horses when we left that morning, so it made for a quick setup when we got back to the fairgrounds. The guys had reruns after steer wrestling and team roping, so they had a little time to pass. I ran into town to fill the truck with gas and to the feed store to get grain and wood shavings for the trailer. I got back just in time to video Ace and Cody.
Ace's calf ducked off to the left and resulted in a no time.
After the slack, we had to hustle back to Walla Walla, WA because the guys were up in the perf on Sunday evening. We didn't even have time to stop for lunch. We were all hungry, so I hopped in the trailer and cooked pizzas in the oven while we drove. The stretch of road was super curvy and not the best one to be in the trailer while driving and trying to cook! Ace and Mexico had a good run and split 6th in the average.
Click HERE to watch Ace's run in Walla Walla
On Monday morning, we slept in pretty late since we have been on a crazy traveling schedule the past few days. We went to have breakfast at Bacon & Eggs and ran a few errands. The boys aren't up anywhere until Friday, so we have a few days to unwind. We shall start by a round of golf and by golf I mean, I'll get a pedicure while the guys play! ;)
After slack was over we headed to a local park to play some basketball and called it an early night.
