A State Fair and a Rodeo (11-6-11)

               The Rodeo was the main attraction of the state fair, as far as I am concerned.  I’ve never  been to one before -which literally shocked some of the people I have met here in Shreveport- until I told them I grew up in Boston.  We got to the fair several hours before the rodeo, so we’d have time to check out the exhibits and test out the food.






 Ordinarily I don’t eat much “carny” food, but this time I  found a website that listed the Top 20 food items at the fair.  Some of them were of no interest to me- crab boudin, Rocky Mountain Oysters (deep fried lamb testicle) and alligator, but others sounded different, and worth trying.   The first thing we tried was Cookie Dough on a Stick- chocolate covered, with pecans.  It was SO sweet, even Paul thought it was sweet.  After wandering the fair for a while longer  we  came across deep fried Jalapeño cheddar cheese sticks, which were delicious, and deep fried macaroni and cheese, which was good as well.  We were up for trying the Stuffed Jalapeños, but every time we walked by, they were out of them.  Just before going in to the rodeo, we forced ourselves to try the Red Velvet Funnel Cake.  We felt stuffed for 2 days!

The Rodeo started in a darkened arena with a single horse and rider carrying the American flag, as a prayer was said and the National Anthem was sung.

There were multiple roping events, which as it turns out, I didn’t enjoy at all.  I liked watching the cowboys trying to rope a calf, right up until they did.  Then I felt bad for the calf.  This picture is of team roping- they both have to get their lasso on the calf in order for it to count,

I did enjoy the bull riding, bronco riding and the bareback bronco riding.  The music that was played during each attempt was fast, loud, and upbeat, adding to the fun of watching.  There was also some great interaction between the announcer and the rodeo clown.

                                                                                                                                                               After bucking off the rider, not all of the animals calmed down quickly-some of them continued to leap around the arena until the cowboys could convince them to exit out the open gate.

The only competition that women can participate in is the barrel racing.  The contestants are timed as they race their horses around 3 barrels and back to the end of the arena.
We stuck around Shreveport this week because we have been too long without our mail and I wanted to get it shipped to us.  Everything arrived today, so we’ll take off on Saturday for our next destination, wherever that is.