Frog legs, alligator tail… and Mickey Mouse? Yep, we did it all in the Sunshine State of Florida! Equipped with my hat, crown and banner, I flew out of Idaho Falls early on the morning of February 15th. I carried my chaps and an arena shirt in my hat box and I got some funny stares as I was walking through the airport! I guess I stood out in the crowd of travelers! During the flight from Denver to Orlando, I was treated like royalty by the flight attendants and passengers, they even announced my name over the intercom of the plane!!
When I arrived in Orlando, I was welcomed by Miss Rodeo Florida, Heather Hall and we were soon joined by Miss Rodeo Virginia, Anita Moorhead, Miss Rodeo Idaho, Measha Gittins, and Miss Rodeo Oregon, Ashley Zeigler. It took us a while to get acclimated to the palm trees and lack of snow, but all of us were very excited to be in Florida!! There were five of us that stayed at Miss Rodeo Florida’s house, which is about twenty minutes from Kissimmee, home to the Silver Spurs Rodeo.
When we arrived at Heather’s house, we were greeted by a pack of dogs and a “swamp buggy.” Now, the “swamp buggy” is a type of motorized vehicle that I had never seen in Wyoming! It looks like a cross between a monster truck and a topless jeep and as we discovered, it wasn’t afraid to drive across deep rivers and swamps, hence the name “swamp buggy!” Heather’s dad took us for a spin behind the house in search of hogs and gators… while we didn’t see either, we did see quite a few deer and lots of cows!! It may surprise you to know that Florida is cattle country!! We didn’t find any hogs that night but we did catch an armadillo!! It was quite an experience!!
The next day more state queens and a few local queens joined us as we visited two elementary schools. We had fun acting out some of the rodeo events and answering questions. The surrounding area schools participate in “Rodeo Day” when they actually get out of school on Friday and go to the rodeo!! It is a great idea and the kids loved learning about rodeo!
We dressed up for the evening and went to the Miss Silver Spurs Pageant held in Kissimmee. I was very impressed with all of the contestants who worked hard and made their parents and community very proud. The Silver Spurs court traveled with us to visit schools and represented did a great job representing their rodeo!
The next few days were filled with school visits in the morning and activities at night. We had a total of 14 state queens, Miss Rodeo America, Miss Rodeo Canada, Miss Rodeo Canada Princess and the Silver Spurs Court. All together there was a swarm of about 25 queens!! That is a lot of glitter, lip stick and fringe!! We went out to lunch at the famous “Catfish Place” and exercised our taste buds with frog legs, gator tail, turtle, and catfish! I came to the conclusion that frog legs actually do taste like chicken and gator tail goes great with tartar sauce!! We had a bonfire one night and roasted marshmallows and Starburst candy. If you haven’t tried roasted Starburst, I strongly recommend trying it because it is warm and gooey in the middle and a little hard and crunchy on the outside!! However, we may have a few months before we have ideal “Starburst roasting weather” in Wyoming!!
On Thursday night, we went out for an adventure in the Florida wilderness hunting for hogs! We all piled on three different swamp buggies and set out in search of the wild piggies. Once again, we didn’t see any hogs (I think it may be a lie, Florida doesn’t really have hogs because both times we went out, we didn’t see any hogs!!) But we sure had fun and I actually got to drive the swamp buggy!! It was a lot like driving Louie through the snow in Wyoming… except I had much bigger tires!! As soon as the sun went down, it got very cold!! It might be hard to believe but Florida weather is pretty unpredictable! We were happy that we brought warm jackets and blankets but as soon as we got back, we had another bonfire and were able to warm up!
The next morning we drove down the road to the lake where we hopped into airboats and sped around in search of gators!! This time we found what we were looking for!! We even got close enough to an 11-foot long gator that we could touch it from the boat! We were able to see one of the oldest trees in Florida as well as a multitude of wildlife surrounding the lake… including cows wading through the swampy areas!
The rodeo started on Friday at the Silver Spurs Arena. The Osceola County Fair was held in conjunction with the rodeo and it took me a while to get used to the idea of having a county fair in February! Local cowboys and cowgirls provided us with horses and I can only imagine how hard it would be to find 15 horses for all of the visiting queens so we were very grateful! Our job in the grand entry was to carry our state flags and I was honored to enter the arena with the Wyoming flag! After the grand entry we had the opportunity to visit sponsor boxes and mingle with rodeo fans who were eager to meet us and learn about the sport.
Saturday morning found us basking in the sunshine on the beach! We waded out into the water a little but even for a Wyoming girl, it was cold! Miss Rodeo South Dakota, California, Utah and I went for a long walk on the beach to a visit a peer. I will have to say that we got a little sunburn, but I was happy to return home with some color in February!
The rodeo on Saturday was especially great because my grandparents came to see me! They live most of the year in Wisconsin, but migrate to Florida in the winters and luckily for me, they don’t live very far from Kissimmee! My grandpa was so excited that he told anyone who would listen that his granddaughter is Miss Rodeo Wyoming! It was so great to see them both!
We woke up early on Sunday morning and made it in time for Cowboy Church at the Silver Spurs Arena! There was a lot to be thankful that morning! We were employed to help at the Special Rodeo, which was one of the coolest experiences! I had never done a Special Rodeo before but I was reminded how much I love the sport of rodeo when I saw the looks on the kid’s faces!
The final rodeo on Sunday was in the middle of the day, which was fun because it was in the 70’s! I felt like it was the middle of the summer in Wyoming… minus the palm trees!! Florida is part of the Southeastern Circuit and although it may be far from the Mountain States Circuit, I was surprised at how many Wyoming and Colorado cowboys came to bask in the sun and compete in one of the largest rodeos east of the Mississippi River!!
After the rodeo we were presented with the opportunity to go to Disney World!! A generous family that we met at the rodeo offered us 8 free tickets! We didn’t have very much time to spend at Disney World but we made the most of our time. We rode a roller coaster twice, the Tower of Terror twice and we still had time afterwards to go shopping! It was an awesome experience, one that I certainly wont forget!!
I left Florida with a little sunburn and a big smile on my face! It was incredible!! A big thanks to my sponsors who helped send me to Florida, and show this Wyoming girl the Sunshine State!
No comments:
Post a Comment