Sunshine on my Shoulders!

February turned out to be an amazing month!! After my trip to Rapid City, SD I had a few days off at home to plan for the whirlwind I was about to face! I left for Gillette, Wyoming for the Winter Western Coors Pro Rodeo on the 11th. On my way up, I stopped by my newest sponsor, JLouise Handbags. Janet presented me with my very own handbag from her collection. I am excited to wear this bag on my arm as I travel!

I made it to Gillette that afternoon and saddled up for three rodeo performances by Powder River Rodeo Company. Hank and Lori Frazen did a wonderful job with the rodeo! I was so happy to be carrying the American Flag for the first time as Miss Rodeo Wyoming in my home-state. One of the hands provided me with a fun paint horse to carry the flag and clear the arena. Come to find out, he is a good friend of my family's. After Sunday's afternoon performance, I headed back home which should be a 6 hour drive. Some of the roads were closed due to wind so I had to take the longer way home. By the time I got home, I had 7 hours to unpack, pack fore my trip to Florida, and get some rest.

I loaded up my truck at 2am and headed to Denver to catch my Valentine's Day flight to Kissimmee, Florida. I had no idea what to expect when I stepped off the plane. The only thing I knew was, this was my first time on the east side of the Mississippi River.

My first event in Florida was attending the final portion and crowning of the Miss and Little Miss Silver Spurs Pageant. The competition was tough! Congratulations to the new court!! The next few days were filled with numerous school visits around the community. We were able to visit the Sheriff's Department and watched a demonstration by the K9 unit.

We were given the chance to go hog hunting. That was an experience! As we were tracking the dogs with a GPS locator, I realized Miss Rodeo Wisconsin,the four guides and I were chest deep in water, in Florida, at night. The rest of the queens stayed on dryer land. Not once did the dangers of what we were doing cross my mind, but we were in good hands of the guides and made it out safely. With three hogs loaded up in the back of the trucks at the end of the night, we headed home for a few hours of sleep. The hogs were taken to a ranch to be fed and then sold at a later date.

The next day started with more school visits and ended with an air-boat ride. We saw lots of alligators. I am glad we saw them on the air-boat ride and not during hog hunting!

On Friday we all loaded up and headed to the beach. It was like a dream being on the beach in February! It was so nice to get some sun. That night was our first performance of the Silver Spurs Rodeo. I was given a horse, another paint, names Flowers. She was so much fun and knew just what to do!

Saturday was a day of dreams! Four of us queens got to spend six hours at the Magical Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Miss Rodeo OK, CA, WA, and I spent the morning and early afternoon riding a few of the rides and doing some important shopping. We all bought our ears! That night was the second rodeo performance.

We wrapped up our trip to Florida on Sunday with the Special Rodeo in the morning. My partner, Brooke, and I made our way around the stations. We roped a steer, had a goat ribbon race, rode a bull, and she had the opportunity to ride her very first horse. The smile on her face while sitting on that horse made everything seem so bright. I was honored to have shared that memory with her. My trip ended with the last performance of the rodeo. I want to thank Laura Kessler for arranging the wonderful trip and Kerri for opening her home up to me and for arranging all of the horses for the 23+ queens in attendance. These ladies worked so hard to make our trip amazing, and it was!!

So now I am home, resting for a few weeks. I will be on the road again in March. Remember all you rodeo queens to sign up for the Miss Rodeo Wyoming clinic!! Information can be found on the website. It will be a lot of fun!!

Let's Ride On Wyoming!
Brittany