Day 1 of Stampede

After Laura's excellent Stampede breakfast she took off as planned with Hiking Lisa to Cowboys, the bar made more recently infamous by Prince Harry whilst he doing some military training in Alberta. This bar is huge, really a structure to which carpark-sized marquees are attached and completely furnished with rough-hewen bars, DJ equipment and a never-ending supply of Kolkanee, Molsens and Canadian lagers.

Apparently the first day of Stampede is the only day of the year where it is not only acceptable but expected that most of the business core of Calgary will start lining up at 9.30am for the biggest party in town, celebrating Albertan culture and the Redneck within. At a $50 covercharge just to get in the door, it was a party a little to oil-rich for my blood.

Marc, Jess and Michelle and I decided to head down to the Stampede grounds for a sunshiny day of... well, I didn't know what to expect.
The theme of the Stampede this year was "Tough Enough to Wear Pink", supporting breast cancer cure research. Wrangler made baby pink and check-pink cowboy shirts for the occasion and a lot of men wore the colour proudly.

We did not have tickets to either the rodeo or the chuck wagon races that day so we wandered through the carnival grounds and markets. There were also stages playing various bands throughout the day and night, including the Coca Cola stage for pop and rock and the Nashville stage for country.

Later in the afternoon we said goodbye to Michelle and Jess and had to choose by 4pm where to settle for the evening. Calgary is amazing. The summer is so short and outdoor dining/ pub spaces so small around town that on a non-working day you really need to stake your claim on a table by 4pm. And once you have it, you don't move from it.

We were too late for the Nashville tent. Being in the shade and playing country music, I was all in favour of planting myself there and even getting a chance of some "two-stepping" dancing with my sweetheart. After all, we were both wearing western hats, and I was in cowboy boots and a denim miniskirt. However, not a table nor chair was free. Marc's suggestion that we both stand up for the next 8- 10 hours was not met with loving acquiescence.

So we found a table in the shade across from the Coca Cola stage and had to employ some of that Canadian passive-agressiveness to fend off table poachers. We were joined by Courtney, a mate of Marc's and had the hugest BBQ turkey legs for dinner I have ever seen. it was like something out of the Flintstones and in retrospect, tasted pretty awful. My attempts to eat it with a plastic knife and fork were laughed at.

Between that and Courtney's close-escape from a "Cougar", it was an entertaining night to some live rock music.