God Bless Lane Frost

Lane Frost statue at Cheyenne Frontier Days

25 years ago today the sport of rodeo lost one of it's greatest young cowboys.

That cowboy was a world champion bull rider and his name was Lane Frost.


While some of you may not be rodeo enthusiasts, you might be familiar with a movie that was created about his life, 8 Seconds.  The movie starred actor Luke Perry as Lane Frost and Stephan Baldwin as his best friend Tuff Hedeman. 

Have you ever seen the movie?  If not, it's a good one despite some issues.  My biggest beef with the movie is how the father-son relationship is played out for the big screen.  In real life, it was nothing like that.  There are a few other minor discrepancies throughout, but they don't really take too much away from the story.

The impact that Lane Frost left on the sport is still reaching people today!  I can name at least five boys that were born in the late 80's, 90's and 2000's that were named after him.  None of these families actually knew him, but they were so impressed with his character, personality (even if it was just something they glimsed during rodeo broadcasts) and try that they wanted to honor Lane in some way! 

There is a vast amount of memorabilia, books, and websites that want to bring recognition to the kind of cowboy that Lane Frost was, but my favorite is probably a song written by Texas country music singer, Aaron Watson.  He sings about Lane's last day and describes how his memory lives on in rodeo fans.

Friday. Friday. Friday!

Today's post is a nod to all the fun I had out in Colorado the last few days!

Thursday night after getting into town we sat on the patio and enjoyed a bottle of wine and some snacks.

Friday all the fun really kicked off!

The day started off with an epic breakfast at Snooze.  Seriously, if there's one near you GO!  Delicious.  In Fort Collins, we did as the locals do... ride bikes to the cideries and breweries and partake in the drinking festivities during what would be most peoples normal work day!  After spending way too long the day drinking and biking, we decided it would be best to head back to the house.  After making it HOURS without any biking incidents I missed a curb and tumbled not so gracefully off my bike!  Oh the memories!

Saturday we slothed around the house, Allis and I did get a workout in, watched 8 Seconds (duh!), took a nap and then got ourselves all gussied up for the Lady Antebellum concert up in Cheyenne!  It's a pretty quick trip from FTC to Cheyenne which we passed singing our hearts out to the radio and gabbing.  We had some time to kill before the concert and decided to go check out the saloon for drinks and two-stepping!  I mean when in Rome Cheyenne...

The concert was amazing!  Lady A put on a fantastic show and it was great to hear Clay Walker again!  In my opinion, nothing beats 'old country'.

Sunday Allis, Maggie and I headed back to CFD.  This time to do some shopping and watch the rodeo.  Each day during CFD, they lead a 'Behind the Chutes' tour of the facility.  You get to hear about the history of the event, see the stock and learn about rodeo events.  We went last year, but it was something that Maggie absolutely had to see.  Plus we needed our second annual buckin' shoots photo!

Dress from Cowgirl Crush.

 The rodeo at Cheyenne never disappoints!  It really is the Daddy of 'em All!

*Just a quick shout-out to Ree for sharing the magic of Slo-Mo videos on the iPhone!

After we got home from the rodeo, some of Allis's girlfriends in FTC came over for an ol' fashion hen chackle.  Obviously we busted out more wine and snacks to soak up the drinks.  I may have ridden a kids tricycle around the yard.  Good times.

Monday we pampered ourselves with a pedicure downtown.  The plan was to enjoy some bubbly during, but we may have been over-served the night before and just weren't feeling up to it!  But by lunchtime it was game on!  Speaking of lunch, we also saw Jesus.  It says he will come again...

And because we're awesome, before heading home we went for a hike at Horsetooth Reservoir.  We hiked into the falls, played around in the water and then headed back.  On the return trip, we were treated with a rattlesnake on the path!!  Eek!  Not cool Colorado, not cool.

But with blue skies and views like this, I can forgive one snake!  Two would be pushing it though!

Linking up with September F A R M and The Farmer's Wife.

Westward Ho!

I'm wrapping up my month of travels by spending some time in Colorado with my friends Allis and Maggie.  There's a lot of really important things on our agenda like:

• Drinking copious amounts of adult beverages.  Red wine.  White wine.  Cider.  Craft beer. Moscow Mules.  The list goes on...
• Pedicures.
• Breakfast at Snooze.  I'm already dreaming about a flight of pancakes!
• Bonfires and gab sessions.
• Going to see Lady Antebellum and watch one of the go rounds at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
• Biking brewery and cidery tour.  Sampling new varieties and burning calories?  Sign me up!

I'll catch you up on our adventures when I get back next week! 

I hope you enjoy what's left of your week and have a fantastic weekend!  Got anything fun planned?

Over and out.

Garth FREAKIN' Brooks Y'all!

Unless you have been living under a rock or hate country music (which might be the end of our friendship) you've probably heard that thee Garth Brooks is going out on his first world tour since he retired from the biz to raise his daughters SEVENTEEN years ago! 

Cue the music and I'll give you a minute to do a happy dance! 

Source

Yesterday, it was announced that the world tour will kick off in Chicago on September 4 and you'd better believe that I'll be burning up the keyboard the morning they go on sale to get some tickets! 


I've been a fan of his music since I was little.  Pretty sure there are pictures of me in my washed out  'Ropin' the Wind' t-shirt washing horses at our county fair!  I've jammed out to countless hits and can't really pick a supreme favorite, but Rodeo and That Girl Is A Cowboy both rank up there pretty high on the list.  For obvious reasons!

So tell me do you love Garth too?!?!  If so, what's your favorite song or album?

And I'll Never Bring It Up Again

One last post about Jersey, I swear then I'll stop devoting post after post about my awesome trip!

Because nobody likes a vacation gloater...

Here are my five favorite photos from my trip in honor of the inaugural 'oh hey Friday' link up!

 

No trip to the East Coast is complete if I can't satisfying my thirst for Yuengling's Traditional Lager!

Homemade crust.  Local blackberries.  This was delicious with a dollop of ice cream!  Who am I kidding?  I used way more than a dollop!

As a Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives junky I had to go and check out 10th Ave. Burrito Company.  The Herradura Margarita was so good and the pork mole and guac nachos, epic!  I'm ready to go back.

Sweet Maggie and Sailor!  The official lifeguards at the Muirhead pool.  They make good snuggle buddies too!

I celebrated Independence Day (and the day after) here!  You shouldn't feel bad for me. 

Linking up with September F A R M and The Farmer's Wife.

Celebrating the 4th on the 5th

Well before leaving to visit my friends in Jersey I added their hometown to my 'favorites' list on the weather app on my phone.  Just to be prepared. Other people do that too, right?

Okay, anyways prior to even boarding the plane I had seen that there was a pretty significant chance of rain on the 4th.  Thumbs down.  It turns out that while meteorologists may only get the weather right half the time, Hurricane Arthur wouldn't be deterred.  Damn him.

Just to spite the rain we packed up and headed to Dan's brother's house anyway!  It took two cars to get all the gear, food, drinks and dogs down there. 

Mmm, pie!

Obligatory red, white and blue food.

The rain finally quit late afternoon, but the fireworks had already been moved to Friday.  And it honestly worked out for the best!  It was a beautiful day!

Practically perfect, actually.  

Hot roddin'!

Yep.  This didn't suck.

PSA: In that red cup there, one of the tastiest margaritas I've ever had!  My friend Laura perfected this recipe before I got to town.  We made one EPIC modification, pureed strawberries.  Just do it!

While floating in the pool drinking Laura's dog Sailor went from a position on the pool deck much like this...

 

To this in nothing short of a millisecond!  It should be noted that I successfully handed off my margarita, without spilling a drop mind you, after I was pounced on!  Then Laura snapped that gem of a pic.

Sailor, the floating silver Labrador.

We finally lost the sun, but were treated with a pretty fantastic sunset over the water.  All the boats... they're just biding for the fireworks to start.  Nothing like a front row seat for the show!

Did you get to watch fireworks on Independence Day?  Or like me, did Mother Nature have other plans for you?

Cape May, NJ

This past weekend while I was visiting friends in Jersey one of the things we did was drive down to Cape May.  Cape May is as far south as you can get in New Jersey without cruising straight into the Atlantic!

This seashore town oozes curb appeal with its gorgeous homes and gingerbread cottages!  While there are many private residences, most of the big homes near the water are B&Bs.  The restaurants are all very unique and offer a completely different selection compared to what this Midwesterner can get at home!

One of my favorite places was the Cape May Peanut Butter Co. 

 

Not only was there grinding stations for all different kinds of nut butters (almond, cashew, and hazelnut to name a few!), they had packaged and baked goodies to take with you or enjoy as you walked around town.  Hands down the coolest part was the custom PB&J's made to order!  It took everything I had to not get the s'more inspired sandwich!!

Another awesome shop that we found was Sea Bags.  All of the bags are made in Maine from recycled boat sails!  Pretty neat stuff!

If you're still undecided on where you're headed for summer vacation, give Cape May some serious thought!  We only spent the day down there, but I know you could spend several days enjoying the beaches, shops, restaurants and wineries!

And in July I...

Vacation.

And show horses. 

Fine by me!

I literally will be working approximately 15 days this month and traveling the rest.  I'm headed to New Jersey for the Fourth of July and then to Colorado later in the month.  And the other weekends I'll be showing that fine horse you see above!

I hope you're July is going to be as great as mine!