Well, we were up early in the morning and finished packing to go to Calgary. We then caught the shuttle to the airport. After we passed security, we noticed this plane in the security area. Rather surprisingly, the security guard gave Linda to take a picture of it:
She noticed another interesting sculpture in the secured transit area:
We arrived in Calgary and cleared customs with no problem. We were greeted by Mother, Barbara, and Ray at the airport. Shortly thereafter, Doretha arrived after a few minutes having picked up a rental people mover from downtown.
We then drove to the rental accommodation which took about 45 minutes. When we arrived, we found that Chuck, Linda’s Dad, had already arrived and was in residence and had brought some provisions. We caught up for a while and then realized that we needed to get moving if we were going to make it to the chuckwagon races that evening. After dealing with a ticket administrative problem and organizing takeaway supper for everyone, we headed downtown to the Calgary showgrounds.
Very fortunately, we stumbled upon a “full service” parking lot run by a local charity. We were able to park for a modest fee, get cart transport from the car to the entrance of the parking lot, and then catch a shuttle bus between the parking lot and Stampede Stadium. Anyway, against all odds we got there, more or less, on time:
There was a carnival atmosphere inside the grounds.
Keping score.
Here is the entrance to the arena:
This is what all of the fuss about. It clearly isn’t a traditional chuckwagon. The wagon itself is very lightweight and isn’t carrying anything besides the sponsor’s logo. The wagon isn’t drawn by clapped out quarterhorses either. Apparently, they are all thoroughbreds that are purchased after their handicaps have become impossible as they age.
These are the outliers. We didn’t completely understand the rules, but the outliers did have to do a figure eight shortly after the start. Otherwise, there was a time penalty for the associated checkwagon. They also help maneuver the wagons at the start. There was also a time penalty for knocking over the course marker barrels.
Here is another rig.
This rig is cutting it close around barrel 2.
They are all queued up at the start.
This is the famous Budweiser rig pulled by those giant Clydesdales.
The most exciting part of a race was the start. Here is a video clip:
Here is the finish to a race. Here is a video clip.
After the races, one of the kind ladies at the parking lot, trollies us to the car.
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