elk bugling and powder riding (feb '08)

[Rob's Crazy Wife]

So, the winter-fair was last weekend. I noticed they had an elk bugling contest, and my boy is a pretty darn good bugler, so I asked him if he wanted to enter, and we headed on down to the indoor arena. We had to sign him up from 6-7. Then wait. and wait. and wait. Even though we were bundled up, all the doors of the arena were open, and it was FREEZING in there. not to mention that it was getting past his bedtime. And he was teething. That's right, my boy is THREE. The "youth" division was 17 and under, so his competition was all teenagers. He was about ready to give up and go home, when it was finally time for the contest. He was so cold and tired, he was just shivering like crazy. Hypothermia had definitely settled in. The other guys went, and then it was CR's turn. He wasn't so sure he wanted to do it because he was so cold. So I just had him do a few cow calls first, and the crowd all started clapping for him, so then he thought it would be okay to bugle. His first one was a little weak, so he cow called some more and bugled a second time - a bit better. He cow called again, and the crowd was just really screaming for him. Then the judges asked him to bugle one more time, so he faced them and bugled again. Then we headed off to wait for the results. I was trying to keep him warm and content (he wanted to go home until I said we had to wait for his prize). They called 3rd place - and I thought, "maybe they will give him 2nd place just to be nice"; then they called 2nd place...and I thought, "maybe they will give him a consolation prize for trying" but then they called first place...and it was him! I couldn't believe it! Neither could Rob - he'd already put the camera away! So, he won a big blue ribbon and over $100 worth of elk calls. (Our house is NOT QUIET!) I said, "boy, it's hardly fair having you out there with your big blue eyes.." and the judges got mad at me. "'scuze me, Ma'am," the one said, "but that had nothing to do with it. He was just using his voice, and no calls, no reeds, no diaphragms, no nothing, just his voice, and he still sounded better than the other guys." Well - if that doesn't puff a mother up with some pride! So, I kind of felt bad for the teenagers...I heard one of the moms saying, "he only beat you by half a point, right?" sigh. but yeah, I'm more than a little proud of my buddy.

Then, onto Saturday!

We went riding and it was EPIC. oh, sure, there could have been a bit more snow, but up high, there was a good 3 feet of powder to play in, and the sun came out, and it was....EPIC. I did NOT want to stop riding. I got a little upset when one guy's sled wasn't working right in the morning (darn polaris anyway) but once they got it up and running, we had a great time. almost everyone had a major problem except me! I pulled sooooo many ski-outs and just boon-docked like crazy all day! I hit a couple of drifts and tried to push my jumping limits...I'm getting there...little by little. Wish I would have never had that big wreck a few years ago....but yeah. I even hit my first big double jump (that I can remember) other than the one last year where I ended up upside down with my sled on top of me..."um, Robbie, I had a little problem here"... of course, no one was there to see me this time!

We rode and rode. Everyone was sitting in this one meadow, and I was ripping around for a while, and when I came back, everyone was staring at me...I was like, "WHAT?!?!" "looks like you found some snow" (well, isn't that the point?!) ha ha. My sled and I WERE pretty much covered. then they all just sat there, so I cobbed the gas and took off again. Anyway, we finally started heading out...everyone was getting tired, etc. I wanted to keep riding, but my watch was telling me, I'd better get home so the babysitter didn't have to stay for tooooooo long! We bombed down the trail and I almost ended up with an arctic cat for a hood ornament. WHY anyone would head UP the trail at 4:30 pm is beyond me! (nevermind there is supposed to be a speed limit on the trails....ha ha ha ha ha ha ha - RIIIIGHT...give me a ticket quick so I can dice it out with the boyz!) helmet radios would have been good at that point, because the guys could have warned me they were coming...maybe...I was only a few seconds behind Robby and Kelly. Anyway, we got loaded up and out onto the highway, and made it a couple miles before we had to park on the hiway for over an hour. A BUS hit a U-HAUL truck pulling 2 trailers! NOT PRETTY! it was a disaster. Once the road opened up, everyone hit the corral, but we had to keep heading home...I would have liked to socialize a bit. We'd never ridden with half our group, and they were really fun to ride with.

Anyway...

it was awesome, awesome, awesome. :O)

RCW