The Mission Mountain Rodeo

It's getting to that time of year when family oriented community events rule the local calendar. We're in Polson, Montana for the month, at Eagle Nest RV Resort. We've been looking forward to returning here for four years. It was one of our first destinations when we began full-timing. It's also another place with western family connections for me. We used to come visit my grandparents on my mother's side when they lived in an Airstream, in nearby Big Arm, on the shores of beautiful Flathead Lake.  I fell in love with the lake then, 40 years ago, and it hasn't changed much. It even still smells the same.

Jack was a fisherman

Eagle Nest is a lovely park with lots of shade provided by beautiful blue spruce trees, green grass between all the sites, a small pool and hot tub, playground, pickle ball courts, well-equipped exercise room, super clean bathrooms and laundry rooms, recycling, plenty of green space for dog-walking (though no fenced dog area) and an all-park happy hour every day. It's run extremely well by folks who really seem to care about their park and are always making improvements. The sites are probably a little close together for some folk's tastes, but not right on top of each other either. The park is on the edge of town, close to Safeway, but surrounded on three sides by green space (golf course, horse pasture and cherry orchards) and a small residential area on the fourth, so it's quiet.  Great views.

Every July 4th they host a BBQ potluck picnic followed by fireworks, but this year the fireworks are cancelled because of a county wide ban due to the extreme dryness.  They sell a lot of fireworks around here, and there are going to be a lot of disappointed people with fireworks stored until New Years I guess.

The town of Polson however will set off their annual fireworks by the lake, with the support of the town fire department. There'll be a parade and other local celebrations.  There's a powwow in nearby Arlee that we may get too as well. But last weekend was the Mission Mountain Rodeo. I love these small local rodeos, especially because they are more about family and community than about national competition. 

The rodeo began with events for the local kids. First there was sheep riding for little guys and girls as young as two!!!  Let me tell you, there was some anticipation in the crowd waiting for those kids to show their stuff.  

The young man in the center picture was last year's sheep riding champ.

Don't they look like a docile bunch?

It took a lot of help and time to get each kid geared up and safely on a sheep.

The boy on the right is a rodeo clown in training.

And they didn't stay on too long...

The two year old stayed on long enough to get out the "buckin' chute," but just barely. 

He was fine, just lying there trying to figure out what happened. 

Next came the mini-bull riding for teens. They did a little better.

You can see how many people are involved in these events, keeping the people and animals safe.

Finally came the adult events, including bareback riding of bucking horses and bulls.  This was one of the longest rides of the evening, measured only in seconds.

The last events we watched were various kinds of roping and wrestling feats.

It's a long program. The locals have got a lot of passion for these events and for the people involved,  (many of whom are local contestants) and that along with plenty of cold beer got everyone through the hot evening.

We'll be here in Polson for a few more weeks. We're kind of taking it easy on this rare monthly stay, but we're still seeing and doing plenty around this gorgeous part of the world.