Last night, my buddy Jenn joined Phil, Joy and I for a country-fried adventure – we checked out the first ever rodeo at Ottowa Farms!

Okay, it was their second ever rodeo. We didn’t make it to night one.

It was awesome that an event like this was so close to home, and even better that we got to hang with Jenn. It’s been a while!

‘Murica.

So while we were there, we got to check out four different events. We saw cowboys take on the bucking bronco, do some bull riding, rope some calves, and steer wrestling.

Yup.

Steer wrestling.

What is steer wrestling? Basically, the cowboy is on his horse, and they release the steer from the chute. He rides up next to the cow, jumps off his horse, and kind of flying leap tries to tackle the steer. The goal is to take the bull by the horns, and make him lie down for like 5 seconds.

It is intense, and you couldn’t pay me enough money to try it.

Also… Jenn and I think we missed our calling to be the world’s funniest rodeo clowns. Because we’d tell jokes that were actually funny, yuk yuk yuk.

So all in all the evening was a huge success! We’ve got a few tips for you to fully enjoy the next one; the place was so packed there is sure to be one in 2015.

1) Suck it up and buy your rodeo tickets ahead of time.

We held out on buying our tickets because we weren’t sure if it was going to rain. It didn’t, so we went, and we spent an extra 10 bucks on our two tickets to get in. Save that 10 bucks and buy some snacks!

2) Get there early!

The show started at 7:30, and we got there right around 8. All, and I mean ALL, of the bleacher seats were long gone, and we had to walk around looking for a place to sit in the walkway between the bleachers and the fence around the rodeo action area. It was crowded, we had to sit in muddy hay dirt, and it was less than comfortable. So get there early, and grab yourself a place to sit.

Listen – we still had a rockin’ good time, guys. We just had to sit in muddy hay dirt.

3) Get your snacks on the way in

Jenn and I asked Phil if he wanted a snack from the vendors as we searched for a place to sit, and he said no. In true toddler fashion, 1 hr later when we were crammed into our muddy hay dirt spots, he tells me he’s hungry. And that he wants a snack. And that the peanut rear ender crackers in my purse just won’t do.

So we ended up leaving at 9pm to see if there were any snacks Phil would like, and it’s a good thing there wasn’t anything he wanted to eat because all of the food vendor lines were 27,000 miles long.

If you think you’re gonna wanna do some snacking at the Ottowa Farms rodeo… Get your snacks before you even sit down!

Better yet, you get the seats the second you get there, and have your friend get the snacks. That’s rodeo teamwork, y’all.