Calgary Recap: Day Two

But I’m digressing. The parade was LONG. I thought it was only a two hour thing, but it was more like 4. We missed the beginning of it, watched for about an hour until we got hungry. Thomas and Wes wandered off first, and then we did. We hit up A&W [we didn’t get one free pancake breakfast…] and ate some breakfast. Remet up with Thomas and Wes, and then wandered down to the stampede grounds. Halfway to the grounds we bumped into the end of the parade, and so we watched that again. The sun was beamingly hot, and in the hour of watching the parade [waiting for it to finish so we could continue on our way], I’m pretty sure I got burned. Even Andrew said that I was too hot.. which is shocking since I’m always cold. Andrew placed me in the shade and let me cool off for a bit. Also, it got me off my feet which is always nice.

 

Continuing on our way, we meandered slowly to the grounds. We didn’t have tickets to get into the Stampede grounds, and the boys needed to finish their beers so we waited just outside the ticket sales until they finished. We then went inside, and it was awesome because there was virtually no wait. Fabulous! We hustled our bums inside, and immediately took pictures. Then wandering around the whole park, we took in all the sights. And smells. There’s just something about carnival food that brings out the beast in me! I love it all. Also, I was pretty bad and didn’t take a picture of any of the foods we ate. Oops. My bad. But it was all deep fried delicious. We did eat a deep fried onion… om nom. And then hot dogs, fiddlestix [ice cream dipped in chocolate, rolled in peanuts on a stick], roasted corn.. so yum! There was a lot of choice, and I will admit that we were trying to conserve monies… The only downside to carnival food!

We headed into the main Calgary Stampede shopping tent, just as the rain came. Pouring rain, lasting only 30 minutes [the perfect amount of time, as it took us that long to decide on what to get] and then it cleared right up. Didn’t even get a drop of rain on us. After our shopping extravaganza [I bought a commemorative buckle, and a hat], we headed back out and continued walking straight to the beer truck. Kyleigh was with her work peoples and they were all their so we met up with them. At that point everyone was starting to get a bit tired, so a drinking break clearly was in order. I sat down in the grass to rest my weary bones [haha so old] and it allowed Andrew and I to have a quiet moment alone. We made several attempts to get into the club/bar/live music venue but it was always a 2-3 hour waiting time. Ugh, so not going to line up in that! So we went back to the beer garden, and then decided our next strategy from there. Kyleigh really wanted to stay with her work people, but be able to see us at the same time, so we went were she was going. I wanted to see Sam, so we all kind of split up for a bit.

Andrew, Coby and I went to the Cowboys Casino and club [where Sam was] and the bouncer was really nice. He let me go in just to say hi, and not have to pay anything. Phew. It took me awhile to find him, and then we were able to catch up a bit. It was good to see him. So then after that, Andrew wasn’t liking the vibe of the table so he didn’t gamble, we began the walk to Amsterdam Rhino [where everyone else was]. It was a pretty exciting walk… Halfway on our walk, we hear this crazy music, and it’s a parking lot full of people, and they’re dancing and drumming so we wander over to see what’s happening. I’m still not 100% sure what was going on, but it was pretty cool. There was a robotic snake and spider, but the spider was drivable and they were battling it out. There were 3 drummers and it was all being powered by four bikes that anyone could ride on. As if that wasn’t random enough, Jay Ingram from Daily Planet was there. Andrew was really excited about that, and kept telling everyone and anyone who would listen.

We stayed there for a good bit before heading on our way. Upon arrival at the bar, and paying our cheap $5 cover, we were in. And Omg. So. Much. Fun. I’ve never partied with my brother, and we were the only two not drinking, and we had a blast. We all did, but I had a great time with my brother. It’s great to know that Coby and I can have a great time sober, and even better was the fact that the bartenders didn’t make me pay for my Coke. Woot. So we shared that, and then went back to dancing. The guys were impressed with how much energy I had without the help of liquor. Pretty much non stop for a good three hours. If not more. I danced with Andrew, and all the guys, and it was fun. Wes puked all over the table at the bar, which made us have to move all our stuffs. He was fine after that. The only blip in the night was when people wanted to go check out a house party, but Coby and I put our foot down and said no, we’re not going. House parties are boring when you’re not drinking. Turns out that no one else went either. So we were getting all riled for no reason. Back to dancing!

Then, Kyleigh’s coworkers decided to go get Chinese food, but no one in our group was really hungry so we decided to leave. We headed back to Kyleigh’s place, and that was interesting. We had to take the train, and then walk to her house from the station. Which was a good 30 minutes [especially with the drunk stumbling that was happening] but it was a good walk. I’m amazed that Kyleigh made it home, because she was weaving pretty bad. She pretty much passed out once we got into the house, right on the floor. Always a classy spot. She’s a funny girl. I headed to bed, and pretty much passed out.

More on the Stampede tomorrow!