For the 3rd year in a row I went to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Each year has been a different experience. The first year I went last minute without a plan. The next year I ended up going solo. This year I had a plan. Out of the 5 days, I was there for first 2 days alone. Well as alone as you can be with 6000 twitter peeps tracking your moves. I was part of a “Where is Anastasia” contest with giveaways and everything from my friends at Cowboy Coffee Chew and Rustic Nation Outfitters.
I started my trek to Vegas from my hometown airport. Which is where I gave away my first freebie. I took pictures with strangers and probably just had strangers taking my picture. After all that’s what people do. But once I got to Vegas I felt an excitement that only seems to be reserved for the NFR. I checked into my hotel on the strip. Something was a little different though. There were a lot of people with accents. Yeah that was to be expected, but not these accents. They were speaking with a brogue. But I was too excited to give it any thought. I had things to do. More on that later.
First thing I needed to do was decide how I was going to get to all of the places I needed to get to while in town. In the past I have taken the monorail. While it was an option to getting stuck in traffic in a Taxi it caused me to miss a signing or 2 last year. So I decided to use Uber while in Vegas. They had recently been authorized there. I use Uber when travelling in New York and have no complaints. Even though Cowboy Christmas had been moved to the part of the convention center that was closer to the monorail exit it takes like 20 minutes to even get to a dang monorail stop walking through the massive MGM.
I decided to attend the Boyd’s Gaming Cinch Chute out at the Orleans. That most definitely required an Uber ride. With all of the hubbub about the Elite Rodeo Athletes conflict with the PRCA I thought it interesting to have this other high payout rodeo championship taking place in Las Vegas at the same the as the NFR. It added a new dimension into my schedule. It was 2pm to 4pm with an autograph session right after. The buses to the Thomas and Mack for the NFR started leaving the pick up spots at 5. Cowboy Christmas was from 9am to 5pm. I was constantly on social media trying to find my favorite cowboys to meet. How was I supposed to get everything done?
Tough decisions had to be made. Who did I really want to meet. Anyone who has ever followed a tweet of mine knows that I only NEEDED to see 3 people and that was Jade Corkill, Clay Tryan and Tyson Durfey. There are few arena warriors I have never met that were on my wish list. So I started plotting and planning on where I needed to be and when.
It was my first time at The Orleans in many years. It is different from the newer casinos on the strip. It is more old Las Vegas. That is a welcome change. You get the sense that if you stay or play there they will remember you. The arena was very nice. I always enjoy being met with the smell of livestock. The performance intro was great. The cowboys and cowgirls entered the arena in the stands! They walked down the aisles instead of out on the dirt. It made the event that much more personal. The fireworks were so spectacular it set off the fire alrams in the arena. What a way to start the event.
There were plenty of Gold Buckle winners rodeoing at the Cinch/Boyd Chute Out as well as some who just missed qualifying for the WNFR. Cody Ohl, Fred Whitfield, Clint Cooper, Trula Chruchill, JW Harris just to name a few. Since I live where I do, my opportunity to see most of these arena warriors is limited to my annual pilgramage to the NFR. so I was thrilled beyond words to have a chance to see the magic live.
Next stop day 1 was to hightail it back to my hotel so I could get to the shuttle to the Thomas and Mack for Round 8 of the NFR. I didn’t even have time to change my boots. This night is one of my favorite nights at the NFR, Canada night. I was born in Canada so I always feel special that the WNFR committee chooses to honor me! (Yeah I am not really delusional).
With the added earnings in this years NFR it was quite a tumultuous week. I don’t think anyone came in with enough of a lead that they were assured of winning. I am thrilled at the amount of money thet Las Vegas added to the payout. It is exciting that a cowboy can walk away with over $100K in winnings, But boy it is hard on the fans. At least it was for me. Watching the number 1s across the board struggle with consistency made my heart hurt. I wanted to see some repeat buckles be given out on Night 10. Hard to imagine that if you won the average you could be adding over 60K to your weekly winnings. The WNFR was like a 10 day superbowl. This amount of money changes he tone for the future Finals.
By the time I got back to the strip I was exhausted. My day had started with my 7am EST flight and ended with some fun time at the Gold Buckle Zone at the MGM at 11PM PST. I was just too tired to really enjoy it. So I headed back to my room and then it hit me why there were so many Irishmen and women about. The MacGregor fight was on Saturday. It seems that everyone from his hometown and Dublin had decended upon Las Vegas. Talking about adding a new dimension to my trip. Stay tuned for more of Anastasia in Vegas.
cowgirl19114 
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