The Eh Capa team was invited to participate in Wagon Days in Sun Valley. We left early Friday morning, so we could beat the weekend traffic. I had not been to Sun Valley since the SEANW Engineers Gone Wild conference in 2008. I remember the exact year, because the conference was in June and I was very pregnant with Sidney. The town seemed to have only gotten more beautiful and more fancy. We set up camp at the Old Sun Valley Barn right next to Sun Valley Stables. We really have this camp thing down now. As soon as we got settled, we went into town to check things out.
After a bit, we decided to grab a bite to eat. The girls spotted a restaurant that was very reasonable with $35 lamb shank. No thank you. Where are the sandwiches and salads? After a bit of walking around, we landed at Lefty's. It must be the local hangout as it was loud, crowded and fun.
It was a scorcher out, so after dinner, we walked to the splash pad we had seen. The girls made no hesitation of getting totally soaked. Yep, these young women still are little kids at heart!
After getting soaked, we found a spot in the center of town to grab ice cream and listen to the live band. Abby and Kendall showed off their dancing skills.
Of course, they could not resist a picture in the giant chair!
When we got back to camp, the place had filled up. One of the families was from Eastern Idaho and had brought 3 adult camels, a baby camel, a goat and a baby buffalo. Kendall was enamored with the baby buffalo. I am pretty sure she wanted to take it home with us.
Despite having coffee and donuts provided to us by the city, I decided to take an early walk to town and grab Starbucks. There is no shame in glamping. In fact, I love it!
The team had practice at 8am. The start of their very full and very fun day! Sidney, of course, had her posse (in racing terms, this is referred to as a pit crew). Yep, Abby, Kendall and I were there to support her and cheer her on.
At 10:30, they had an exhibition performance. A nice size crowd gathered for the performance. The team did great. Afterwards, the riders lined up at the fence for the crowd to ask questions. Though I did not get a picture, it was super cool. I think I was stunned into a proud parent moment. Sidney had about three families that asked her questions for a good 20 minutes. They asked about the team, her riding, her horse, etc. She did such a great job of speaking up and articulating herself. I thought back to a few short years ago when I doubt she would have been able to speak to a group of adults and kids.
After that, it was parade time. This was a unique parade, in that it was animals only. You had to be riding an animal, walking an animal or pulled by an animal. The streets of Sun Valley were lined wall to wall with chairs and bleachers. This is the part that always makes me nervous. I have to leave Sid and head out to the parade route. You see, Pigeon does not really like parades. He is a 'go' kind of horse. He gets pretty amped up when asked to stay put. Sidney has been working with him a lot. She even brought a lunge line and tried to wear him out a bit between the performance and the parade. I always walk away and wonder (worry) about how they are doing. Thankfully, my friend Wilson was one of the papa's. He was very thoughtful and sent me pictures periodically, letting me know that things were good!
It is always fun to watch these girls in a parade. Periodically they stop and do drills. The crowd is always amazed at the bravery and discipline of these kids and their horses. No saddle, no bridle, no problem!
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