HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO

Wednesday, March 16 – The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is in full-swing. We wanted to go on Wednesday the 9^th, but rain forced us to wait until today. Every Wednesday is “Senior Day” with a reduced entry fee of only $10 which covers everything including the big name concerts. Unfortunately, it is Spring Break in Houston, and we knew there would  be 10,000's of kids in attendance. Oh well, kids will make it fun!!

We parked at the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Transit Station and rode the train to Reliant Stadium, site of the Livestock Show and Rodeo. Parking was a little cheaper, and we figured the walk from the train to the Rodeo would be shorter and thus easier on Paul's repaired knee. We'll be doing enough walking during the Rodeo.

We started in Kid's Country designed to teach kids about the animals. Yep...thousands upon thousands of kids enjoying the animals, watching cow milking, piglets being born, eggs hatching, and enjoying the petting areas. Marsha's a little height challenged, so she had to fight the kiddos in order to see some of the displays. They really do a great job in Kid's Country and the kids love it!

Born just four days before our visit.

The Rodeo still had five more days to go.

From there, we headed over to the livestock area. Man-O-Man, there were hundreds of hogs on display and tons and tons of cattle. There must have been 500 pens for hogs and a similar number of cattle stalls. There were even move cattle outside in pens. Today was market day for the hogs. Marsha’s dad would love this place

We have seen goats butt heads but never two cows.

Now that is a Lonnnnnghorn!

We always learn something new when we visit the Livestock Show. Today we noticed the Livestock logo on some of the cows. We asked a rancher what it meant. He said only the cattle that were selected to be auctioned off were branded with the logo. He said he was really honored to have several cows in the auction.

This has got to be one of the cleanest livestock shows or fairs with sawdust on all the floors and people constantly cleaning things. They even died the woodchips green in the sale arena. A nice touch!

We then walked through the entire merchandise area where all types of western items can be purchased. Cowboy boots, hats, clothing, furniture, food, horse trailers, ropes, and all type of cowpoke related items. We did buy a souvenir t-shirt for Marsha and a cap for Paul. Both for less than $15 dollars total.

Boots by the hundreds.

Need those boots shined? Plenty of places to do that.

What about a hat?

We then enjoyed the Youth Art Show. The art displays covered high school, middle school, and elementary art work. Amazing what some of these kids can do! We really enjoyed the 3-D category where clay sculptures were displayed.

Can you believe this guy was in the first grade?!

Adults were also represented in the Quilt Show. Another unbelievable display of some fantastic works of art. Thank goodness Marsha hasn't taken up quilts as another hobby. We don't have room in the RV for any more hobby materials.

This was Marsha’s favorite. Very different from the others.

We were pretty tired and had a couple hours until the rodeo began in the stadium, so we headed to the Wine Garden where we could sit comfortably at a nice table and enjoy a bottle of wine. The wine was wonderful, and the Garden was packed. We enjoyed talking to a couple of the waiters. One from Canada and another gal from France. They had unique stories to share.

It was then time to head over to the stadium for the rodeo. We will save that for the next post.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

MEMORIES WITH ANGIE AND RICK..DAY 2 CONTINUED

Saturday March 12…continued - After our leisurely morning cruise, we headed to San Jacinto Battleground State Park to climb the San Jacinto Monument and visit the site where Sam Houston lead his troops against the Mexican army for Texas independence. Actually, we took the elevator up the tower to view miles and miles around the area.

This tower is actually taller than the Washington Monument, 555 feet. Of course, this is Texas, remember! The Monument is a 570-foot tall shaft topped by a 34-foot star. The monument is dedicated to the “Heroes of the Battle of San Jacinto and all others who contributed to the independence of Texas.”

A great view of the ship channel from the top.

This is our next stop…USS Texas.

There is also a very nice museum in the base of the tower.

We also watched a very informative 35 minute movie about the Battle at San Jacinto. It was excellent.

The State Park is located near the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel and one of the tourist attractions also located here is a tour of the USS Texas.  Battleship Texas is a New York class battleship and is the last remaining battleship that participated in both World War I and World War II. This is a wonderful self-guided tour. Rick enjoyed it immensely.

Boys at play.

Visitors are free to roam just about any where on the ship. There are lots and lots of steps up and down. Paul did really great with his repaired knee.

Pilot House.

Look what we found still on the shelf in the kitchen.

Latrine.

These don’t look very comfortable.

Guns aren’t only for boys.

Can you tell from this photo who is always cold in our group?

We stumbled upon an extra treat on the battleship tour. A World War II vet was being honored and receiving a flag flown over the USS Texas. The ceremony was very moving, and who doesn't get a little teary-eyed with the playing of taps.

This was also the 102^nd birthday of the USS Texas. It was commissioned on March 12, 1914, We were a little surprised that this date wasn't being celebrated at the ship.

If you are in the Houston area, don’t miss the USS Texas. Such a treat.

It is now 4:00 p.m., but Marsha said she wanted Angie and Rick to see just one more thing before we called it a day. We all looked at each other and said…”Okay.” Our last stop of the day was the The Eclectic Menagerie Park. On the edge of the Rubenstein Family’s 108 acre Houston pipe yard, sits an open-aired public museum. There are numerous handmade metal sculptures by local and famous artist. We have stopped here several times and find each time that new sculptures have been added. Four new ones appeared this year.

One of the four new ones.

Absolutely no idea what this is.

One of our favorite old ones.

It was another long day touring. Don't even ask Marsha to show you around town unless your ready for very exhausting and long days. This girl never tires!!!

Since we didn't stop for lunch, we decided dinner was in order. We stopped at the Chinese Buffet in Sugarland, Texas and had an amazing dinner. The Cafe East Chinese Restaurant was loaded with just about any Chinese dish you could imagine. We aren't big buffet eaters, but this was delicious. Rick was hungry for Chinese....ha ha!!

After dinner we stopped back at the RV where Angie treated us with a dessert. We enjoyed a few drinks and talked about our eventful weekend. Rick and Angie are heading home to Mission, TX, in the morning and with jumping ahead into Daylight Saving Time tonight, they headed home early. I'm sure it had nothing to do with our tour guide nearly killing us this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!