Yee Haw!

Last weekend I headed 3 hours east of Missoula to attend the Augusta Rodeo.  What, you've never heard of Augusta, Montana?  Well, maybe that's because it's in the middle of nowhere and has a population of a whopping 300 people.  However, during their rodeo their population doubles (that's not saying much) as people from neighboring towns invade the city to camp, party, and rodeo.

Now, let me explain camping in Augusta.  In Utah, camping usually involves a camp site with a fire pit and something pretty to look at.  In Augusta, camping consists of a large area of grass surrounded by a chain link fence.  RV's and tents are set up wherever there is space.  Nice.

The night before the rodeo everyone heads to the one bar in town for dancing and drinking.  Believe it or not this was an absolute blast!  This is also where I saw Jack Hanna who kindly agreed to break away from the mob and take a photo with me (see below).

Now for my "Only in Montana" moment for the week.  At the rodeo they let the photographers sit on the ground right next the pit.  There is no fence here, just some metal bars with about 2 foot gaps between them.  A bull could easily stick its head and shoulders through it.  At one point in the rodeo a bull got away from the cowboys and charged straight for us.  It was coming so fast that sand and gravel were pelting us so of course, our survival instincts kicked in and we jumped up and backwards to avoid being gored by the bull.  What do we hear from the crowd behind us?  People start yelling "sit down!".  Really?  We are about to be killed (well maybe that's an exaggeration) and you want us to sit down?  Apparently we city slickers don't know how to handle a charging bull appropriately.  Lesson learned.