Cattle Drive

Saturday morning we headed downtown to an annual Cattle Drive - it's a traditional kick-off to Rodeo season in San Antonio. They close down part of Houston Street and let the Long Horns walk (or, as many preferred, run) down the street. Monitored by the cowboys, of course.
We weren't sure what to expect - thought there'd be a big crowd and parking would be a nightmare. So we left early and got downtown an hour before the parade. But it wasn't very crowded at all - it was great!!! There were lots of people - we even ran into 3 familes we know between MOPS, church and Jacob's office. But it wasn't overly crowded at all.



While we waited for the cattle, we played the "Two Step" passport game. Rodeo volunteers were were handing out flyers that you had to get stamped by local venders. If you got 5 stamps, you got a free admission ticket to the Rodeo grounds and entry into door prizes. We didn't win any door prizes - but we got some free admission tickets! And we had fun killing time before the parade.

Soon we found a spot to watch the parade from, and Jacob & I took turns walking the kids up and down the block. Faith, especially, had no desire to sit or stand still. She's must keep moving!

Nathan's reached a stage where he not only can say "Momma" but he says it often. And appropriately. If he can't find me at the park, he walks around saying "Momma." If he wants my attention in the van, he'll say "Momma." And he's enjoying having me closer than usual. It's sweet. So when Jacob's turn came to take both kids for a walk down the block and back, Nathan kept turning around to make sure his Momma was watching and no going to leave. Aww ;)

At 11:00 it was time for the parade! And Faith was content to stand on a planter/bench and watch for a long while - she was in awe of the animals!

Whoa! Look at those Long Horns!

Some of them were really big, with really really long horns!And boy can they run!

Before we knew it, all the cattle had gone by us.They were fast!And fun to watch!


Next, it was time for some bands, lots of horses, some military and a few other random groups to parade through.






Haha - the clean up crew!!They were cheered on by the crowd - none of us envied their job!That's one big pooper-scooper!



Then there were more random groups... historcial groups, Indian groups, more horseback riders, a high school Mariachi band and even a bagpipe band!What do bagpipes have to do with the rodeo?? Kinda funny, I guess!

Nathan and Faith enjoyed waving to many of the horseback riders and people in the parade.

Then I got a kick out of the very last group...You can't see it in the photo, but that last guy in background was barefoot.There's not much that could convince me to walk half a mile down horse poop covered street, barefoot. As Jacob said, "There's a price for authenticity" lol

The parade ended with another, more technolocially advanced, clean up crew.


We had a great morning at the Cattle Drive. The rodeo starts this week, and goes thru President's Day weekend. I'm sure we'll make it there once, or twice. The kids (and us!) will enjoy the grounds, the sights, the animals, the rides, the food, and just hanging out together at the rodeo. As they say here... "Let's Rodeo, San Antonio"!