St. Paul Rodeo (2) - 4th of July Parade in the village & the big rodeo

Wednesday July 4th

The alarm clock goes off at 7:30 a.m. and after a quick breakfast, we get in the car at 9 a.m. to go to St. Paul. It's already buzzing there, lots of people, most of them with folding chairs under their arms, populate the few streets of the town.

So we grab our beach chairs, after finding a parking spot on the side of the road, and walk the 5 short blocks to Main Street. There are already plenty of people with their chairs and blankets on both sides of the street.

They wave little flags, have food and drinks with them, and there is a great atmosphere. Then the parade comes, which is small, as expected, for a town the size of St. Paul. And above all, wonderfully rural.

We are not in New York or Washington here and it is a mix of a carnival parade, marksmen festival, and agricultural exhibition. Brass bands, clowns, floats advertising local companies like towing services and tire dealers, or with members of local institutions such as schools or sports clubs on them, pass by us.

There is also a man standing on a tractor. Maybe the mayor? The children cheer and clap loudly to have candy thrown to them. There are a few vintage cars but also military vehicles with soldiers and those who want to become soldiers. When these floats come into view, the cheering becomes frenzied and you can hear loud 'Thank you' shouts. Some floats have such high constructions that they get stuck in a tree 30 meters away from us, which adds to the general amusement.

After an hour, the spectacle is unfortunately over. The sun shines down on us in a festive mood and we bring our chairs back to the car and go back to the arena and the adjacent fairgrounds. Shortly after 12 p.m., we buy food vouchers for the big BBQ Cook-off, where several BBQ grills compete for prizes. However, it's not the guests who determine the winner, but a judge. The best potato salad will also be honored with a prize. But since there is only one stand with potato salad, the competition will either be difficult or already clear from the beginning.

But there are different grill vendors. The meat is delicious, there is also potato salad (for us), and a sweet bun, which doesn't really go well together in terms of taste. Everything in a big tent at long tables and to loud country music. After an ice cream, we drive back to the hotel and stop on the way at a flower and fruit store called French Prairie Gardens and buy a sensational strawberry shake, which is made right in front of our eyes from freshly picked fruits and a mountain of vanilla ice cream. Quickly buy some hazelnut coffee and light-colored pants for 20 dollars at Walmart and off to the hotel. Put on a tank top and go down to the small pool. That's where I sit, dangling my legs in the water, and write the first part of the day in my diary.

Before we go back to St. Paul for the 4th of July Rodeo, we go shopping for a short while... At 6:00 p.m., we drive to St. Paul and spend about two of the 10 miles stuck in traffic. Nevertheless, we find a parking space on the street and go to our seats after finding sunglasses clips for regular glasses at one of the cute sales stands. They have everything here!

The rodeo is somehow better than yesterday, it lasts very long, and the atmosphere is amazing. 10,000 people go into the stadium, which is completely sold out - and that in a town with just over 400 inhabitants! The end of the rodeo is the Wild Horse Race, where teams of 2 have to catch and saddle wild horses. It's a wild mess, one of the cowboys is being dragged halfway across the arena, others are now fighting on wildly bucking horses, trying to throw their riders off and galloping wildly around the arena. Suddenly, two extremely fast galloping horses crash right in front of us. They came from different directions. The riders are thrown high into the air, one horse falls to the side and twitches. What a terrible sight. The thrown riders are immediately by the horse, one keeps its eyes shut and sits on the lying horse. The other quickly ties its legs together so that no one is injured by possible kicks. A tractor with a large board drives up, the horse is put on it and taken out of the arena. It doesn't look good. We, of course, do not find out if the horse survived this. But somehow, this is a cruel ending to this day.

So we only watch the fireworks for a short while and drive back to the hotel, where we fall into bed around 1 a.m.