Cowboy Festival

My parents grew up in Idaho.  My mom grew up on a farm.  For a family reunion once, we attended a rodeo.  So when I learned about the Cowboy Festival in Santa Clarita I knew my parents were the perfect invitees!   

I knew it would be a fun outing because the festival takes place at Melody Ranch, a working western backlot.  Apparently it is only open to the public during the festival.  What I didn't expect were the crowds!  It took us almost an hour just to load the buses to transport us to the Ranch.  When we got there were saw plenty of sights.  There were a range of people.  Some people were dressed up because they were "actors" and other people were decked out just for the heck of it! 

It was really neat to be able to walk around the set.  They had a museum where they showcased memorabilia from various shows that filmed there.  The site has a long history so there were plenty of stuff to see.  Being a museum professional, though, I have to admit I thought it could have been a lot better.  Maybe I should pursue a job there! 

My coworker is in a band that was performing at the festival so it was really neat to seem him play.  We also attended a cowboy poetry reading and a performance by the Sons of the San Joaquin.  We ended the night with some dutch oven peach cobbler.  I left with one souvenir, a parasol.  Sean is a little embarrassed that I have one and swears I will never use it.  I've been wanting one for a while so you just wait and see!

Bonnie and Clyde get away car

Stagecoach used in Maverick

They had a picture showing how many "extras" they had of this.  Sooo many destroyed!

Each building had an interior, like the bank had a teller and the jail had a cell.  Kinda cool!

My coworker Sage and his band, the Lucky Stars

This gunslinger trains actors

Cowboy poetry