Polo Anyone?

Just so you know I have never been to a polo match before...but that's okay because they had handouts for us to help with understanding the game. It was fun! Not at all what I had envisioned. It's pretty fast moving game and there is plenty of action to watch. The ball that is used was lighter and less solid then I anticipated. I was thinking a ball like a crochet ball. While similar in size not at all like it in substance.

During halftime there was a divot stomp. Definitely interactive for the crowd. This was a cool way to stretch your legs and move around during the break.This was not for those with flip flops or fancy shoes on cause you are poking the turf back down that gets tore up by the mallet and or the horse hooves. In this case it was mostly sand and without a substantial shoe you will come away with dirty feet. I might know this from firsthand experience. You will also want to check the soles of your shoes for cuckelburrs cause the field was full of them. We scraped 'em off as best we could and still hand to hand pull some of those suckers off. MiRV even had some sticking to his pant legs. Craziness! And they hurt when you get poked!

 Stomping the divots

Oh, back to polo...there are quarters, called chukkers, they last 7 minutes, then there is break. That's when the players change horses. There are six chukkers in a match. There were only four players. The official rode a horse, too. He did not carry a mallet but a ball picker upper thing! It probably has a name but our handout did not give that info!

The weather was perfectly sunny with a touch of wind. It was such a neat way to spend the afternoon. Who knew we would see a polo match while hanging out at South Padre Island!

Since we were out on the island we decided to stay for the sunset. As the afternoon wore on it became a little hazy and there were no clouds but the sunset was still quite stunning. The final glow made the sun just look like a molten liquid.

#OWT
#TXsunsets

8 Seconds

 

What else should one do in Texas on a Saturday night when there is a bull riding event going on? GO! So we did.

Now this was NOT the PBR...that's the one that's like famous and cost BIG bucks to see No, no this was the NPBR. Whatever, it was bull riding and on a Saturday night in Texas it's what you should do if it's available, I mean, this IS Texas, that's what they do!

We showed up early for the pre-entertainment...the people watching proved to be the best bang for your buck. The pre-entertainer was okay, but he didn't do songs we knew and his set up was at the other end of the arena therefore, he was hard to hear. The kettle corn was some of the least yummy I have ever had. So it was the people watching that kept us entertained. We also crossed paths with some folks we had met at a concert a few weeks ago, that was fun! They are a hoot!

Hanging at the NPBR with my man.

The bulls in the qualifying round were good and we saw some pretty decent riding. We also saw some injuries, yeah, no thanks, this is definitely a risky sport! EMTs were gainfully employed. But the riders seemed like they were enjoying it, the ones who could walk afterward anyway. The clown was entertaining. There were also bull helpers...they were earning their money with some of those beasts. One of those young men went down pretty hard with a bull stomping his leg but he made sure the rider was safe. Matt did return to action but he favored that leg the rest of the evening.

Pretty tough to capture the action without blurriness

The final round proved somewhat harder for the riders, NO ONE stayed on these animals These were, of course, higher rated bulls and definitely a harder ride. Couple riders came close, one was at 6.8 seconds but lost out for the full ride. They even allowed a re-ride but no joy. One of the highlights was a bull getting loose. Like out of the fenced in area. He was roaming the parking lot. For a few tense moments everyone was holding their breath. It was all hands on deck to try and get this bovine corralled. Finally, there was success and the riding went forward. Made good fodder for the announcer and clown the rest of the evening. I was just praying he didn't go near Roada!

At the close of the night they had bull fighters...yeah, we were not sure about this but it was somewhat entertaining and not at all like the traditional bull fighting that comes to my mind. First they were dressed somewhat like a rodeo clown and then they pretty much just chased the bull around the arena. They did try to use the Cavender's barrel as a prop to put between them and the bull to touch his head. Since the clown was in the barrel and the bull usually "nudged" it over he got shook up several times. It was definitely something to watch and but then we were also shaking our heads asking ourselves if this was really a smart thing. The answer after two injuries and one EMT visit was, 'NO". But the crowd seemed to like it and we couldn't pull our eyes away so I guess it was definitely entertainment at its finest.

#OWT
#LooksDangerousToMe

Thursday Thoughts - Ziglar

The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

Zig Ziglar

THE Global Hawk picture

It's been awhile but we were still excited to get this picture a few days ago from the tour we were privileged to go on back in June 2015! Neat stuff getting to be there and have an up close and personal look of this pretty cool bird! I blogged our trip here in case you missed it or need a refresher! I

 The long awaited for picture!

#USAFgoodstuff

Altamira Oriole Sighting

I'm not sure but we may be crossing the line.

Crossing the line from bird lookers into bird watchers. It's crazy, I know, but it might be true! I was totally stoked when we spotted the Altamira Oriole this afternoon. This bird is elusive, he swoops in and out and you barely know if you caught sight of him or not. That is until today. We not only caught sight but we were treated to seeing a pair. They were nestled in the tree to get out of the wind and they were gorgeous. It was as if there were two oranges hanging from the tree and that is why it caught my eye. I knew we weren't in a citrus grove so what were those orange blobs....OH MY WORD, it's the Altamira Oriole and there is not ONE but TWO...this is awesome!

That's one of the orioles!

#OWT
#BirdWatchers

Quilts

We had the some time and took the opportunity to stop at the McAllen Historical Society to see a quilt display a few days ago. It was a small collection of beautiful work and so varied. The colors, the technique, the stitching, it was amazing. They had a people's choice ballot for us to vote for our favorite. That was hard!

 One of these got our vote!

#Quiltsarenotjustblankets

Bike flats

So the other day at the Resaca de la Palma State Park we rode the bike trails, it was fun. Lots of fun, not too much sun, a few birds, an ocelot, turtles, jumping fish, lookout tower. Fun! Fun that is until someone got a flat...yeah, that was me. THANKFULLY, we were back at the visitor center. The park was open but the visitor center was closed so we had to park outside the gate. This was fine, we rode in. Leaving only one of us who rode out. I walked my bike back since it had a flat back tire.

Walking it back...

Honestly, it wasn't bad. In fact, it could have been so much worse. We could have been out on one of the trails. THAT would have been quite a long walk back. Anyway, we are steering clear of some of these so called bike trails since the long thorns of the trees seem to be invading our tires. While MiRV made it back and we thought it was only my tire that was affected. However, when we found a park with a little shade to perform the flat repair both of my tires were now flat and one of his was. He pulled out 7 thorns from one tire. Geez. But he's really good at flat repairs so it's all grand! And we picked up a bottle of Slime tire repair goop! Should be all good now!

 Flat tire repair at the park in Edinburg, TX