Rodeo Days

Today, Mary Ellen and her husband came up to Yellville to visit with our family. Mary Ellen is Burpee's oldest daughter and so sweet... and a very good cook. We had beef brisket and potatoes... with dessert being a chocolate zucchini cake. Unusual, but Betty says very good.

On her way to Yellville, Mary Ellen had a wild turkey fly into her windshield. This was only the start of her unfortunate luck though, as she ran over a skunk, nearly collided with an armadillo, and then hit her dog upon arriving home. Wild turkeys, though, are everywhere up here. There are families of them in the back of Burpee's property and one that stays around the house. They hunt them during the appropriate season.

Charlie took Betty, Mary Ellen, and me up to the "Top of the World" which is actually the top of the mountain on the family property. Everything was green and lush, so we couldn't see as much as if it were bare, but the view was amazing... and the trip up there was so beautiful. That is definatly what I would call off roading.

Cary, Daniel, the three kids, Tina, Scott, their two boys, and I went to the Little Britches rodeo at Lead Hill. It was such a kick. We missed mutton busting, but saw everything else from goat roping to barrel racing to bull riding. Everyone competing was under 16, so it was perhaps a bit more tame than the big rodeo (which is Friday/Saturday night). The great thing was, even though I don't live there, I knew a whole bunch of people because they were family! Two of the competitors were my third step cousins, my mom's cousin was there, her uncle, and a few random members that I don't know exact relations to, but know they are family. It was great fun.