Yippy-Ty-O-Ty-Ay

That's how Frank Zappa put it. And it pretty well sums up this weekend.

Yet again, our plan of no plans took us to a place that offered just the right change of pace. After one of those flukes where The Rattler decided which road to take, we found ourselves in Newport, Washington on the weekend of the town's annual rodeo.

Both of us had been on the lookout for a friendly rodeo, and several times back down the road, we’d been close. But we’d always either just missed it by a couple of days or it had been cancelled on account of bad weather.

But for this one, all the signs were right. We even found ourselves welcomed into the free grassy field where the rodeo contestants and their families were camped. With horses for next door neigh-bours (and yes, they neighed) and a band of excellent musicians parked not far away, we pretended that we had cowboy boots and went along for the ride.

Along with the rodeo events, there was a carnival, a Saturday morning parade, and plenty of junk food to choose from on the midway, including some very delicious huckleberry ice cream.

Among the people we met was the McMillan family, a dedicated crew of trick-riders. The video below shows one of the tricks the youngest, seven-year-old Davey can do.

A great break as we find ourselves truly on the road back home.