A day of visiting with a history of Chuck Wagon racing

Hello everyone,
Friendship...one of the greatest gifts my life has given me. In Ottawa I met up with my best friend from public school, Winnipeg introduced me to three new friends and Calgary gave me the opportunity to "stop the world" and visit with some friends out here.
Gord and Judy...incredible people. The thing that I like about this friendship is that they knew my father over the years through business and were very good friends of his and this has now grown into a friendship I have with them. That is the neat thing about friendship...it does not have limits. So we met Gord and Judy for lunch and caught up on life while enjoying the odd beer on the patio. It was a beautiful day and the company was great. While we were sitting out there I thought...I need to do this more often. Drink in the middle of the day with my good friends out in the sunshine. To Gord and Judy, thanks for lunch and the lovely afternoon. It was great and I look forward to catching up again soon.
We spent the afternoon walking around the Chinook Centre and then met up with Bruce and June and their kids...Nick and Rayleen who are 7 and 4. We decided that we would go out for dinner however Nick and Rayleen insisted that we see their Chuck Wagon races in their backyard first. This is where we got our history on the Chuck Wagon races.
While Nick was preparing his wagon (a red Playskol wagon with a white sheet and bars over the top to look like an awning, a couple of pieces of wood with string that were the tent poles and the bucket that was the stove) Bruce explain to me the history of Chuck Wagons. These were the "feed wagons" for the cowboys who were out herding the cattle. They would set up for breakfast with the stove outside the wagon, the awning protected them from the sun with the tent poles. There were three outriders who rode with the wagon and help set up. Once breakfast was done the cowboys would go off and the chuck wagon would load up and race to the next spot to get there before the cowboys to prepare and serve lunch and then do it all over again for dinner. They are an important part of the cowboy history.
So Rayleen was the outrider that helped prepare the wagon with Nick, the course had been set in the backyard and the announcer was ready to call the race (Bruce). Nick was at the front of the wagon ready to pull but we had to make sure the front wheel was behind the barrel at the start or he would of been penalized. So once we made sure Nick was in proper position and he told the announcer that he was going to be "Lightening Luke" for today's race the horn (Bruce again) went. Well, Nick got off to a fast start around the first corner but had a little trouble with the patio table which slowed him up. Lightening Luke recovered well though and made his way to the grass to go around the next barrel which he cleared. However the crash came at the third barrel where the chuck wagon lost it's load and flipped over on it's side. It's OK though folks...Lightening Luke (Nick) was OK and was not injured.
So again, Nick and his outrider Rayleen, set up the wagon again. Again the horn sound and off he went but this time Mom (June) was pulling the chuck wagon. Mom cleared the patio table made her way down to the second barrel with Nick on as the driver (Nick is no longer Lightening Luke for this race he is now "Tyler" who really did crash his Chuck Wagon at Stampede last week) and she was heading fast to the third barrel but again fate was cruel....Tyler (Nick) went FLYING out of the chuck wagon. The crowd was silent waiting to see if this cowboy would get up after this crash. We waited and waited and finally he got up off the ground brushed off his jeans grabbed his cowboy hat and was ready for the last and final race.
The stage is set, Mom is ready to pull the Nick is now inside the chuck wagon and the horn sounds. Mom makes her way around the patio table, gains speed around the second barrel and is heading for the third when all of the sudden there is no driver on the wagon and the horses (Mom) are running wild!! Wait, wait...the crowd cannot believe their eyes...one of the outriders (Nick) is climbing aboard the chuck wagon making his way through it to the driver's seat reaches down to grab the reins while the horses (Mom) are running wild. With incredible danger to his own life the out rider grabs the reins and slow the horses down and regains control of this run away chuck wagon. The crowd goes wild and can not believe the scene they have just witnessed!!! Nick had truly saved the day.
With all this excitement (and Mom running) we all needed dinner and a drink so off to Moxie's we went. Pat and I had a great time and again, it was great to catch up and stop the world. So thanks to Bruce and June for dinner and to Nick and Rayleen for the history lesson and the reactment of the Chuck Wagon races from Stampede the week before.
What a great way to spend a day. As Woodstock says "A day spent with friends is never long enough".
With love and thanks,
M.J.