Benton County Fair and Rodeo 2014

This week is Fair week, and I stopped by last night since flyball practice was cancelled due to high heat. So while the dogs stayed home in the cool inside air, I headed over to enjoy the rodeo.

There was bronc riding.

And steer wrestling.

And team roping.

Lots of barrel racing.

And even a few bull rides at the end.

Check out my Flickr page for more photos from the rodeo!

After the rodeo wrapped up and I had grabbed a veggie burrito for dinner and an elephant ear for dessert (because while at the fair, elephant ears are totally required!) I headed into the buildings to wander around, see the animals, and check out the various vendors. At this point, it was dark outside, since the rodeo started at 7pm.

I spent way too long admiring this beautiful girl, named Sheena.

Nomming on her supper of raw beef ribs and raw chicken quarters.

She isn't growling or anything in this picture, she is busy eating some beef ribs. 

Posing for the camera

She lives at A Walk on the Wild Side in Canby, OR. It is a not-for-profit animal refuge that specializes in giving homes to exotic animals that are confiscated by the authorities or have to be rehomed by their owners for various reasons. Sheena herself, though, was transferred from another refuge as a baby to provide companionship to their other tiger, a male who was a rescue. Sheena and a number of other animals from the refuge travel to various fairs and events in the Pacific Northwest, where they provide something of an attraction at the events and raise money to help the refuge keep running.

Right as I was waiting for the fair trolley to pick me up to head home, lighting started firing like crazy across the sky. By the time the trolley dropped me off back at my car and I drove home, lighting and thunder was going crazy and there were big, fat rain drops falling. Luckily, neither of my dogs has a problem with thunder. I think we all enjoyed having a cooler night!