National Finals Rodeo...Take One
National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas, December 1995
Top down on the red Mustang convertible with the sun keeping us warm, we were speeding along the freeway around Las Vegas. Joanna's blonde hair was flowing in the wind and glinting in the sun. She looked born to drive this car.
She hardly looked the part of a cowgirl, but who was I to talk? At this time last year would anyone I knew have guessed I would be Las Vegas covering the National Finals Rodeo? Not likely. But here I was, driving fast with a beautiful girl in the middle of a rodeo whirlwind.
I wasn't going to be in Vegas at all actually. I only pulled together the trip at the last minute. The week before I had driven over to Roseburg, Oregon, to wish Vanessa good luck and a great trip. Vanessa Owenby was the reigning Miss Rodeo Oregon and we had spent some time together at various rodeos over the last few months and had become friends. She was competing in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant during NFR.
"What! You can get into NFR for free and you're not going to do it?" She was shocked. "I can't believe you wouldn't go."
"Well, it wouldn't exactly be free you know."
"That's just... I can't believe it," she said. "Besides, I was kind of hoping you would be at the pageant."
"When you put it that way, it's sort of hard to say 'no,'" I said.
"Hey...do you guys think Shawn should go to Vegas next week?"
"Yeah!"
And just like that, I was scrambling to put it together.
Fortunately, I already had the press pass lined up. Without that it would have been a lost cause. The plane tickets turned out to be pretty cheap and I got a last-minute deal on a hotel, so I was good to go.
Looking back, it's funny how things fell into place and led to more and more opportunities - a bit like a line of falling dominos. I was covering NFR for a small Oregon publication which got me the press pass. Before the weekend was over, that job blossomed into several more and I met some important people along the way. One of the add-on jobs I was able to piggy back onto the first one was covering the Miss Rodeo America pageant...
Top down on the red Mustang convertible with the sun keeping us warm, we were speeding along the freeway around Las Vegas. Joanna's blonde hair was flowing in the wind and glinting in the sun. She looked born to drive this car.
She hardly looked the part of a cowgirl, but who was I to talk? At this time last year would anyone I knew have guessed I would be Las Vegas covering the National Finals Rodeo? Not likely. But here I was, driving fast with a beautiful girl in the middle of a rodeo whirlwind.
I wasn't going to be in Vegas at all actually. I only pulled together the trip at the last minute. The week before I had driven over to Roseburg, Oregon, to wish Vanessa good luck and a great trip. Vanessa Owenby was the reigning Miss Rodeo Oregon and we had spent some time together at various rodeos over the last few months and had become friends. She was competing in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant during NFR.
"What! You can get into NFR for free and you're not going to do it?" She was shocked. "I can't believe you wouldn't go.""Well, it wouldn't exactly be free you know."
"That's just... I can't believe it," she said. "Besides, I was kind of hoping you would be at the pageant."
"When you put it that way, it's sort of hard to say 'no,'" I said.
"Hey...do you guys think Shawn should go to Vegas next week?"
"Yeah!"
And just like that, I was scrambling to put it together.
Fortunately, I already had the press pass lined up. Without that it would have been a lost cause. The plane tickets turned out to be pretty cheap and I got a last-minute deal on a hotel, so I was good to go.
Looking back, it's funny how things fell into place and led to more and more opportunities - a bit like a line of falling dominos. I was covering NFR for a small Oregon publication which got me the press pass. Before the weekend was over, that job blossomed into several more and I met some important people along the way. One of the add-on jobs I was able to piggy back onto the first one was covering the Miss Rodeo America pageant...
posted by Shawn at 10:05 PM
2 Comments:
It's strange how often last minute moves work that way.
So true...some of the best stuff that's happened to me has happened when I just jumped.
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