Glenrock Sheepherders Rendezvous
Hello Dear Readers! I am back and somewhat recovered from the Glenrock Sheepherders Rendezvous
I had such a good time! It was really good to see my friend Laurette and get some much needed hugs.
The rendezvous board threw a great party for sure! So many wagons, I heard 23, were at the event. The food was amazing, the flowers everywhere making it feel so home-y, and great music!
Best of all was the people! They make you feel like you are family when you come over and visit. Smiling faces and happy banter all over the ‘vous. Most of these folks were just names on a FB page before this past weekend, and now I call them friends.
Don’t you love it when that happens?
The entire rendezvous board goes above and beyond to make this a spectacular weekend for everyone involved. You could not ask for a better time! Or a better planned event. If you plan to vacation out this way next year, put this on your list of things you must do!
Let’s see if I can list everything that went on:
Sheep wagons as far as you can see
Sheep dog trials
Alpaca obstacle course
Yaks!
Food and craft vendors
Square Dancing
Dutch Oven cook off
Pony Express picking up mail
Sheep to Shawl demonstration
A variety of musical guests playing during the afternoons/evenings
Auction
Church via horseback pastor
Participant breakfasts and dinners
On the food part I got to try a new kind of food to me. Basque cooking. And it was delicious! A gentleman named Ramon Ysursa came to the ‘vous and made sheepherders eggs for breakfast, along with Basque chorizo. OMG GOOD!!!
Ramon runs a FB page called Sheepwagon Fever If you are interested in sheep wagons, sheep, and Basque culture, that is the place to be! It was a real pleasure to meet him in person.
Saturday was the busiest day of the weekend. Lots of families came out to see the event. The kids really are enchanted by the sheep wagons and what they represented in terms of the history of the west. They were the original RV’s! Quite a few “Old Timers” who grew up on ranches stopped by to touch my fleeces and tell stories about life on a sheep ranch. I loved seeing the soft fade of their eyes as they reminisced about their childhood’s.
My friend Laurette’s rugs sold like crazy! I don’t think she took too many home with her. They are amazing rugs made out of the selvages from the Pendleton wool blankets. So fluffy and colorful. One even made its way straight into a sheep wagon!
I sold a few things, mittens, sourdough starter, a few books, nothing spectacular for me. No fleeces found new homes. Oh well.
The weather was pretty much what you would expect for Wyoming this time of year. Rain on Thursday night, sunny and warm Friday, windy as all get out on Saturday, and calm on Sunday. When I say windy, I’m not kidding. We had 40+mph gusts predicted, and I think we hit those many times. Laurette’s pop up tent did not fare well during all of it. Weights and then staking it down did some good, but we still had to run and grab poles several times to keep it from leaving.
Laurette sacrificed the tent to the wind gods and into the dumpster it went on Sunday.
The blacksmith that came to do demonstrations was able to make a few of the missing pieces to the fire set I have on Saturday. He does excellent work! I am looking forward to better weather here so that I can cook outside again on them.
I had a great time, but it was good to go home. Shower and my own bed felt great. Sleeping in a single person pop up tent in the bed of my pickup was not the most comfortable home. It worked through and I was dry and it didn’t hurt my hips too much with extra padding under me. I am glad I brought the small ladder with me to get up in there!
My son did a great job taking care of the farm while I was away. He had no problems with anything here. I got him a new hoodie as a thank you. He started wearing it the next day.
If you go to either of the above links, you can find many more pictures and videos of the ‘vous. Lots of good stuff to look at!
I am looking forward to going again next year, but I better find something else that will sell better! I hope to see you there next year dear readers!
Blessed Be!
“Alpaca obstacle course”? Must know more!
The sheep wagons take me back. When I was little kid, we stayed out at the lambing camp during lambing. My folks slept in the big bed in the cook shack, called “the Red House” for its red shingles on the outside walls. They put my sister and me in one sheep wagon, and my two little brothers in another, and which ever of the lambing crews were staying over in two others. Some of my father’s uncles pitched a sheep herders tent with a little wood stove in it, and some just slept in their pickups. Seemed like it invariably snowed.