We headed over to the HSLR after our last workshop on Sunday. We took the train since it was cheaper than a taxi and just a few stops away from our hotel. It was our last day, why not!
Tickets were $6 to enter. Way cheaper than the Del Mar Fair. There were several tented food areas:It cost more if you were to stay for the entertainment. The day we went was "Tejano Day" so the musical act that night was a group called 'Pesado' and a singer named 'Emilio' (didn't know who they were!) . [Edit: I looked them up and Pesado is a Norteno band, while Emilio is a Tejano singer] 
Hmmm...fried alligator?
By the way, barbecued turkey legs were a popular food at the rodeo. We saw so many people brandishing turkey legs, even little kids. Henry the VIII would have loved it.
I believe Reliant Center is like Houston's version of our Convention Center! It's huge in there! There were western shops galore as well as an art gallery, an indoor show arena for the animals, plus all kinds of livestock, campers, trucks, and mobile home exhibits! 
Outside was an art project called Boot Scoot, which explained the plethora of brightly painted 6-foot tall boots sprinkled throughout the city. The other day, we passed by Hermann park on the metro rail and saw a wedding party getting their photos taken near a row of boots.
This one was cool! The eyes actually glowed red!
On the way to the carnival area. There were rides, more food booths, and even a mechanical bull area. We arrived in the early afternoon so it wasn't quite busy yet. Although it was cloudy, it was pretty warm and humid!
After walking through the food tents, we sauntered over to the carnival area, looked around and decided to buy our lunch from this booth:
I got a combination plate which consisted of potato salad, white (ack!) break, barbecued beans (man, those took effect pretty quickly!), BBQ'd beef briskey (it was a bit dry), and pork ribs. I thought it was overpriced, $12 a plate, but hey, I had a stipend!
It was quite a lot of food so I ended up giving some of the meat to my co-worker's husband.
It was a whole different world out there...
This shop was selling horns! They also sold leather belts, bags, and boots.
I had no idea that Bevo was so well loved (not being a sports fan and all). Bevo is the University of Texas mascot and they bring him out for all the games. You'll notice that it's Bevo XIV. The earlier link is an article about Bevo XIII who croaked last October. Yee-haw Texas Longhorns!
John Deere is big here in Texas:
Over to the livestock area...
We walked through aisles to view the animals in their pens. Some owners even led their animals through the same aisles, hence the sporadic piles of animal feces on the hay covered floors. Several large hogs brushed by me actually. Docile creatures they are.
A cow brand:
A calf:
A cow taking a dump. I was trying to get it mid-air, but failed.
There were so many stores selling all kinds of things I never even heard of (being a suburban chick, I have absolutely no clue as to this Western way of life), such as Rope Cans (they look like cute lunch boxes, but you put your ropes in there), Boot boxes, hat boxes, show shirts (glittery shirts that people wear out in the area when they show their animals - those shirts are totally blingy and cost at least $150 or more!), jewelry and mega-blinged out belts with gigantic buckles.
A slumbering swine, so cute!
Awww...visions of bacon and sausages danced in my head:
A little girl riding the mechanical bull. They had it on a slow setting for her. There were two mechanical bulls. The workers would speed it up if it was a grownup. I think it cost about $7 to ride. Some people cheated and held on with both hands. You're supposed to have one arm up at all times. Some people were pretty good at this! No, I didn't not choose to do this activity. What was funny about this was the music they were playing were narcocorridos, a polka-based music that glorifies the drug lifestyle. Yeah, nice family music. It was in Spanish and I asked my co-worker what they were singing about: "Drugs, guns, murder and women". Niiiice. I hate to say it but after you hear one or two songs, they all sound the same...
Not pictured are the goats, chickens, and horses in the livestock area. There were so many things happening at once that it was a bit overwhelming in there (as well as the smell!). When I hear the word 'rodeo', I expected cowboys rounding up animals with ropes. We saw none of that in the Arena. We did see Mexican style horse-riding by women in beautiful, voluminous dresses, and youngsters proudly showing off their prize pigs and horses. There were many families camped out by their animals and many folks decked out in western gear. It was pretty interesting to see the varieties of leather boots out there. Ostrich and snake skin boots with matching belts (and sometimes hat band) seemed to be a favorite among the male Latinos. I hardly saw any Asians there. I figured as much, but hey, at least I can say I've been to a rodeo!
Tickets were $6 to enter. Way cheaper than the Del Mar Fair. There were several tented food areas:It cost more if you were to stay for the entertainment. The day we went was "Tejano Day" so the musical act that night was a group called 'Pesado' and a singer named 'Emilio' (didn't know who they were!) . [Edit: I looked them up and Pesado is a Norteno band, while Emilio is a Tejano singer] 
Hmmm...fried alligator?
By the way, barbecued turkey legs were a popular food at the rodeo. We saw so many people brandishing turkey legs, even little kids. Henry the VIII would have loved it.
I believe Reliant Center is like Houston's version of our Convention Center! It's huge in there! There were western shops galore as well as an art gallery, an indoor show arena for the animals, plus all kinds of livestock, campers, trucks, and mobile home exhibits! 
Outside was an art project called Boot Scoot, which explained the plethora of brightly painted 6-foot tall boots sprinkled throughout the city. The other day, we passed by Hermann park on the metro rail and saw a wedding party getting their photos taken near a row of boots.
This one was cool! The eyes actually glowed red!
On the way to the carnival area. There were rides, more food booths, and even a mechanical bull area. We arrived in the early afternoon so it wasn't quite busy yet. Although it was cloudy, it was pretty warm and humid!
After walking through the food tents, we sauntered over to the carnival area, looked around and decided to buy our lunch from this booth:
I got a combination plate which consisted of potato salad, white (ack!) break, barbecued beans (man, those took effect pretty quickly!), BBQ'd beef briskey (it was a bit dry), and pork ribs. I thought it was overpriced, $12 a plate, but hey, I had a stipend!
It was quite a lot of food so I ended up giving some of the meat to my co-worker's husband.
It was a whole different world out there...
This shop was selling horns! They also sold leather belts, bags, and boots.
I had no idea that Bevo was so well loved (not being a sports fan and all). Bevo is the University of Texas mascot and they bring him out for all the games. You'll notice that it's Bevo XIV. The earlier link is an article about Bevo XIII who croaked last October. Yee-haw Texas Longhorns!
John Deere is big here in Texas:
Over to the livestock area...
We walked through aisles to view the animals in their pens. Some owners even led their animals through the same aisles, hence the sporadic piles of animal feces on the hay covered floors. Several large hogs brushed by me actually. Docile creatures they are.
A cow brand:
A calf:
A cow taking a dump. I was trying to get it mid-air, but failed.
There were so many stores selling all kinds of things I never even heard of (being a suburban chick, I have absolutely no clue as to this Western way of life), such as Rope Cans (they look like cute lunch boxes, but you put your ropes in there), Boot boxes, hat boxes, show shirts (glittery shirts that people wear out in the area when they show their animals - those shirts are totally blingy and cost at least $150 or more!), jewelry and mega-blinged out belts with gigantic buckles.
A slumbering swine, so cute!
Awww...visions of bacon and sausages danced in my head:
A little girl riding the mechanical bull. They had it on a slow setting for her. There were two mechanical bulls. The workers would speed it up if it was a grownup. I think it cost about $7 to ride. Some people cheated and held on with both hands. You're supposed to have one arm up at all times. Some people were pretty good at this! No, I didn't not choose to do this activity. What was funny about this was the music they were playing were narcocorridos, a polka-based music that glorifies the drug lifestyle. Yeah, nice family music. It was in Spanish and I asked my co-worker what they were singing about: "Drugs, guns, murder and women". Niiiice. I hate to say it but after you hear one or two songs, they all sound the same...
Not pictured are the goats, chickens, and horses in the livestock area. There were so many things happening at once that it was a bit overwhelming in there (as well as the smell!). When I hear the word 'rodeo', I expected cowboys rounding up animals with ropes. We saw none of that in the Arena. We did see Mexican style horse-riding by women in beautiful, voluminous dresses, and youngsters proudly showing off their prize pigs and horses. There were many families camped out by their animals and many folks decked out in western gear. It was pretty interesting to see the varieties of leather boots out there. Ostrich and snake skin boots with matching belts (and sometimes hat band) seemed to be a favorite among the male Latinos. I hardly saw any Asians there. I figured as much, but hey, at least I can say I've been to a rodeo! 
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