Trinidad Rodeo — Yee Ha!

Earlier this month, we drove about 3-1/2 hours to Trinidad, Colorado to take in a small-town rodeo. The 111th Annual Trinidad Round Up might make it seem like a bigger deal than it is, but it is definitely a small-town affair. That’s also what makes it entertaining.

Since we mostly photograph landscapes and non-moving subjects, it is challenging and fun to try to capture such fast-moving targets. Not many of the riders stayed up for the coveted 8 seconds on either the saddle bronc or bull riding events this year, but the riders all had the support of the audience. And getting photos of some of the riders being bucked off is also interesting.

It was a hot, dusty weekend, so we only took in the first day of the rodeo. We had been hoping for cooler temps in early September, but… yeah, no, I think we are living in the new normal as far as temps in the Southwest go.

Here are a few more photos from the day:

After the rodeo, we headed into downtown Trinidad to find something to eat. Being a Sunday, many places were closed. We found ourselves at the Trinidad Smokehouse, which was pretty good. We both really liked the cornmeal-crusted catfish appetizer we had.

We had booked a “no frills” (no electric or water) campsite at Trinidad Lake State Park for the night, so that’s where we headed next. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset amongst the wild sunflowers, and — gasp! — the mosquitos. We don’t have many mosquitos at all where we live, so being by the water is what brought them around.

We left the next morning, and after a quick stop in Raton for coffee and breakfast, made it home by mid-day.