TUCSON RODEO - FINAL DAY

Snow in Tucson! Well, not exactly, but the picture of the nearby mountains shows a considerable amount of white stuff, down to around the 3,000 foot level. Last nights storm brought much colder temperatures, and enough precipitation to cast the mountains with a white blanket.
Wait a minute. I thought this was the desert, and nothing but warm sunshine comes down from the sky. Normally, that's the case, but Tucson is more high desert, at about 2,500 feet above sea level. The summer temperatures are a little more moderate than our blistering heat in Lake Havasu, and it's possible, like last night, for real winter weather to at least temporarily remind all of the snowbirds what they're missing back home.

There was enough rain to make muddy messes in parts of the Tucson Rodeo grounds, as depicted in this shot from the grandstands. The sun did begin to peak through the clouds, and except for one rain and hail shower, the rest of our last day of the Tucson Rodeo, was OK weather wise, just colder than normal.

Yep, that's small hail on our counter.

To wrap up this years experience with the Tucson Rodeo, at least in regard to business, I would have to say it was a success. We sold out of much of the product we had, and without all of the NFR merchandise at fire sale prices, the profit margins had to be much higher. In the big picture, this is a small event for MainGate, and from year to year, we never know for sure if they will want to continue. From our perspective, we hope that they will, not only for personal reasons, but because they are buying a lot of good will from within the rodeo community. The Tucson Rodeo is one of the larger rodeos, and it is attended by movers and shakers from other rodeos. Each year we speak with rodeo organizers who want us to bring this impressive mobile showroom to their rodeos. This year, I spoke with several people who believe that Tucson has the right idea, in that they have a partner (MainGate) that merchandises the Tucson brand, rather than bringing in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Ass'n (PRCA) brand. Unfortunately for a lot of these other rodeos, they are too small for it to make any sense for MainGate to want to become a partner.

This morning, we'll hitch up the wagons as they used to say in the old west, and mosey on down the trail toward the ranch in Lake Havasu. We'll be home for about a week, then it's off to Yuma, for the Gypsy Gathering RV Rally starting Mar 7th, then back home for our 3rd annual Alaska in Arizona BBQ on March 12th. The next few weeks are going to be busy.

The last picture is of Jim Maxie from MainGate, and Bud from the Tucson Rodeo Committee.