Again, here we are. 2020. 2019, gone in a flash! Our last month was a whirl wind, if you followed along on our social media I’m sure you gathered that much! The last time we caught up with you was while we were in Ft. Worth. We then hit the highway to Wickenburg, AZ where we got to spend some much needed time with Clay’s family and celebrated Thanksgiving. We put on 1,910 miles before we even made it to Sin City.
Rare sighting of Clay driving.
We headed out early Monday morning to Vegas. We had no idea what to expect; excited, nervous, humbled and ready. I could’ve burst I was so happy for Clay and he was so tired of hearing it by the time we hit Las Vegas city limits (haha!). We moved into our home (the MGM Grand) for the next two weeks and hit the ground running. Our first order of business was recording our first podcast, which I highly recommend subscribing to on iTunes and Spotify, The RodeoReady Podcast. We had our good friend Sylvan as our first guest, along with some new friends Caylee and Cade listen in while we worked on things. Some good laughs, awkward silences and a 39 minutes podcast later and we had the first one under our belt! Definitely a learning curve but we are excited to be stepping out of our box!
The next couple of days we got to catch up with people we travel with at the Back Number Ceremony and the Personnel Awards Banquet. A whole lot of talent was packed into one room and we felt real lucky to be in their presence. It was also kind of fun to get dolled up with everyone! Clay received his jacket and his NFR buckle. We are small fish, so this was SUPER exciting, a moment I won’t soon forget. We met up with the other photographers and got acquainted with everyone we would be working with over the course of the next 10 days. I personally think we were all a great team. We shared some great laughs, some late nights and thousands of photos.
Clay and I both love Las Vegas during the NFR. It feels like you know everyone, there are cowboy hats everywhere and people feel like family! We spent some time on the road with Miss Rodeo South Dakota Jordan Tierney, who was so deservingly crowned Miss Rodeo America 2020. It was so fun to watch her journey unfold and we are so excited for her year ahead! We also caught up with our good friend Morgan Straub, who carried the Pendleton flag as a flag girl at the 2019 NFR. Our paths crossed a lot with those we share the road with during the rodeo season! It’s so fun to have everyone in one spot.
I wish I would have kept a journal while we were in Vegas. I can’t write every story, every memory, and every emotion. We are so humbled by everyone’s kindness and all those that reached out to us while we were traveling. Because of all your support we get to do what we love and keep grinding. Can’t wait to show you some of the amazing shots that Clay got when he was shooting! Somehow, we made it! And we are so excited for the future!
-Ty (& Clay)
