Hi friends! This week’s blog is going to be all about the 2015 Professional Bull Riders World Finals and my experience this weekend in Las Vegas! So my weekend trip to Vegas was completely spontaneous! My friend Yamilloski literally texted me a few days before asking if I wanted to join her at the PBR 2015 World Finals and since I’m so enthusiastic about life, I cancelled all of my plans for that weekend (which was quite a bit) and drove to Vegas with her. Luckily, I had recently purchased a pair of cowboy boots so I was basically ready for the weekend. Yamilloski and I start driving to Las Vegas and as usual we are listening to reggaeton and bachata lol. We get a little hungry on our way to Vegas so we stopped to grab something quick to eat (I get Subway and Yamillosky gets Chipotle) 🙁

We arrive in Vegas and I change into my outfit for PBR 2015 which was a blue button down shirt and some super cute salmon colored high waisted shorts. Yamilloski looks at my shorts and tells me they are too short (WHICH THEY WERE NOT) lol but she proceeds to tell me that the tickets we have are in a VIP suite and that several people from her job will be there so I have to look appropriate. She then proceeds to tell me that I ‘better behave’ lol!!! She’s crazy hahaha but she did hook me up with free tickets so I change into jeans.

We start driving to the UNLV basketball stadium which is where the event is being held and I feel like royalty. We have a VIP parking spot so we literally park a few hundred feet from the stadium. We start walking and I realize how grateful I am that Yamilloski made me change out of my salmon colored shorts. EVERYONE IS WEARING JEANS AND COWBOY BOOTS. And there is so much energy in the air, it was awesome!! We get to the VIP booth and again Yamilloski reminds me to behave (as if I ever misbehave anywhere lol) and again I am glad she made me change. There are definitely several people from Yamilloski’s job there but they are not just any coworkers, they are super high level coworkers. So yes, I’m glad I changed into jeans lol.

So we sit down, start eating (unlimited food omg) and drinking (unlimited drinks!!!) and the event starts. A few interesting notes, I’ve never been to a rodeo or any PBR event, I’ve only ever seen them on tv. One interesting thing I saw was that at the beginning of the event, the national anthem is sung (which is normal) but then something very different happened…everyone starts saying a prayer. It was very different.

THEN THE EVENT STARTS. There are bull riders from all over the world (USA, Brazil, Australia, Canada, etc.) and this is not just any rodeo. This is an event where the best of the best are participating. This is where the excitement truly begins! But then my excitement dies because when the first rider comes out and then falls off of the bull and almost gets trampled to death, I remember that I am a very empathetic person and I literally am sitting there super worried about every single bull rider lol. So when this realization sets in, I just get more onion rings and just eat and eat and eat lol. It was scary to see near-accidents and even scarier to see 2 bull riders get seriously injured and have to be taken out on stretchers. But they are okay, I checked their status the next day!

But then, as each round continues, the better riders start coming out and they don’t fall off the bulls. They last the 8 seconds on the bull and then super gracefully and very casually jump off. These riders were VERY FUN to watch. JB Mauney was the winner on Saturday and he is definitely life goals. I hope to one day be as good at my job as he is at bull riding. It was incredible to watch. All in all, my first rodeo experience was amazing. THANK YOU YAMILLOSKI FOR THE TICKETS. Also, fun fact…there are guys specifically designated to hold the bull riders while they are mounting the bull to make sure they don’t touch the bull until the moment the doors are opened and the bull can run out of the pen and start bucking. So these guys holding the bull riders are holding on to the riders for dear life kind of like saying ‘I’ve got you, don’t worry’ and when I saw this happening I jokingly said to Yamilloski ‘is it too much to ask for someone to hold me like that?’ lol I thought it was hilarious so I had to share here hahaha

After the rodeo, we went to go grab a bite to eat (I don’t know how we were still hungry lol) and then we made it to the official PBR 2015 after party!! We were literally feet away from JB Mauney and a couple of other bull riders. It was awesome. The bull riders gave a few speeches and then a live band came out and people started dancing. It was my first ever official after party and it was AWESOME. I had a fantastic weekend. I love my life and I love my friends. I will definitely be making it out to a PBR event in Phoenix or Tucson soon, let me know if you would like to join! It was so much fun to dress up like a cowgirl!

Thanks for reading 🙂

You can read more blogs on ‘Bucket List Items’ here!

-Maira