rawhide1 Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Well tommrow afternoon me and the wife are headed out to Vegas!! We're going to watch the first round of the NFR Thursday. This well be my first trip to Vegas but my wife went probaly 20 years ago to watch the NFR with her dad. I'm pretty excited about seeing all the vendors that will be there and what kind of stuff they will be selling. The only down side is I'am already missing my kids and I aint even left yet. I was wondering if anybody on this forum set up at the cowboy Christmas. Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Mike, Safe travel and good wishes. I cut back on wholesale work, so nobody selling my work this year. However,one of the belts in the Wrangler ad they show at home and on the big screen at Thomas & Mack - inlaid red roany hide, a few spots knocked off, a missing concho, other concho is a iron cross - I made it. That said, my travel guide for the NFR. My Highlights for the tradeshows, although they are mostly all good - Cowboy Christmas - Capriola's, Hamley's, Keith Seidel, Jay Palm (usually has some Ortega braidwork for sale), Tony Chytka's art Country Christmas (Sands Expo Center) - King's (and Barry will have tools there to sell and be working the booth), Dale Bass - great silver work, Custom Cowboy Shop (Don Butler), Whatever they call the show at Mandalay Bay - Platte Valley Saddle Shop, Rocketbuster Boots (you have to at least look) SASS Show at the Riviera - dressed up folks and kind of cool looking stuff. Kansas Saddlery is a good one here. Also good stage entertainment - one of our favorites, Dave Stamey, will be singing. Regulation nice guy. He is not going to be at the Monterey Cowboy Gathering this year, which is where we will be this weekend. Pace yourself to keep moving or you won't get through one show a day. My wife usually scouted on ahead while I BSed with someone. Tip - You don't have to look at every "Welcome Partner" wooden sign booth, after a while those do all look the same. Another tip, never say "I'll meet you at the Bob Berg booth", there is about one per aisle at the Sands. There is usually some young new guys with pretty plain looking booth setups. They will have some work to knock your socks off. You won't have heard of any of them before, but in 10 years we'll all know their names. Dining - Beef, It's What's For Dinner. I like the steakhouse upstairs at Binion's downtown. Spring for the lobster bisque as an appetizer. Another nice place is The Primerib Loft at the Orleans. Good primerib, some kind of interesting house dressing, and the potato is approximately the size of a regulation NFL football. Quiet places to eat after the rodeo, and you will be dining with some of the guys you just saw. You have been around noisy people and just heard Bob and Boyd yell it to sell it. Quiet dinner is good. Getting to Thomas & Mack - They have shuttle buses from most hotels. We found after a few years, it was easier to buy a pair of tickets, and just use them for the return. Cab it (find another couple and split it) or plan on a really early bus to get there. Coors has a hospitality tent there. The later buses fill up and say they will be back...... Shuttlebus back to your hotel or wherever you are going to eat after the rodeo. The cab lines after the rodeo at T&M are about 2 hours plus long, and it gets cold. Have a blast. Now I have to tell myself again why I have some days off next week and am not going. HMMMMM. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyc1 Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Please excuse my ignorance, but what is NFR? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmokinP Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Well my wife and her mom are headed to Vegas for the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) on Friday. I gotta work all weekend so I get to stay home and tend to the horses and such. I already got a list for her to find stuff at the trade show for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Randy Cornelius Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Please excuse my ignorance, but what is NFR? What Planet are you from? The National Finals Rodeo!!!!!! RC Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rayban Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Tony, it's the Super Bowl of rodeo. And Cowboy Christmas is this huge trade show type event where you can buy everything Western you can imagine...and no, you're not ignorant....just when we think we're safe to ask "beginner" questions, we get blasted with "what planet you from" remarks huh?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rawhide1 Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Mr. Johnson Thank ya very much for your travel guide!!! I had no idea about the other shows at the different hotels. Were staying at the hilton and I think part of the package includes the shuttle bus. And I'm diffently going to try Binions if the banker (wife) says we have the funds. Who knows it may be bologna and day old bread but well worth it.. It looks like there's plenty to do. Now if I can only find a computer to use when I get there so I don't have to go without this site. Thanks again Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barra Report post Posted December 6, 2007 It's not fair. I just got back from 3 weeks in California (like an hour ago). Unfortunately I could not stretch out the trip to be able to go to NFR this year. Thomas and Mack has car parking for about $10 but it is not worth the hassle. Last year we parked in the hotel carpark next to Thomas and Mack and no-one said boo. I'd go with cabs or the shuttle tho. For those that don't know, Cowboy Xmas is huge and has everything Western that opens and shuts from saddles/tack, clothing, furniture, artwork, horse trailers. Barra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
