Tag Archives: Sunset Motel

End of Trail – Part 2

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Its now Thursday night and should be catching some zz’s as tomorrow we have the early start!

However, let me quickly catch you up.

Yesterday, Wednesday – Started out the morning with the Doily Gang Clinic, instructors this year, Shamrock Sadie, Lefty Jo, Honey B Quick, Iron Maiden, Sassy Dancer, Cooncan and myself Kathouse Kelli.

Was a great clinic, we had 2 shooters each to offer transition tips for pistols and more with long guns as well. Shot a couple of stages for critiquing and all in all, think they were all pretty happy to say the least when we were done. Thank you ladies for coming and glad we can offer something back to the sport for all.

Yeehaa ladies! Hope you are having great match’s!

From there it was grab some pictures of stages ready for main match. Go take a few runs at speed events. Pearl Starr and I then spent a couple hours in the LOCAS tent and in the down time helped Shamrock Sadie with a ‘craft task’ for later in the week.

Open ceremonies were held late in the afternoon. Alvira Sullivan Earp carried the flag for Australia! Legendary Lawman for Canada. Bloody Mary for Denmark. Chrissy Carson for Netherlands. The Kiwi Kid for New Zealand and in his uniform for the United States of America, Cash Cassidy.

With the anthem sung, the Wild Bunch, Match Directors, 111 first time attendees recognised it was on to the announcement of new Regulators. The 2018 Class of Regulators included many great recipients with none other than my very own Jackaroo!! Way to go man.

Two more from Australia – RC Shot, Mrs H, our Oklahoma friends – Flat Top Okie, Missouri Mae, Dutch friends – Dutch Bear, Justice Anne, Texas sweetheart – Sopapilla Sue and many more!! Congratulations to you all!

As the beer flowed, the Margarita party started at Hot Tamale’s and then it was time for sleep as Main Match was due to start today.

Now we arrive into today, Thursday – First day of main match. Jack and I are in Posse 21 with Red Haymaker our illustrious posse leader, Pepper Shot, C N Double, Captain Clark, Cowboy Jon, Deadly Don, Estancia Kid, Fast Fingers, Garrison Joe, Gilly Boy Hellbender, Huachuca Slim, James Colt, Lil Rob, Longcolt, Mick E Mouse, Old Frenchy, Sharpeye, Sunshine Belle, Jackaroo and myself. A big thanks to Nacho Momma for keeping score for all of us!

Four stages on the mid wave – 9, 10, 11, 12 were shot today with some degree of difficulty and success, blue skies, sunshine and a hell of a lot of New Mexico dust! Once we finished we shot the Posse shoot and we have a pretty good running time for that at the moment!

With weary feet, smiles as wide as you can get, we head to have lunch then back to the Motel for rest, relaxation and cleaning dust out of guns, nose etc. Haa haa haa

Coupled with a chat with Clancy, the occasional beer and a bit of hand sewing to finalise costume it is now getting late. Oh and a bit of cream puff for dessert. (groan after creammmmmm)

Charlies Spic n Span, Las Vegas NM ultra large mega cream puffs!

It is time to hit the hay, for the posse rides early in the morning with first shots down range at 7.30am.

Night peeps! Here’s to another awesome day tomorrow. Make it count! We are all still in the game! It ain’t over, til it’s over!

Hugs

Kat xo

Durango – Moriarty

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We left Colorado yesterday morning to the haunting sounds of a steam train whistle.

Heading along highways, through small towns and crossing the Animas River more than once, the landscape has again changed to a somewhat green desert. A lot greener than we have seen in the past.

It seemed fitting when passing through Bernalillo to snap this shot of the street sign!

For now we are in New Mexico and it’s time to get set for the World Championships!

Gather your posse and see you on the range!

Kat xo

End of Trail 2018

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It's that time of year where cowboys and cowgirls come together for one of the biggest weeks of shooting.

 

The World Championship of cowboy action shooting is the agenda at Founders Ranch, New Mexico. Five countries – Australia, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and United States of America competed for the top honor's in both Wild Bunch and Cowboy matches.

This year, as previously reported, we decided to forego Wild Bunch and headed to Cortez prior to this week.

Monday: picked up packs, caught up with friends and readied ourselves for the week ahead. A pleasant surprise was my picture on The Independent for Cowboy Days in Edgewood/Moriarty. Thanks to Cat Ballou the photo BT Blade took of me during Wild Bunch last year was used for their front cover!

 

Tuesday: we did 6 stages of warm up and attempted to get acclimatised to the altitude whilst running uphill or across some of the stages.

Tuesday evening we had a great trip up Sandia Tramway with dinner beforehand at Sandiago's grill with the Range Riders (from Australia) – Pearl Starr, Charlie Wagon, Judge Ruger, Tumbleweed Wagon, Sarah, Stan Wellback and Dallas Roarke.

 

Wednesday: Doily Gang Clinic was on, instructing with Honey B Quick, Shamrock Sadie, Lefty Jo, Two Sons. We had 18 ladies attend the transitions clinic, some returning for the 2nd or 3rd time and others their very first.

Plainsman, shotgun clinics and side matches were on. Cowboy swap meet, vendors are open and the crowds are starting to increase.

The evening kicked off with the opening ceremonies, Tumbleweed Wagon carried the flag for Australia.

 

The Wooly Awards were announced with Texas Jack Daniels receiving one as 2017 Governor of the year and The Territorial Marshal's with match directors Missouri Mae and Flat Top Okie took 2017 Match of the Year for Red Dirt Rampage.

 

The class of 2018 Regulators were announced! Congratulations to each and every one!

 

Thursday: first day of main match and we had the late wave start. It's hot, dusty but ready for action! Stages 1-4.

 

Friday: second day of main match, mid wave, stages 5-8, shopping with vendors and we're still having fun!

 

Saturday: it's the final 4! With the cooler very early start we were soon done and all up to the total scores to see where we all finished. We had a great posse – Posse 25 with posse marshal Chickamauga Charlie, Polly Penny Bright, Coffee, Shotgun Boogie, Hell Hound, Rephil, TinTin, Slow Hand Don, Dutch Bear, Justice Ann, Coal Train, Buck Garrett, Chantilly Shooter, Hot Rock, Hud, Hawkeye Kid, Pearl Starr, Charlie Wagon, Jack and myself.

With the posse shoot done, it was lunch, ice cream and head back to get ready for the banquet.

 

I attended the costume contest and was 2nd place in the new Steampunk category. Congratulations to EZGZ in 1st place. Congratulations to all other category winners and placings! There were some fabulous costumes!

 

The beer flowed, the music played and some showed off their dance skills.

The top 8 Wild Bunch men's and ladies were announced, as was the top 16 cowboys and cowgirls. Clancy and I were the only two Australians to make the shootout this year for cowboy match and RC Shot for the Wild Bunch shootout as an alternate.

 

Sunday: the shootout gets under way. Congratulations to Idaho Sixgun Sam and Last Chance Morales for winning not only the shootout but overall top lady and man for 2018 Wild Bunch.

The cowboy shootout is run and final finish was Holy Terror for the ladies and C.S. Brady for the men.

Jack finished 10th in his category with 1st place going to Long Swede, 2nd Hell's Comin, 3rd Silver City Rebel, 4th Angry Tom, 5th Lucky Thirteen, 6th Texas Mean Gene, 7th Fast Eddie, 8th Kansan and 9th El Lazo. Congratulations Silver Senior's on your placings!

 

In Lady Wrangler category, 10th Wild Cattle Kate, 9th Ms. Laurie Darlin, 8th Ex Sighted, 7th Young Lady, 6th Ruby Jewel, 5th Idaho Sixgun Sam, 4th Legally Loaded, 3rd Clancy, 2nd Echo Meadows who cheekily offered to hold my World Championship trophy again. Lol! Congratulations ladies!

 

Out of 22 Aussie's 14 placed, 2 received Spirit of the Game awards, 2 placed in costume and if I remember correctly, 6 or 7 got clean matches.

Overall winners this year were Matt Black and Holy Terror. Congratulations to two fine young shooters!

 

For everyone who attended End of Trail 2018, may it have been with goals achieved. Whether your first ever or multiple entry, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the experience.

Kat xo

 

End Of Trail 2017 Cowboy Action World Championships

Posted on by kathousekelli70

The 'town' has filled with more cowboy's and cowgirl's from all around the world, ready to test their skills and compete for their World Championship ranking.

This year there were 17 from Australia, 7 from New Zealand, at least 2 from the Netherlands and Canada, and a few from Germany. My apologies if there were more from other countries.

The match this year 'A Tribute to Clint Eastwood' westerns. The NRA Firearms Museum had a fabulous display of all guns used by Clint Eastwood in films or by others in films he had directed. Such a neat display! EMF Firearms also had some excellent firearms and a beautiful piece fully engraved and gold plated from The Museum of Confederacy Spirit – an edition of 500.


Thursday was a great start to the main match, starting on the late wave with Posse 29. On our posse led by Shamrock Sadie, we had Knot Hardly Dunn, Christian Mortician, Trail Bandit, Randy Saint Eagle, Papa Dave, Reno Mustang, Dodge City Dixie, Wild Horse John, Trigger Happy Ted, Misty Rider, Avery Wade, Tombstone John, Red Johnson, Pancho Sin Lefty, Lucky Boy, Jackaroo and of course me, Kathouse Kelli.


Most of the week but particularly Thursday and Friday were hot! Think the statistics for this year's match was 1800 gallons of water (?) and this one I do remember 97 gallons of Gatorade. A personal thanks to Dusty Garnet and EZ-GZ for your medical aid and driving up and down the range keeping everyone hydrated, to the rest of the waddies for keeping the water containers constantly topped up. Even though we always have some with us, it's never enough and we so appreciate it.


Side match awards were held on Friday night in the main tent and I must say again thanks to Santa Fe Brewing Company for sponsoring SASS, the bar was frequented often. Congratulations to all side match winners. I picked up one for the .22 pistol – thanks Dixie Bell for allowing me to use yours!


It was a great mix of side match winners this year!

Saturday we had the early shift. With an overcast sky and much cooler temperatures it made for a pleasant start of the final shooting day. All wrapped up! What's done, is done now and Sunday would see what the outcome would be.

Saturday evening for the banquet and best dressed costume contests started well. There were some sensational entries this year with myself, Texas Flower, Shotglass and Dixie Bell placing in the Best Dressed Ladies. Jack had entered his first costume contest ever as Thomas Durant (Hell On Wheels, S4, Ep1) but I should have had him in the Silver Screen category. 😦 Never mind, he did a great job, we just need to get the right hat sorted for him and he will enter again. Got Artie from Major Photography to work his magic and subsequently he has this amazing photo now.

 

After the costume contests were done and the band was on, it was a quick change up and Mary-Lou July made her first solo appearance at EOT. She said she'd been to the Doily Gang Clinic, had her own badge and she had learnt some gun twirling skills from Lightning Buck McGaw (learnt that and practiced in 2 afternoons). Mary-Lou July helped out Sassy Dancer, Shamrock Sadie, Ruby Jewel and Hey You with the announcements of the Top 8 Mens and Ladies Wild Bunch and Top 16 Cowboy's and Cowgirl's for the shootout.

 

The band played, Mary-Lou danced and danced. People had a great time, Jack was busy trying to sell land plots as his Thomas Durant persona and having a few drinks at every stop I'm guessing. Haa Haa Haa! Got him home, just before midnight and I think he had the best nights sleep he'd had in a long time!

 

Shootout took place Sunday morning. R C Shot from QLD, Australia made it in the Wild Bunch and I made it into the Cowgirl's. We used a magnetic board this year, with Sadie and Sassy having done most of the work on this one, it was fantastic, everyone had been randomly drawn and paired up the night before when announced. Then as each one dropped out we could re pair them for the next round and everyone could see who was shooting against who.

The winners of the Wild Bunch Shootout were Captain Sam Evans and Texas Tiger. For the Cowboy Shootout it was Matt Black and Texas Tiger (she is the First Lady to have won both shootout's at the one match)

 

Down to the nitty gritty and it's a huge congratulations to all who placed in their respective categories!

Let's start with the Aussie's:

  • Clean Match – Sam Balin, Chuck, Ex Sighted, The Trapper from Oz.
  • Posse Spirit of the Game Award – Chuck, Deadwood Gunslinger.
  • Category Placings – KT, 4th Place Junior Girls. Sam Balin, 3rd Place Silver Senior Duelist. RC Shot, 6th Place Wrangler. Kathouse Kelli, 1st Place World Champion Lady Wrangler. Ex Sighted, 6th Place Lady Wrangler. Sister Sarah Carnegie, 2nd Place Lady Gunfighter. Pearl Starr, 7th Place Lady 49ers. Chuck, 7th Place 49ers. Jackaroo, 5th Place Silver Senior.

 

This is where we cross over into the Oklahoman's – The Territorial Marshal's faired well and we will include Deadeye Dillard as well 😉

  • Clean Match – Bashful Kate, Greenhill Bart, Highland Scottie (and forgive me if I didn't take note of anyone)
  • Posse Spirit of the Game Award – Grady County Kid
  • Category Placings – Grady County Kid, 4th Place Buckaroo. Roadrunner, 4th Place Frontier Cartridge Duelist. Lady Roadrunner, 10th Place Lady 49ers. Greenhill Bart, 4th Place B-Western. Deadeye Dillard, 3rd Place Cowboy. Jackaroo, 5th Place Silver Senior. Three, yes three World Champions – Kathouse Kelli, 1st Lady Wrangler. Missouri Mae, 1st Lady 49er. Roy's Creek Dan, 1st Senior.

 

Congratulations to the 2017 World Champion overall winners – Matt Black and SASSkicker!

 

Thanks must surely go to Lassiter and Deuce Stevens for a great match, to SASS, the Wild Bunch, Misty, the girls and just everyone who helps 'git er done!' Sensational work as always.

 

That's it…..goodbyes are said, tears are shed, friends will be missed. Safe travels to each and everyone know matter how far you came.

 

Kat xo

 

End Of Trail 2017

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It is June and that means one thing. The World Championships of Cowboy Action Shooting, End of Trail, is on this next week!

 

Well actually we head out today for Moriarty, New Mexico. The van is loaded to the hilt! It will be a full day's drive with the occasional stop on the way.

Tomorrow we will head out to Founders Ranch to pick up our packs and check in. Dropping gear off to other Aussie's and catching up with a few friends.

Saturday will be the start of the Wild Bunch 3 day championship so will be back in touch then!

Travel safely those who are heading that way as well, all 600 of you!

Kat xo

 

EOT 2015: Main Match Begins

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It's Thursday people! This morning's early wave will be done, mid wave starting and at 1.30pm we will commence the late wave today.

As a side note: at the motel this morning it is a hive of activity. Etta Mae and Claudia Feather have vacated their room early but are standing in hopes of a glimpse of Jeff Bridges. Jeff Bridges you ask? Why? Well there is some filming being done at the Motel, so there are lighting crews, sound crews and production assistants moving gear left right and centre and some of the filming for the movie will take place in Rm18 (Claudia and Etta's room) right next door to ours! Plus the car park and the fields across the road.

 

……….Later that same day out at Founders Ranch, (The important stuff!) safety briefing was held with 12 (of the 36) excited posses ready to hit the range for their first 4 stages of the match.

We are with Posse 32 – Annabelle Bransford, Colbert, Dedo, Duke Skywalker, Hurricane Camille, Jackaroo, James Samuel Pike, John Bohemia, Kathouse Kelli, Max Montana, Rowdy Bill, San Juan, Shenandoah, Tejon Buckaroo, Tex, Texas Flower, Texas Mac, Thunder Man, Tom Payne, Tooth Ache, and V Luna (Viper not in attendance).

We have 2 Aussies, 3 Czech Republic and the rest American. It's a good Posse, everyone is working and relatively fast. So far so good, shot stages 8, 5, 6, then 7 – 1 day down, 2 to go.

 

With worn out feet we withdraw to have our Posse photo taken and we met a tiny little cutie named Clara. She asked for our autograph. So I had a picture taken with her. I actually think she might be Duke Skywalkers daughter. She was a sweetheart though and I hope she does get to be a cowgirl when she can one day.

 

Have a great 2nd day tomorrow those who are here.

Cheers Kat!

Oh, and I got interviewed by Shooting USA today when they were there interviewing the Czech's. 🙂

P.S. 7.32pm – It's still all happening outside! Sneaky pic out the window, I know it's not much but there is gear everywhere out there and soooo many people. Saw a couple of actors waiting on the porch when we came back earlier!! Wasn't game to pull the blind back further so you could see ALL the gear!

 

End Of Trail Bound

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Well I didn’t make it ‘sunny up in my eyes’ this morning – something I used to say as a kid if we were going on a holiday. Mum would say, “we aren’t going if it’s raining!” Now I don’t actually know if she would have ever followed through with that but I would dream to make it ‘sunny up’ for the morning so we could go.

Thank goodness I don’t wait for it to be sunny up now! A ripper of a thunderstorm at 3am this morning and light rain as we left at 6.45am, we are headed for Edgewood, New Mexico for the Single Action Shooting World Championships.

On the I40 heading west it’s overcast with some cloud.

But onward through Texas and then into the enchanted land that is New Mexico! We gain an hour and it’s clear blue skies and dead straight roads.

We’ve unpacked and set up for the week in a little Motel in Edgewood full of cowboy shooters, now it’s out to the range to check in, catch up with some Cowboys n Cowgirls from US, AUS and NZ at least!

See ya on the range!

Kat xo

Meanwhile a few hours later, (Couldn’t get internet when we first arrived) been to the range, checked in, lots of vendors and more to come by the looks, met up with our mates and met some new people as well. Yee haa!!

Bring on Warm Up tomorrow!