Every summer Calgary has a 3 day, outdoor, country music festival and every summer I tell Brad I want to go, but for some reason, we never make it. So this year when Jess told me she was thinking of getting Adam tickets for his birthday, I was on it like white on rice haha since it falls on the weekend after MY birthday every year, I used it as an excuse to finally convince Brad into going. We realized all 3 days was going to be far too expensive and nobody wanted the 2 hour drive home Sunday night so we opted to get passes for just Saturday, spend the night, and then drive home Sunday. Country Thunder did not disappoint.

We drove up early Saturday morning (with a quick stop for McDonald’s breakfast) and were super excited to check out all the vendors and promoters. First stop was our hotel. We checked in, dropped our bags in our room and called an Uber to take us to the park. We got through security and were surprised to see how empty the park was. There was a little stage and a whole lot of food trucks but the people seemed to be missing. We stopped at the drink tent, where our ID had to be verified on a wrist band before we could even get in line for drink tickets, then finally after 2 lines of waiting, we got in a third so we could actually get some drinks. They really make ya work for those beverages haha We walked a little farther up a hill and BAM, people everywhere! We had found the main stage and the huge crowds.

We claimed a space on the hill with some blankets to save our spots for the day and then we were off to roam the grounds. We hit up a tent that had us do shots, post a picture on Instagram, and tag the company for a chance to win a meet and greet with Toby Keith, we didn’t win but had fun entering!

We wasted no time in finding the Fireball tent that Jess had been excited to look for and they supplied us with some more shots and pictures and even some free paraphernalia.

Next was a tent with, you guessed it, more free shots, and a magnetic dartboard that you could win another Toby Keith meet and greet but all we got from that one was a free shirt. And by “we” I mean Brad won the shirt and I took it haha we also tried our hand at ladderball. Brad and I failed miserably but Jess and Adam won drink cozies. By this time we decided it was time to eat. We hit a couple of the overpriced food trucks (I paid $10 for a hot dog!) and tried to gather ourselves. This is when we noticed the mechanical bull. No way were the guys passing that up and before I knew it Jess and paid my $2 entry free, giving me no choice. This turned out to be absolutely hysterical! Not to brag or anything, but out of the 4 of us, I lasted the longest. You can call me Lane now haha

We slowly started making our way back to our spot on the hill, stopping for some photo ops and a couple more tents and of course, free samples!

Back in our spot we enjoyed watching Madelyn Merlot and Restless Heart. Brad found it hilarious that I knew every song by Restless Heart and teased me the whole time about being old. What can I say, the band got together the same year I was born and I have an old country music soul.

Adam and I had been eyeing up these buckets of mini donuts that we saw everyone walking around with all day. Someone in front of us sat down with and overflowing bucket and it was our breaking point, we HAD to have them so off me and Jess went to find them. They were soooo worth the hunt and after overindulging in them we decided to try and get a little closer to the stage for when Dean Brody came on. It was a good plan in theory, but in life, it was terrible. People were pushy and rude, it was hard to see over the people standing in front of us and Jess got hit in the head with a flying red solo cup. We lasted one song before we hiked back up the hill to our blankets haha

Finally it was time for the main event….TOBY KEITH!! I was so excited, I love his music. We spent the next couple hours cheering, singing, and dancing in our seats. Oh and freezing. The sun had gone down and it got cold, I was very thankful for Jessica’s blankets.

When it was all said and done we ubered it back to our hotel, ordered some Boston Pizza through “skip the dishes” and hit the hay, totally exhausted.

It was soooo fun but I’m not sure how people do it for 3 days. My liver and bank account would never survive haha I will however, do my best to get back next year for Jason Aldean!

C