It was game day, Saturday morning in Del Rio, and with an event starting that afternoon in a birthplace of the PBR, Flint Rasmussen’s luggage had still not arrived.

PBR’s official entertainer had set out for Walmart to pick up essentials for the weekend.

“That was the first bad omen,” said PBR super fan Evelyn Robinson.

Evelyn refers to portents of what would be a challenging and truly unforgettable weekend that, for her and her sister, turned into an unplanned eight-day stay marooned in Del Rio.

They’d be stranded in the Texas-Mexico border town after an historic winter storm swept in, canceling the second half of the PBR event weekend, wiping out power, impacting the water supply, and making it impossible for many fans and crew to safely leave.

Most would consider this travel odyssey of gas-station food and pool-water hygiene to be one big, fat hassle, maybe a traumatic episode to repress, or a nightmarish debacle to complain about whenever a certain sport is mentioned.

But the avid bull riding fans originally from Brooklyn and now living in Northern California turned their ordeal into a fun adventure, an opportunity to make new friends, and a reminder that good people do good things everywhere.

Their sunny attitude shows us all how to make the best of tough situations, roll with the punches, and see the silver lining in every dark cloud.

The skies, in fact, were clear when Evelyn and her sister Cynthia Johnson had left San Jose, California, on February 12, heading for Del Rio, Texas. It was their first PBR event of 2021, but wouldn’t be their last. 

The sisters rearrange their lives to see PBR whenever they can. They basically created their own tour in 2020, traveling to New York, North and South Dakota, Montana, and Texas three times for Global Cup, World Finals and then boarding the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi for the US Air Force Cowboys for a Cause in late November to cap a spectacular season.

“We were stoked about our first outdoor PBR event of 2021,” Evelyn said.

The Del Rio weather forecast had shown fair skies and temperatures in the mid-50s, slightly cooler at night. Perfect for an outdoor PBR event and a weekend getaway, they thought. 

The ladies landed in Del Rio on schedule Friday night, checked into the Ramada Hotel By Wyndham and ventured next door to a much-talked-about Whataburger restaurant.

They copped some food and headed back to their room. All systems were go for enjoying the next day’s PBR American Roots Edition stop – the first of three scheduled in iconic outdoor rodeo arenas in Texas –  at the Val Verde Fairgrounds in Del Rio.

On a rainy Saturday morning, they grabbed umbrellas and walked along Veteran’s Boulevard to chart out the route to the arena, a nice straight 10-minute walk from their hotel.

Heading back to the hotel, they encountered that first bad omen in running into the man they call the “Grandmaster” – PBR Official Entertainer Flint Rasmussen.

Meeting Flint isn’t bad, of course. It never is. The sisters know and love the eminently loveable entertainer.

It was just that Flint was coming back from Walmart, where he purchased socks, underwear (the most expensive, Flint is quick to point out), shirts, and Wranglers. Turns out Rasmussen wouldn’t get his travel bags for another 12 days.

“(PBR Official Photographer) Andy Watson and I had gotten in at 2 a.m., and we were driving back from the Walmart in the spitting rain. I spotted two familiar-looking ladies walking toward the arena, and I said, ‘Wait a minute, I know them! Stop!’” Rasmussen said.

They backed up, rolled down the windows, and had a nice visit.

“We see Evelyn and Cynthia everywhere on tour. Now these are two great fans!” Rasmussen said.

That afternoon, the event at the storied outdoor arena (where, in 1993, Jerome Davis dressed like Lane Frost as 8 Seconds was being filmed, won the event and got into the movie) started cold and wet, and the meet-and-greet that was part of their premium seats package had to be canceled.

Fortunately, the ladies had planned well, equipped with down jackets, umbrellas, shawls, gloves, thermals and plastic bags for the seats.

“From the moment the weather turned, we planned on sticking it out,” Evelyn said. “And we did to the end, cold feet and all.”

The PBR music set list was on point and helped them stay warm as Mason Taylor, Keyshawn Whitehorse, and Rafael Henrique dos Santos shot to the top of the leaderboard.

The sisters were singing and dancing alongside a nearby fan who became a new friend and keeping in time with a youth drill team who had been helping to scan tickets at the entry gates then moved to their seats.

The one downside was the restroom.

“It reminded us of our great grandmother’s outhouse in North Carolina,” Evelyn said.  “It was a use-only-if-necessary situation. PBR did market this as a retro-roots event, so in a way, we were forewarned!”

As the bull riding moved toward the final sections, the sisters noticed the temperature was plummeting.

“Some fans were starting to leave, and even the tough ones in camo were having a hard time,” Evelyn said. “Flint was wearing PBR socks as gloves.

“We figured the rain was a fluke, and Sunday would be a go. Wrong. The second bad omen.”

Heading to the hotel, the ladies stopped at Pizza Hut then settled down for the night.

The rain picked up again, then mixed with light snow.

“The third bad omen,” Evelyn said.

Sunday morning, their Premium Experience bull housing tour was canceled. A text came in to say PBR would not be able to finish the weekend. Sunday was canceled.

The rain continued, and the snow came back Sunday into Monday. The one flight out of Del Rio to Dallas was canceled; they rebooked for Wednesday.

On Monday, the power went out for most of the day. Then the water taps ran dry.  It was starting to feel like a B movie.

The ladies grabbed garbage cans from their room and went down to the indoor pool.  

They used a luggage cart to haul the heavy cans filled with pool water back to the room. They were able to buy bottled water and wandered around to find cell phone hot spots in parts of the lobby and hotel restaurant.

Light snow continued Monday through Tuesday. The Del Rio airport had closed. The water was off, and power was intermittent. Stores everywhere were shuttered.

Gas lines stretched two blocks, reminding the sisters of the 1970s gas shortages.

Though Wednesday felt like springtime, there was no water, open businesses or flights out.

“We had coffee, fed the hotel cat, and set outdoors,” Evelyn said.

It would turn out to be a high point of the trip.

Walking to IHOP, a young man driving by stopped to offer them a ride.

The restaurant was open but said to be running out of food. A long line of people was already waiting.

The affable driver, Landon, was an Air Force pilot in training at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio.

“We thanked him the ride, willing to wait and see what we could get at IHOP to take back to the room,” Evelyn said. “But Landon amazed us. IHOP didn’t look promising, and he had a friend who lived nearby with a food truck. They were feeding people in need during the weather emergency. He was going. Why don’t we come along?”

The ladies took the ride and ended up with tasty omelets, making a donation to Landon’s friend’s cause.

“People were driving up with eggs and supplies to help him and others out,” Evelyn said. “It was so inspiring to see folks helping folks. People were out chopping wood for fireplaces to stay warm. They were cooking on charcoal grills because their stoves were not working.”

The sisters had a delightful conversation with Landon, who has a wife and 3-year-old daughter.  They eagerly shared the story of being aboard the USS Lexington for the US Air Force Reserve Cowboys for a Cause, a fundraising event helping military charities.  

With the blessing of his wife, Landon kindly drove them back “home” to the Ramada, which had outdoor grills in the shape of bulls, though now snow-covered.

The earliest possible flight out was now Friday.

Wednesday night into Thursday, it snowed hard.

Midday, the traffic lights were still out, but the amount of traffic on the street was low.

So, they took a chance, avoiding patches of ice and dodging snow-covered Ford F150’s to cross Veterans Boulevard to get to the gas station for food and drinks.

Friday morning was clear, and the sun came out. The snow started to melt, the water came back on, but Del Rio Airport was still closed. Their flight had now been pushed to Sunday.

A few members of the PBR production crew were stuck at the Ramada as well.

“It was comforting to see the PBR trucks in the parking lot across from the hotel,” Evelyn said. “We would talk to a couple of the guys, joking that if things got really bad, we could hitch a ride out of Del Rio with the PBR team, even if we had to work.”

It wasn’t to be; the PBR trucks were gone by Friday morning on their way to the Pecos event, which would eventually be canceled due to logistical challenges caused by the massive storm.

“We were like, ‘Oh s**t, what do we do now?’” Evelyn said. “We heard a flight out of Del Rio on Sunday was no better than a 50/50 chance.”

They continued to count the small blessings, chief among them Del Rio’s The Rock 94.7 radio station, the best commercial classic rock station they’d ever heard, which spawned the creation of a sanity-saving week-long rock-and-roll trivia marathon.

Beyond the great music, the Ramada Inn had an awesome restaurant staff led by Senor Salvador, who was urging they cross the Mexican border, 15 minutes away, and fly back to California.

The sisters considered it but didn’t have their passports.

“Salvador and his team somehow magically kept all of us guests fed for breakfast with omelets, pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, coffee, and for dinner, salads, burgers, fish, chicken nuggets, tacos, fajitas, even ribeye steaks for Valentine’s Day,” Evelyn said.

There were fresh margaritas, just perfect, accompanied by lively conversation with Senor Salvador about their favorite Latin music performers.

Rock 94.7 and Senor Salvador were terrific, but it really was time to go home.

With no faith in a commercial flight leaving Del Rio on Sunday and a possible delay again until Monday or Tuesday into the next week, the sisters took drastic measures.

The sisters found a private aviation company, and chartered their own a plane, flown by Carlos and Keith, both former Air Force pilots, out of Del Rio to Albuquerque.

From there, they booked Southwest to Las Vegas and on to San Jose.

They were back home Saturday night.

“We were saved by the Air Force,” Evelyn said.

With the spotty phone service, the sisters essentially missed a week of work. They’re in excellent standing with their respective employers, however, and will be back on the road soon.

“We’ll stay grounded for a bit and then decide what is the next bull riding event,” Evelyn said. “We’re ready for our next PBR experience, no matter how it shakes out.”