Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Beginning of the Trip

It's been a long few days getting here - the camping area at Soldier Hollow:











We left midday on Friday and drove about 7-8 hours, then finished up the short hop on to Indiana to see some old friends. It was great fun! We went to a small art festival to see a couple of friends play on the gazebo stage - Jenn Rose and Christy.










Then we went to camp out at Deam Lake in Borden, IN, site of many good times when i lived in Louisville. It was fun catching up with my dear old friend Jenny and a few other folks. We grilled and had many margaritas and lots of laughs. Good stuff.

Sunday morning we were up early and reluctantly on the road again. I'd have liked another day to visit and catch up. But on we went, driving about 11 hours and ending up at a McDonald's parking lot in Stuart, IA. Yep, McDonald's. They had nice camper parking so there we stayed. Monday we were up really early and pounded lots of pavement, again hitting about 11 hours, getting a good start on crossing the continental divide, passing the highest point on I80 and landing at a Walmart in Laramie, WY. Tuesday morning we got a very early start and made our first trial destination of Soldier Hollow about 2:00. It was a little confusing figuring out where to park since i was the first one there! But with a little guidance (and one quick change of parking places after stepping on a yellow jacket nest in my first spot!), the camper was set up and the dogs and i were off to the practice field.

The Soldier Hollow folks have kindly provided a place to get the dogs out on some sheep, very welcome after so many days on the road. It's not a huge place, maybe 250 yards long, but the sheep are good and it's nice for getting the dogs out. All 3 dogs popped out of the truck and acted like they'd never left home, not missing a beat. That was nice to see.

(the practice field)


I was asked to help out with a spot on a local news channel promoting the trial this morning, so up early yet again. I decided to use Zac since he's been working really nicely. We were asked to take some sheep across a hotel parking lot to a very nice courtyard area at the front entrance. While Mark Peterson, the Soldier Hollow organizer, spoke to the reporter, i was to move the sheep around the turnabout in the back ground. Simple enough until one of the sheep bolted and Zac had to pull one of his crazy moves stopping her. In a parking lot, on pavement, with a crowd. And did i mention LIVE TV?! It ended up okay, and you can see the spot here --

After another session at the practice field, this afternoon i hooked up and hauled the camper into Heber City to repair the strap that broke under my freshwater holding tank back in WV. I'm sure glad to have that off my mind, kept waiting for it to fall out from under the camper. While there i got a nifty little shelf welded on the back to hold my generator. No more dogs peeing on it at trials, yay. Tomorrow i have a free day after practice time in the morning. I'm hoping to do a little sightseeing. Then friday Zac runs at Soldier Hollow, woo hoo!



4 comments:

Kathy said...

Good luck, Robin and crew!! Keep us posted as some of us are living vicariously through you. :^))

Some day I hope to be at some of these big trials with you!! How's that for putting my goal in writing?

Doniene said...

Wow, Zac was awesome!!! Best of runs for you and your crew at Soldier Hollow!!! I too, like Kathy, have in my future, trips to the big trials!!!

Blessings

Laura Carson said...

I LOVED the TV spot. Awesome. :) Have a great time. Sounds like you're already having quite the adventure!

Anonymous said...

Hi Robin. Great news clip! Best of luck to you today!