December in Bandon

With Christmas being so hectic and Jordana working the day before and the day after and me dying to go on a road trip and Doreen asking us to come visit I decided to take some days off from work and take Jordana and the dogs to the beach. Doreen is the most gracious hostess!! She had just gotten back from a long trip to the east coast the day before we arrived. But she welcomed us with open arms and an open house. Doreen’s house sits directly across from the Face Rock State Park.

Bandon is about a 4 hour drive from our house. We had a very uneventful drive. Just before hitting Highway 101 I spotted a couple of Bald Eagles sitting in a tree over a river,

of course I had to turn around to get pictures and then we passed the elk reserve and we were not disappointed by the showing of elk.

And geese and even some ducks and more elk.

We were just pulling out of the reserve when we noticed that the elk had gotten much closer so we turned around and went back for some more pictures.

We arrived in Bandon to not the greatest weather on Monday but it gave us lots of time to play games and get to visit.

Tuesday morning the rain was going sideways and exploring the beach at low tide which was at 9am was looking very doubtful so we had some breakfast and played a couple of games and as it got closer to low tide the weather started to clear up. I took complete advantage of the break in the weather and made Jordana go with me to explore the beach.

We pretty much had the beach to ourselves so we let the dogs loose to run and run they did!

They chased waves and sea gulls and explored everything. Jordana and I found some treasures but mostly we enjoyed watching the dogs run and play and have such a good time!

There were lots of photo ops and I put my camera to good use.

We completely lost track of time and had no idea how long we had been on the beach until we finally dragged ourselves back to the house and realized we had been gone for 3 hours!!!

Doreen had wanted to fix a Full Turkey Meal while we were there and that is what we came back to after our time on the beach. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberries, and salad. What a perfect day! Oh but of course it was not over we still HAD to go to Shore Acres State Park and see the Christmas lights! I LOVE Shore Acres and will go any time I can, it is never a disappointment!

The Christmas Lights this year were phenomenal; there were over 250,000 lights with many moving displays. Now it was the most perfect day!!

Unfortunately our visit was way too short since Jordana had to be at work at 1pm on Wednesday so we were up on the road by 8am to get back. But we had a GREAT time with a great hostess and friend, lots of games, and of course the beach. I am already looking forward to the next visit! Thank you Doreen!!

A Trial and some Birthdays

With a threat of an ice storm Friday night and the WAG NADAC Games Trial Saturday and Sunday I was very nervous. I do not like to drive in snow but ice is impossible. The storm came up from the south and dissipated about 30 miles south of us. So we woke up Saturday morning on Kant and Echo’s birthdays to some moisture that froze but it was not as bad as it could have been. The Trial Chair decided to start the trial an hour later and that was a great decision. Stephen (Jordana’s boyfriend) decided to go with me to help run and take care of the dogs since all five were entered. We were all loaded up and on the road by 8am.

The dogs seemed to like the cooler weather and were very excited to be going to an agility trial. And they all ran great!

The first class of the weekend was Hoopers and all 5 dogs were entered; 3 in Novice, 1 in Open, and 1 in Elite. Stephen ran Slick and PITA in his first ever trial and I did not do a good job of explaining Hoopers so he did not Q with either dog but they did run a great course and all 3 of them were happy. Echo loves Hoopers and finished her Superior Novice Hoopers title with a run that only lasted 18.05 seconds. Hershey was in Open Hoopers for the first time and had a beautiful run earning his first Q of the day. Kant also loves Hoopers and had a great run also earning a Q. Next it was Tunnelers with Stephen running Kant and Echo running with me we could not get a Q with either dog. But both dogs Q’d in both rounds of Weavers; Echo finished her Novice Weavers title with Round 1 of Weavers and a 6.52 yps run. PITA and Stephen had a great run in Round 1 of Weavers but PITA took an off course tunnel. We ended the day with Touch’N’Go; I ran Kant in Round 1 and we Q’d, Stephen and Kant had an off course in Round 2. Stephen and PITA had a beautifully FAST run earning PITA’s first TNG points with a Q and 2nd place!! Echo and I could not get it together for either round so no TNG Q’s for us on Saturday. Hershey on the other hand ROCKED and Q’d in both TNG classes. Everyone went hope happy and tired.

Happy 7th Birthday Kant and 2nd Birthday Echo!!

Sunday was a typical Oregon winter day – wet – and we had no problem getting to the trial. We started with 2 Rounds of Touch’N’Go; Stephen ran Kant in both rounds, in Round 1 Kant blew her A-frame contact so Stephen worked it in Round 2 and they had a beautiful run for a Q and 1st place. PITA and Stephen did not Q in their run but PITA had great contacts and was running great. Echo was having a great run in Round 1 but at the very last obstacle decided not to listen to me and take a left in to the tunnel. She listened much better in Round 2 which had the exact same finish and got her first TNG Q. Hershey Q’d in Round 1 with only one more Q to finish his Superior Novice TNG title we could not hold it together to Q in all 4 Rounds but I was so proud of him and how good he ran!! 2 Round of Weavers was next, I was working on speeding Kant up in the weaves but it was throwing off my handling and Kant and I were not coming together as a team we managed a Q in both classes but not with runs that I had hoped. Echo Q’d with a great run, she is my weaving machine! Stephen and PITA had a complete melt down in Weavers. On to Tunnelers with a 125 yard need for speed course; I really wanted to run Kant on this course but I knew her and Stephen would have a blast and they did running it in 19.91 seconds. I told Stephen before he ran that Echo and I would be running the exact same course so he had better run Kant well because Echo and I would challenging them; nothing like putting a little pressure on the guy at his first trial! Echo shot out of a straight tunnel like a torpedo and did not make the tightest turn but we still ran the course in 20.28 seconds just .3 seconds behind her big sister not bad for a Novice dog! We ended the weekend with all 5 dogs in Hoopers. Stephen and PITA had a great running earning PITA’s first Hoopers Q.

Slick started out with Stephen so fast but something happened maybe someone coughed but it was over for Slick, he went to the leash runner and sat in front of her asking to have his leash put back on, the leash runner turned around so Slick went and sat in front of the judge asking her to make the leash runner put the leash back on but when that did not work either he took matters in to his own paws and left the ring, thank goodness he is cute! Echo got a bonus Novice Q. Hershey got his 2nd Open Hoopers Q with the greatest run and finishing that requirement for Champs! Kant also had an awesome run in Elite Hoopers ended our weekend with a Q.

So Kant ended the weekend with 9 Qs out of 12 possible and earning her 630th Weavers points. Hershey was the man with 5 Qs out of 6 and 3 of them were TNG!!! Slick was happy all weekend; he really does not care about the Qs. PITA got 2 Qs out of 6 possible; she needs to stick with one handler. Echo continues to amaze me and Q’d in 7 of her 10 runs, finishing two more titles!! Overall it was an awesome trial!! I love one ring trials!! WAG did it again!

Happy 6th Birthday Slick!