Dog Trial Marathon #1

We loaded the RV, hooked up and on April 25 we were on our way.  Bit and Tess settled into the cave underneath the jackknife sofa, and Bo, Dutch and Meg were comfortable on top.  

Our destination for the first leg of the Dog Trial Marathon was Bridget Strang’s beautiful Strang Ranch just outside Carbondale, Colorado, for the Strang Ranch Spring Sheep Dog Trial.Our travels took us across West Texas, with stops in Snyder and at Coyote Keeth’s RV Park outside Clayton, New Mexico.  It has been so far pretty dry, but that didn’t stop this patch of prairie verbena from putting on a show.  

We made our way north through the Texas Panhandle, then across New Mexico past familiar landmarks,

then into Colorado where we stoped for the night in the lovely town of Leadville, elevation 10,154 feet!  Our campsite was the park where soccer fields and the rodeo arena share a parking lot.  No frills, no hookups, but an overnight accumulation of several inches of snow.

There was some white-knuckle driving on John’s part, but we crossed the Front Range of the Rockies, and dropped down into beautiful Glenwood Canyon.

The road construction which squeezed westbound lanes down to one didn’t help our Canyon experience, but did slow traffic enough that John could enjoy some of the views.  The tunnels funneled us toward Glenwood Springs and then we turned south back toward Strang Ranch and got our first glimpse of the mountains that overlook the ranch.  

Once we arrived, we had a beautiful view of Mount Sopris.And here we are, parked in one of the most beautiful spots imaginable.

The weather has been beautiful, warm days, and very chilly nights.  Each morning we work to see the icicle fairyland produced by the wheel line overnight.

This trial is a great opportunity to work dogs because it allows a dog to have 3 open class runs available instead of the usual two.  Because of the large number of dogs entered, each there were 4 open classes, and each dog ran three times in one of the 4 open classes.  Confusing, right?  Meg and Dutch both ran in Open 1; Dutch ran in Open 2, Meg ran in Open 3 and Dutch in Open 4.  

Our scores were nothing to write home about.  Dutch placed 14, 21 and 22 in his three runs, and Meg got a 32nd, with two retires.  We had a wonderful time, though.  There were 58 or so dogs in the Open class, so the competition was stiff.  The fields are beautiful and green, with plenty of challenges especially on the hill field.  The sheep were tough range ewes, and gave the dogs challenges of their own.  

Here are a few photos from our visit. 

 

And Then, And Then....

And then, after the whirlwind of sheep dog trials, killing snakes and visits to the vet, life continued.  Bit and Tess continued to grow,

                                     

          

The caterpillars ate all our Crawford lettuce.

The naked nannies produced some lovely kid goats, and stashed them in the sheep pen for safekeeping.                                                                                                      

Tess and Bit perfected their barrel skills.

Good Friday services for One Church were held in a beautiful setting at Hank
and Annie Dawson's place.  

The dogs and I went to Jack and Vivian Christensen's place to work sheep, and Meg cooled off after her run.

John and I took a day trip south to Austin...It's hard to believe how the skyline has changed since our move to the farm.

The reason for our trip was to visit the traveling exhibit of art from the Sistine Chapel.  The producers of the virtual tour had received permission to photograph the art work and present it up close and personal, revealing details that a visitor to the chapel could not see.  Here are a few examples.  

 

Soon after, we had a visit from Owliver, who was perched in the big Spanish oak just off our patio.  He keeps watch during the day while Owlivia sits on her eggs and keeps the owlets warm.  A day or so later, just at dusk, we heard lots of screech owl chatter from the trees around the house, and assume that their "chicklets" had fledged and were being introduced to the neighborhood.

As April came to a close, we took the traditional portrait of dogs in the bluebonnets.  Too bad there are so few of them this year (bluebonnets, not dogs), but it's not all bad.  Fewer wildflowers mean there is plenty of grass!  

And, we celebrated a very special day...Bo's ninth birthday!

Ane then it was time to pack our bags and head west!