We headed off to West Chester, Pennsylvania for the Memorial Day weekend to visit Ben's Aunt Judi and Uncle Tony. We had been trying to make visit work for quite since our schedules never seemed to align but due to a change in schedules we were able to make it happen finally.
Friday morning after we arrived we headed to Tony's favorite breakfast spot where they have "the Bullotta" on the menu which is a banana pancake with peanut butter for breakfast. After that we got to play tourist in Philadelphia for the afternoon since Ben had never been there before. Tony and Judi figured that we could venture around the city on our own since we were seasoned travelers so they armed us with a map and book and dropped us off for a few hours of exploring. We decided to do the sights including seeing Constitution Hall, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Franklin Square, Penn's Landing and more. We even found a great little bar with a happy hour special to pass the time while waiting to be picked up. Dinner that night was at one of Tony's favorite Italian restaurants. We feasted on pasta, gnocchi, salad and other treats while enjoying a good wine and company.
Saturday we headed out to Lancaster County to visit Amish country. Lancaster County is home to the oldest Amish settlement. One thing you notice right away when you get close to Lancaster County is that the Amish ride in horse and buggy ride down the streets right along the cars. We took a tour of an Amish house and got a chance to see a little bit about how they live while also learning more about their culture.
Sunday we headed out to Valley Forge Winter Encampment historic site to get a taste of this areas rich history with the revolutionary war. We opted to take the trolley tour of the park with a guide so that we could learn more about the camp. The tour stopped at three different areas: an area where they had the houses that the soldiers and their families lived in, at Muhlenberg's Brigade and Washington's Headquarters.
Monday morning we headed to the airport bright and early with Tony since Judi had already left for NY since she had a flight to work (she's a flight attendant for AA). While it was a quick trip we were able to see a lot of things and hope to make it back out to visit them soon.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Happy 2nd Birthday Loki!
Wishing my sweet birdy boy, Loki a very happy 2nd birthday. While he's not home with us to celebrate his big day I know that he's having a fun day filled with birds down at his trainers place in Eagle Creek, Oregon doing birdy training.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Blue for Two
This past weekend we headed back to Madras, Oregon to the Boyce Corral located in the grasslands for the Oregon Brittany Club's walking field trial to run Odin in Open Gun Dog (OGD) and Loki in Open Derby (OD) for the last time before he turned two on the 18th and would age of out puppy events. The weather for the weekend was in the upper 80's which meant trouble for the dogs since it would hot and scenting conditions would be tough in the heat. Also since it was going to be hot we would be starting super early each day which equals no sleeping in for the people.
Saturday morning Ben was up with Odin in the fourth brace of OGD which meant it was late morning and still a little cool, mere 70's not 90"s yet for the day. They started off strong with Odin making a big cast to the top of the ridgline before he found his first bird which he pointed and held steady. After they worked the bird Odin quickly came onto a wild-flushed bird which proved to be a little too much for him and he chased it. This ended their run at 20 minutes of a 30 minute run but we were pleased with his performance overall.
Ben spent the rest of the day shooting mice and helping bagging birds. It became a past time of everyone to keep track of how many mice Ben and Chris each shot. Unfortunately no one kept an official count but we think it was a couple dozen over the three days.
Sunday was the much anticipated derby run for Loki where we all had our fingers, toes and paws crossed for a solid run and at least one bird find. Ben and I decided it would be good to see the competition so we walked the first two braces to see those four dogs and how they ran before we ran Loki in brace 4. He had a strong run and 2 separate points of which one he held for at least 45 seconds and impressed the judges with. After his run we watched his litter mate run and then waited for placements.
When placements were handed out, we came up victorious in the nick of time and won his derby points by taking first place in the Open Derby and earned an additional 2 points towards his field championship. This also qualifies him to run in Limited stakes when he comes out as a broke dog! We are very proud of what Loki and his trainer Chris Tewes of Double Gun Ranch accomplished this spring trial season.
Saturday morning Ben was up with Odin in the fourth brace of OGD which meant it was late morning and still a little cool, mere 70's not 90"s yet for the day. They started off strong with Odin making a big cast to the top of the ridgline before he found his first bird which he pointed and held steady. After they worked the bird Odin quickly came onto a wild-flushed bird which proved to be a little too much for him and he chased it. This ended their run at 20 minutes of a 30 minute run but we were pleased with his performance overall.
Ben spent the rest of the day shooting mice and helping bagging birds. It became a past time of everyone to keep track of how many mice Ben and Chris each shot. Unfortunately no one kept an official count but we think it was a couple dozen over the three days.
Sunday was the much anticipated derby run for Loki where we all had our fingers, toes and paws crossed for a solid run and at least one bird find. Ben and I decided it would be good to see the competition so we walked the first two braces to see those four dogs and how they ran before we ran Loki in brace 4. He had a strong run and 2 separate points of which one he held for at least 45 seconds and impressed the judges with. After his run we watched his litter mate run and then waited for placements.
When placements were handed out, we came up victorious in the nick of time and won his derby points by taking first place in the Open Derby and earned an additional 2 points towards his field championship. This also qualifies him to run in Limited stakes when he comes out as a broke dog! We are very proud of what Loki and his trainer Chris Tewes of Double Gun Ranch accomplished this spring trial season.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Easter 2012
While we weren't home for Easter this year that didn't stop us from being in the spirit and wishing everyone a Happy Easter!
Brittanys in Madras
Last weekend we headed to Boyce Corral in Madras, Oregon for a series of events- the Oregon Brittany Club Field Trial on Friday and Saturday and the American Brittany Club 2012 Western Futurity events for Loki which were a big deal sincee you had to be invited to compete.
Sunday was the big ABC Futurity show for Loki so we spent all morning bathing, grooming, and practicing to get ready for the show. We were a little saddened when we saw three pro handlers show up and a judge who had a preference for pros in the show ring but we still gave it our best try and overall got 3rd in the intermediate dog class. Monday we headed back to the field for the Gun Dog portion of the events and while we had a great run, 3 bird finds the pro ended up sweeping all of the ribbons/placements. So while we didn't end up with a placement we did have a great experience attending the futurity event for Loki and getting to compete with him at this one in a lifetime event.
We decided after lunch to head on home with both Odin and Loki who would be coming home for a few weeks before the last of the spring trials. Luckily for us Mount Hood was clear and it was an uneventful and long 6 hours and rolled into our driveway just in time to unpack and head to bed in our own comfy bed :)
Friday started very early for us since we had to be in Madras by 11am and it is a six hour drive which meant no sleep and lots of driving. We made it in time for Ben to get mounted on our trainer's horse Kip and head out with the group to watch Odin run in Open Gun Dog. We were happy with his performance since he had a clean run and found a bird. After lunch it was Loki's turn as he was running the Open Derby. We got a treat for Loki's run when one of friends offered to let me ride his horse so that I could get to watch the brace. So we all saddled up and hit the course. Overall Loki had a very good run and found a bird and the best part is that I stayed on the horse and was incident free :) When placements were handed out that night at dinner, our little dude ended up getting 3rd place in the Derby.
Sunday was the big ABC Futurity show for Loki so we spent all morning bathing, grooming, and practicing to get ready for the show. We were a little saddened when we saw three pro handlers show up and a judge who had a preference for pros in the show ring but we still gave it our best try and overall got 3rd in the intermediate dog class. Monday we headed back to the field for the Gun Dog portion of the events and while we had a great run, 3 bird finds the pro ended up sweeping all of the ribbons/placements. So while we didn't end up with a placement we did have a great experience attending the futurity event for Loki and getting to compete with him at this one in a lifetime event.
We decided after lunch to head on home with both Odin and Loki who would be coming home for a few weeks before the last of the spring trials. Luckily for us Mount Hood was clear and it was an uneventful and long 6 hours and rolled into our driveway just in time to unpack and head to bed in our own comfy bed :)
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Whiskey Anyone?
Ben and I recently had the opportunity to attend the "Whiskey Experience" at the new local distillery- The Woodinville Whiskey Company located in Woodinville for an evening of Whiskey tasting and getting to meet David Pickerell who was the the master distiller for Maker's Mark Whiskey.
The 2 hour event included a great selection of appetizers and samples of their three different whiskey's and their vodka. David spoke about his background as a master distiller and how to select the best whiskey. Since Ben is more of a whiskey drinker than me, I gave him most of my samples but overall the few I did try were very good. It's nice to have something other than wineries in our backyard and soon in stores.
The 2 hour event included a great selection of appetizers and samples of their three different whiskey's and their vodka. David spoke about his background as a master distiller and how to select the best whiskey. Since Ben is more of a whiskey drinker than me, I gave him most of my samples but overall the few I did try were very good. It's nice to have something other than wineries in our backyard and soon in stores.
Monday, March 12, 2012
#6 Ranking
Saturday night we headed to the Northwest Field Trial Councils award banquet at the Lucky Eagle Casino to celebrate the achievements of the those that competed in field trails in 2011. They award the following awards based on the points that were attained through placements:
- All Age Dog of the Year
- Dog of the Year
- Puppy of the Year
- Derby Dog of the Year
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