The other day I was teaching a lesson and learned one myself. After demonstrating the behaviors we wanted to work on and discussing it, the gentleman shared with me some words that had been told to him years ago, by a horse trainer:
"You never put put the same horse back in the barn."
Whether by doing, or un-doing, you never put away the same animal you took out. Think about it. It is up to you whether the dog you finish your lesson with has been built up, or torn down, whether there are positive lessons or the dog has learned to ignore you and disobey. But it is never the same animal you started with that day. Make your day count.
Friday, September 10, 2010
North Central Region Schutzhund Championship
http://northcentralchampionship.blogspot.com/
Last weekend my schutzhund club hosted the North Central Region Championship. The above link is to the web site that I created to share information about that event, and includes my post-trial report.
I am exceptionally proud of the members of my club. They stepped up and worked very hard to make this event a success. We have a wonderful group of people who work well together and support each other. They all displayed good sportsmanship, which is a critical element of the sport, in my opinion.
Four of our club members competed in this trial. Linda Hupf with her black German Shepherd, Otto, and Tom Smith with his German Shorthaired Pointer, Schatzie, entered for their BH. I have worked with Tom and Schatzie, who are a talented team and so much fun to watch together. Schatzie is all girl and absolutely prances in her obedience. I was surprised when she was very distracted and then left Tom, but discovered that she had not pottied before going on the field and nature called. I'm sure Tom was disappointed as well, as we were all excited to see a German Shorthair earning her BH that day, but he promised to give it another go in the future.
Linda Hupf and her black German Shepherd, Otto, were successful in earning their BH and demonstrated obedience that put some of the more advanced dogs to shame! This is all the more impressive when you learn that Linda is relatively new to the sport, and has only worked with Otto for six months! She became a dedicated handler, working hard on her lessons, and it paid off! I told her I would be using her as the example of what can be accomplished for some time to come!
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109040630
Lisa Boerst and Ozzie, a Belgian Malinois and the niece of my favorite girl, Jinxy, absolutely earn the Most Dedicated to Earning a Title Award. They are a joy to watch in heeling, working in harmony; so many people complimented about how beautiful they look working together. Unfortunately, they did not earn sufficient points in tracking to allow them to pass. The fact that Lisa went on to compete with such grace on Sunday, after failing tracking, is a testament to good sportsmanship.
Sam Leinweber and Pre, another of our great malinois entries, came away with High SchH1, High Obedience and High in Trial for their performance. Sam has trained Pre from a puppy and done an excellent job with him. It is hard to imagine this highly skilled trainer as the young man who came to our club in search of a dog sport to participate in with his new dog, just a few years ago!
We are a very small club. This event took all our effort. Tom Krsnich and Kurt Vandekolk were our tracklayers; Chuck Johnson and his family prepared and served all the meals; Denise Wittman was our trial secretary; Sue Hatcher-Jaffe not only used her dog, Urik, as a demo dog for the BH's and also for helper try-outs and assisted with trial paperwork; Kari Leuthold Petitt and Heather Himmler were in charge of selling shirts and raffle tickets; Lisa Boerst, Tom Smith, Linda Hupf and Sam Leinweber were entered in the event with their dogs; Tammy Tondu helped with the group. For every step, members stepped in to get things done and I am so incredibly proud of them.
Last weekend my schutzhund club hosted the North Central Region Championship. The above link is to the web site that I created to share information about that event, and includes my post-trial report.
I am exceptionally proud of the members of my club. They stepped up and worked very hard to make this event a success. We have a wonderful group of people who work well together and support each other. They all displayed good sportsmanship, which is a critical element of the sport, in my opinion.
Four of our club members competed in this trial. Linda Hupf with her black German Shepherd, Otto, and Tom Smith with his German Shorthaired Pointer, Schatzie, entered for their BH. I have worked with Tom and Schatzie, who are a talented team and so much fun to watch together. Schatzie is all girl and absolutely prances in her obedience. I was surprised when she was very distracted and then left Tom, but discovered that she had not pottied before going on the field and nature called. I'm sure Tom was disappointed as well, as we were all excited to see a German Shorthair earning her BH that day, but he promised to give it another go in the future. 
Linda Hupf and her black German Shepherd, Otto, were successful in earning their BH and demonstrated obedience that put some of the more advanced dogs to shame! This is all the more impressive when you learn that Linda is relatively new to the sport, and has only worked with Otto for six months! She became a dedicated handler, working hard on her lessons, and it paid off! I told her I would be using her as the example of what can be accomplished for some time to come!Linda is also a Community Columnist and writes for the local newspaper. She wrote a wonderfully humorous and touching column about her upcoming BH:
http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109040630
Lisa Boerst and Ozzie, a Belgian Malinois and the niece of my favorite girl, Jinxy, absolutely earn the Most Dedicated to Earning a Title Award. They are a joy to watch in heeling, working in harmony; so many people complimented about how beautiful they look working together. Unfortunately, they did not earn sufficient points in tracking to allow them to pass. The fact that Lisa went on to compete with such grace on Sunday, after failing tracking, is a testament to good sportsmanship.
Sam Leinweber and Pre, another of our great malinois entries, came away with High SchH1, High Obedience and High in Trial for their performance. Sam has trained Pre from a puppy and done an excellent job with him. It is hard to imagine this highly skilled trainer as the young man who came to our club in search of a dog sport to participate in with his new dog, just a few years ago!
We are a very small club. This event took all our effort. Tom Krsnich and Kurt Vandekolk were our tracklayers; Chuck Johnson and his family prepared and served all the meals; Denise Wittman was our trial secretary; Sue Hatcher-Jaffe not only used her dog, Urik, as a demo dog for the BH's and also for helper try-outs and assisted with trial paperwork; Kari Leuthold Petitt and Heather Himmler were in charge of selling shirts and raffle tickets; Lisa Boerst, Tom Smith, Linda Hupf and Sam Leinweber were entered in the event with their dogs; Tammy Tondu helped with the group. For every step, members stepped in to get things done and I am so incredibly proud of them.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Ridley's PennHip report
I have been holding my breath since I had Ridley's films taken for her PennHip. Not because I was worried that they wouldn't pass-- I had seen the films and thought they looked great-- but because I was certain the numbers would be so low I could barely wait to shout it from the rooftops!
Today the letter arrived. I was surprised to see her results were .42/.46. Her dam has the best PennHip scores of all Dutch Shepherds in the database. Her dam and siblings also had terrific scores. The sires scores were not as stellar, but still nice enough. Damned if Ridley didn't take after the sire's side of the family! There are currently only 89 dogs in the Dutch Shepherd database and the median is .41. Statistically I know that this isn't a fair representation of the laxity in the breed as few people use PennHip. Heck, there are still quite a few breeders out there who don't Xray at all and instead will tell potential buyers "well, we've never had a problem..."
I will probably have an OFA film taken when she turns 2, just out of curiosity. I've seen the films and they look so darned good, but the laxity is what PH measures. I like her temperament and her drive, the size and the better rear angulation. She has a wonderful full, calm grip. There is just so much to like about her that I was sure hoping the hip scores would have been better.
I do not hide from the results and scores of my dogs, whether it be in trialing or health checks. So there it is. Having seen and owned dogs with horrible, horrible hips, the flip side is that hers aren't bad. They just aren't as good as I had hoped.
Today the letter arrived. I was surprised to see her results were .42/.46. Her dam has the best PennHip scores of all Dutch Shepherds in the database. Her dam and siblings also had terrific scores. The sires scores were not as stellar, but still nice enough. Damned if Ridley didn't take after the sire's side of the family! There are currently only 89 dogs in the Dutch Shepherd database and the median is .41. Statistically I know that this isn't a fair representation of the laxity in the breed as few people use PennHip. Heck, there are still quite a few breeders out there who don't Xray at all and instead will tell potential buyers "well, we've never had a problem..."
I will probably have an OFA film taken when she turns 2, just out of curiosity. I've seen the films and they look so darned good, but the laxity is what PH measures. I like her temperament and her drive, the size and the better rear angulation. She has a wonderful full, calm grip. There is just so much to like about her that I was sure hoping the hip scores would have been better.
I do not hide from the results and scores of my dogs, whether it be in trialing or health checks. So there it is. Having seen and owned dogs with horrible, horrible hips, the flip side is that hers aren't bad. They just aren't as good as I had hoped.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The Evil Genius of Nook
While I am referencing the Barnes and Noble product, the Nook, this post is directed broadly at all e-books. It is dog-related only in the fact that I own dogs and dislike the Nook. Bear in mind that at one time I also disliked the Blackberry, aka: Crackberry, but that was before one apparently became surgically attached to me. However, as I was reading the old fashioned way over the breakfast table this morning, my mind wandered-- as it often does-- and I pondered (a real book word if ever there was one!) the demise of the paper paged book in this electronic age.
I came to the realization that e-books are part of an evil plot not only to strip us of our individuality but to set up this nation to be further controlled by media. You heard it here first, boys and girls! Or if not, it's only because I have been busy reading books and training dogs, and didn't see it posted on Entertainment Tonight.
There was a time when we were identified by the books we carried and people made assumptions based on them. If I carried the biography of Sarah Palin, people would assume I was a right wing supporter. Tuck a copy of one of Obama's hope-and-change missives and folks would likewise view me as Democrat brother in arms. Want to appear upwardly mobile? Perhaps something by Stephen Covey would appeal to you. And if you are preparing to fly then make a selection that might evoke commentary or interest from a suitable seat-mate. Most certainly, you would not be found boarding with a copy of "My with Osama Bin Laden" or "how to explode planes in mid-air".
With the advent of e-books, all that has changed. See someone carrying one of those little babies, and you have no idea what is contained inside. The gentleman across the aisle on your next flight could, indeed, be reading the recipe for combining ingredients for an explosive and pulling up charts on the optimum placement. You don't know if they are reading "War and Peace' or an autobiography on Adam Sandler. Which may be why e-book owners are left to personalize the product with snappy little covers. If you can't read the book, at least check out my cover!
Naturally, I realize that the same could be said for laptops and the fact that e-books are nothing more than laptops just for books, so some of this is simply facetious. The real core of the matter is the loss of paper pages and bound books, and sitting in a comfy chair at Barnes and Noble admist the comforting smells of other books. Does it really have the same effect to imagine assorted customers, lounging about, reading from their e-books? Not to me.
E-books do not encourage sharing. They reward recruitment. You cannot freely exchange books with friends or acquaintances; those can only be shared between members of the same e-book cult. Nook members share with Nooksters, and Kindles only share with kindlers... you get the picture. You actually purchase a viewing license, not a book. It isn't yours. It belongs to Da Man. There was a movement a few years back that I recall, where a person would leave a book they enjoyed but no longer wanted in a public area for any other person to pick up and enjoy, and the progress of the books was tracked on a website. Imagine doing that with an e-book? hahahaaa! "Nook left on bench at bus station. No location subsequently noted.."
As to the downfall of humanity, if all books are maintained electronically then once you pull that plug and limit energy usage (and thus, recharging) or simply stop producing books for electronic media OR control whose books you produce then our knowledge of a world outside ourselves will be limited by the puppetmasters. I know this sounds much like a whispered conspiracy theory, but if you recall, there was a time when knowledge and power were controlled by not allowing everyone to learn to read. Now that we know how to read, the only control mechanism is restricting what we can access to read.
When that happens, I will still have my fine collection of hard-bound books. And your battery dies or your power goes out, or the flight attendant advises you to power-off electronic devices, I will be reading my books. To my Barnes and Noble compatriots I say "do not abandon the paper page." May they continue long past the expiration of this... ahem... electronic blog.
I came to the realization that e-books are part of an evil plot not only to strip us of our individuality but to set up this nation to be further controlled by media. You heard it here first, boys and girls! Or if not, it's only because I have been busy reading books and training dogs, and didn't see it posted on Entertainment Tonight.
There was a time when we were identified by the books we carried and people made assumptions based on them. If I carried the biography of Sarah Palin, people would assume I was a right wing supporter. Tuck a copy of one of Obama's hope-and-change missives and folks would likewise view me as Democrat brother in arms. Want to appear upwardly mobile? Perhaps something by Stephen Covey would appeal to you. And if you are preparing to fly then make a selection that might evoke commentary or interest from a suitable seat-mate. Most certainly, you would not be found boarding with a copy of "My with Osama Bin Laden" or "how to explode planes in mid-air".
With the advent of e-books, all that has changed. See someone carrying one of those little babies, and you have no idea what is contained inside. The gentleman across the aisle on your next flight could, indeed, be reading the recipe for combining ingredients for an explosive and pulling up charts on the optimum placement. You don't know if they are reading "War and Peace' or an autobiography on Adam Sandler. Which may be why e-book owners are left to personalize the product with snappy little covers. If you can't read the book, at least check out my cover!
Naturally, I realize that the same could be said for laptops and the fact that e-books are nothing more than laptops just for books, so some of this is simply facetious. The real core of the matter is the loss of paper pages and bound books, and sitting in a comfy chair at Barnes and Noble admist the comforting smells of other books. Does it really have the same effect to imagine assorted customers, lounging about, reading from their e-books? Not to me.
E-books do not encourage sharing. They reward recruitment. You cannot freely exchange books with friends or acquaintances; those can only be shared between members of the same e-book cult. Nook members share with Nooksters, and Kindles only share with kindlers... you get the picture. You actually purchase a viewing license, not a book. It isn't yours. It belongs to Da Man. There was a movement a few years back that I recall, where a person would leave a book they enjoyed but no longer wanted in a public area for any other person to pick up and enjoy, and the progress of the books was tracked on a website. Imagine doing that with an e-book? hahahaaa! "Nook left on bench at bus station. No location subsequently noted.."
As to the downfall of humanity, if all books are maintained electronically then once you pull that plug and limit energy usage (and thus, recharging) or simply stop producing books for electronic media OR control whose books you produce then our knowledge of a world outside ourselves will be limited by the puppetmasters. I know this sounds much like a whispered conspiracy theory, but if you recall, there was a time when knowledge and power were controlled by not allowing everyone to learn to read. Now that we know how to read, the only control mechanism is restricting what we can access to read.
When that happens, I will still have my fine collection of hard-bound books. And your battery dies or your power goes out, or the flight attendant advises you to power-off electronic devices, I will be reading my books. To my Barnes and Noble compatriots I say "do not abandon the paper page." May they continue long past the expiration of this... ahem... electronic blog.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Search for Missing Boy
Our search team, People and Paws, was activated yesterday to search for a missing 8 year old Reedsburg boy. The boy had left his home around 3:45 the previous day and was reported missing to Law Enforcement several hours later after an unsuccessful search by family members. When I received the call, I quickly canceled the private lessons I had scheduled for the day. Everyone was understanding of the priorities and I appreciate that.
The location is about three hours from here and most of our team arrived at around the same time to discover a parking lot filled with fire department and rescue vehicles, horse trailers, squad cars and school buses. It seemed the entire town had emptied to assist in the search. On a personal level, I question some of the well-intentioned who were accompanied by young children. I cannot believe they had an understanding of what they might find and how shocking that might be to a child.
Ultimately we would move our command post away from that scene, to a location nearby where the dogs had shade and we could deploy away from the prying eyes of media. I have great respect for the Incident Command System in place for our team and those we work closely with. There are other teams whose knowledge, certifications and expertise dove-tail with that of PnP and who we work jointly with on numerous searches. K9SOS and WolfSAR were two of the other teams who worked the incident with us.
I will not go into detail about the search except to say that I was extremely impressed by the work of Lynn Gardiner and her bloodhound, Abby. Abby is a youngster but demonstrated ability and a strong work ethic. In the end, there is a tragic post script to the story; the young lad had apparently entered the Baraboo River and drowned. I dislike the term "closure". Does a family who loses a child ever truly close that door? But he is at least returned to them to say good-bye. Pray that this family finds strength to deal with their loss.
The team will be answer the call to locate another missing child in the future. We will pack our gear, load our dogs, and hope for a different outcome, never forgetting the families who are waiting to bring their loved ones home.
The location is about three hours from here and most of our team arrived at around the same time to discover a parking lot filled with fire department and rescue vehicles, horse trailers, squad cars and school buses. It seemed the entire town had emptied to assist in the search. On a personal level, I question some of the well-intentioned who were accompanied by young children. I cannot believe they had an understanding of what they might find and how shocking that might be to a child.
Ultimately we would move our command post away from that scene, to a location nearby where the dogs had shade and we could deploy away from the prying eyes of media. I have great respect for the Incident Command System in place for our team and those we work closely with. There are other teams whose knowledge, certifications and expertise dove-tail with that of PnP and who we work jointly with on numerous searches. K9SOS and WolfSAR were two of the other teams who worked the incident with us.
I will not go into detail about the search except to say that I was extremely impressed by the work of Lynn Gardiner and her bloodhound, Abby. Abby is a youngster but demonstrated ability and a strong work ethic. In the end, there is a tragic post script to the story; the young lad had apparently entered the Baraboo River and drowned. I dislike the term "closure". Does a family who loses a child ever truly close that door? But he is at least returned to them to say good-bye. Pray that this family finds strength to deal with their loss.
The team will be answer the call to locate another missing child in the future. We will pack our gear, load our dogs, and hope for a different outcome, never forgetting the families who are waiting to bring their loved ones home.
Photos from the MR trial
Melissa Mims and Lykos, decoy Scott Dunmore
Lykos
Mongoose on Object Guard
Lisa Geller and Mongoose, DOH
Pi, decoy Dennis Bilik
Steve Garvin and Bogan
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Algonquin von Schoerling, UCD,11xSchH3/IPO3,MR1
WOW! We did it! Quinn earned his MR1 by earning qualifying scores both days. Granted, they were nothing to write home about but he did pass! And the only other dog to trial both days was not successful in his bid. Lisa Geller said later that she didn't think I realized what a big deal it was to have taken an almost 8 year old experienced schutzhund dog, with not much training, and earned a MR1 in his first weekend.
The other thing that Lisa said was that I am responsible for Mondioring in the Midwest. I hadn't considered that, but I suppose it is true. When we began bringing in Michael Ellis for seminars, after Ivan became unavailable, our area had never heard of ringsports. Michael introduced it and we began to teach our dogs proper entry on leg sleeves and how to do positions. We started to train a twisted schutzhund version combining portions of mondioring, including the environmental challenges, with the schutzhund requirements. I firmly believe this makes a well-rounded dog. Michael also sold his Loups du Soleil dogs to club members and I think that has forever changed the sport landscape as well as the presence of the malinois in this area. Ultimately, members who only wanted to do MR broke away from our schutzhund club and look where we are today!
I can't believe how nervous I was! In schutzhund, I am a zen goddess (though anyone who knows me understands not to talk to me before or immediately following my turn). I was so out of my element and sooo nervous. It is a little funny to look back on when I recall that I wasn't so nervous about Jinx but yet she failed her second day's attempt! I was petrified what Quinn might do, and he did even better the second day. I was very concerned about whether to even try again on Sunday. I had wanted to do some "clean up" to make sure I had an "out" since he had not been reinforced with multiple grips on Saturday. The last thing I wanted to do was to create the same problem we had in schutzhund where Quinn decided that releasing was not a priority. I spoke briefly with Michael Ellis on Sunday morning and he encouraged me to give it a try. I'm glad I did.
In two days, Quinn did NOT eat the food on the food refusal. That is our biggest accomplishment, as he is a total chow hound! I had learned (darnit! have to read the rules some time!) that in the MR1 I could pick my dog up from the guard, so I opted to try that. I also decided to use voice only, rather than whistle. Clearly the whistle was not working for me the day before. Once the decoy hovered over Quinn and made eye contact, it was game on and he wasn't going anywhere. Of course, I will have to reinforce the whistle for the MR2 level, but in order to pass, I let him do his schutzhund guard and walked up to heel away. He released perfectly, too! I was so proud of him! The poor boy was handicapped by a stupid handler who cost so many points we are lucky to have passed. Score-wise, we did worse than the day before by 1 point, earning 168 points. 160 is passing! whew! However, on Sunday, it was almost all on me. Quinn did super but I lost my brain, failing to acknowledge the horn that signaled the start and end of the exercises. I have to admit that Melissa Mims had told me to practice with the horn, and I even bought one, but I was worried the dog would learn to pay attention to the horn and perhaps release too soon, or recall too soon. In the end, what I discovered was that because I had not practiced with it, it became back ground noise in my nervous head and I paid no attention to it! The one time it pierced my subconscious was in the heeling pattern, where it actually startled me and I stopped abruptly. My stop startled Quinn, who apparently thought he had screwed up and he remained sitting when I continued forward. We lost all the heeling points because of that error. No kidding, my awesome heeling dog failed heeling! arggghh. dumb handler!
That morning, Steve Garvin, who was an apprentice judge and a super nice guy, asked if I was excited. Excited? no. Nervous? you betcha. I just wanted it all over. I didn't even break my camera out of the case on Saturday. I just wanted the whole thing to be done, pass or fail. On Sunday the MR1 competitors were just me and Scott Dunmore, who did double duty as a decoy, as well, and has a very nice V litter LdS dog. I asked to go first, to get it over with! Once my turn was done, it took awhile to work up the courage to go look at our score but once I did, I was free to relax, chat and take photos. It felt so nice to be finished! For our troubles, and First Place, we received a nice bite pillow.
The location was lovely and Ed and Cindy were great hosts. I would have loved to have had the time to look around more, maybe even taken a drive around the area. Maybe next time. What?? next time? Obviously a glutton for punishment, we are now planning our move to MR2. Call me crazy.....
The other thing that Lisa said was that I am responsible for Mondioring in the Midwest. I hadn't considered that, but I suppose it is true. When we began bringing in Michael Ellis for seminars, after Ivan became unavailable, our area had never heard of ringsports. Michael introduced it and we began to teach our dogs proper entry on leg sleeves and how to do positions. We started to train a twisted schutzhund version combining portions of mondioring, including the environmental challenges, with the schutzhund requirements. I firmly believe this makes a well-rounded dog. Michael also sold his Loups du Soleil dogs to club members and I think that has forever changed the sport landscape as well as the presence of the malinois in this area. Ultimately, members who only wanted to do MR broke away from our schutzhund club and look where we are today!
I can't believe how nervous I was! In schutzhund, I am a zen goddess (though anyone who knows me understands not to talk to me before or immediately following my turn). I was so out of my element and sooo nervous. It is a little funny to look back on when I recall that I wasn't so nervous about Jinx but yet she failed her second day's attempt! I was petrified what Quinn might do, and he did even better the second day. I was very concerned about whether to even try again on Sunday. I had wanted to do some "clean up" to make sure I had an "out" since he had not been reinforced with multiple grips on Saturday. The last thing I wanted to do was to create the same problem we had in schutzhund where Quinn decided that releasing was not a priority. I spoke briefly with Michael Ellis on Sunday morning and he encouraged me to give it a try. I'm glad I did.
In two days, Quinn did NOT eat the food on the food refusal. That is our biggest accomplishment, as he is a total chow hound! I had learned (darnit! have to read the rules some time!) that in the MR1 I could pick my dog up from the guard, so I opted to try that. I also decided to use voice only, rather than whistle. Clearly the whistle was not working for me the day before. Once the decoy hovered over Quinn and made eye contact, it was game on and he wasn't going anywhere. Of course, I will have to reinforce the whistle for the MR2 level, but in order to pass, I let him do his schutzhund guard and walked up to heel away. He released perfectly, too! I was so proud of him! The poor boy was handicapped by a stupid handler who cost so many points we are lucky to have passed. Score-wise, we did worse than the day before by 1 point, earning 168 points. 160 is passing! whew! However, on Sunday, it was almost all on me. Quinn did super but I lost my brain, failing to acknowledge the horn that signaled the start and end of the exercises. I have to admit that Melissa Mims had told me to practice with the horn, and I even bought one, but I was worried the dog would learn to pay attention to the horn and perhaps release too soon, or recall too soon. In the end, what I discovered was that because I had not practiced with it, it became back ground noise in my nervous head and I paid no attention to it! The one time it pierced my subconscious was in the heeling pattern, where it actually startled me and I stopped abruptly. My stop startled Quinn, who apparently thought he had screwed up and he remained sitting when I continued forward. We lost all the heeling points because of that error. No kidding, my awesome heeling dog failed heeling! arggghh. dumb handler!
That morning, Steve Garvin, who was an apprentice judge and a super nice guy, asked if I was excited. Excited? no. Nervous? you betcha. I just wanted it all over. I didn't even break my camera out of the case on Saturday. I just wanted the whole thing to be done, pass or fail. On Sunday the MR1 competitors were just me and Scott Dunmore, who did double duty as a decoy, as well, and has a very nice V litter LdS dog. I asked to go first, to get it over with! Once my turn was done, it took awhile to work up the courage to go look at our score but once I did, I was free to relax, chat and take photos. It felt so nice to be finished! For our troubles, and First Place, we received a nice bite pillow.
The location was lovely and Ed and Cindy were great hosts. I would have loved to have had the time to look around more, maybe even taken a drive around the area. Maybe next time. What?? next time? Obviously a glutton for punishment, we are now planning our move to MR2. Call me crazy.....
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