With Freddie being so subdued, I wasn't sure what to expect when we got the the competition site. He of course perked right up and forgot that I ever pulled a tick from his very sensitive groin area. I'm still disgusted by the sight of the thing leeching off of my dog. We just don't have to deal with ticks in Oregon. Not that we don't have them, they are just pretty rare. I was told this morning that the fairgrounds are covered in ticks, especially the back area, where I ran Freddie yesterday. So most likely he picked it up there.

So with the tick ordeal behind us we were able to focus on the agility on hand. Today started with T2B. 


It's the only run I have on video from today, which happens to be the one we won and ran clean in;). I don't know many people at the trial so it makes getting the runs filmed difficult. I was pleased with his jumping and his contacts. I felt confident and relaxed in this run, no nervousness. I was also very calm in my jumpers run, well, after the second bar came down and I found myself lost. I was able to realign Freddie and the rest of it was a lovely run. I may buy the runs at the end of the weekend. The more that are purchased, the less it costs. So I'm waiting to see which runs get missed.

Standard was not as nice. I was not nearly as confident with standard as I was with the other runs. Eh, it's okay. Not out best run, but certainly not our worse ever;) Tomorrow is another day and I get to run Freddie again, as long as he wants to anyway.

He seems so off to me. I know it can't be tick related, but he is so calm and mellow and not pulling on his leash (except for agility). He is walking nicely up the stairs, he is not in a rush to get anywhere, he is waiting patiently for me to get things out of the car, he has manners. All of a sudden? After four years he all of sudden gets it? I doubt it. Maybe it's the heat, the travel, who knows, but I am going to keep a close eye on him.

I was done at noon, so I set out to find myself some local, Dixon strawberries. And of course I did. Some lovely little Chandlers. A Californian variety, but they have been known to do well in some parts of the East Coast. They are sweet and colorful, and I like them, but they still do not compare to Oregon's Hood variety. These are just a tad more watery and less flavorful, but still damn better than most varieties. Certainly better than the flavorless fist sized berries that are found in the stores.


So pretty. The best berries to hit my taste buds this year.


Katie holds the berry so it can be noted to how small actual real berries are.


Katie likes strawberry flavored items, but finds strawberries to be too "plant-like" for her liking.


Ashley analyzing the strawberry and entering data into a spreadsheet about his findings.


And Freddie being way too polite here. Taking small bites of berry, no fingers involved? Hmm.


I had to take this photo for 100 different reasons. The sky is the main reason, look how low it is and how far it goes. It feels so different here just from the sky alone. And the clouds, so perfectly placed. I also like how the road just disappears into the horizon, as do the walnut trees. Speaking of walnuts, I picked up a bunch from this farm. Presents for Heather;) 

I'm already a bit homesick. I miss home and the Oregon air. I'm enjoying the trip though. Learning a lot about Dixon, I'll save Dixon history for another post;)

This face, all day yesterday, sad, tired, slow face. No excitement for much. I took it to mean he was tired from traveling.


Then there is this face, the moment he realizes I think there may be something up.


UGH, fuck. I can't believe he had a tick. The groin area is soooo swollen, and I did not get all of the head removed. I needed some hemostats, time to update my doggy first aid kit. At first I thought it was a nipple, but Freddie doesn't have hanging nipples, then I thought it was a skin tag, but he has never had one in the past. A tick, ick. I don't usually have to deal with them. Could he have picked it up yesterday? Could the area have become so swollen so quickly? I wonder if he picked it up on Larch Mountain,  but that would have been almost two weeks ago. I know we do have them in the Gorge, just not common. Ugh, now I have to deal with the head....


And with this Freddie. He won't come near me since I removed the bastard. I hope he is up for some agility today.

We are here. It is warm, sunny, yet very windy. So windy I have my doubts about using an EZ up tomorrow. The drive down was HORRIBLE. Black skies, waves of rain, high waters on the road, but as soon as I passed through Medford it let up and the rain turned to sprinkles. Once I hit Redding it was clear skies and high temps. The first 5 hours on the road were the worse driving conditions I have ever had to deal with. I thought about turning around, but then there would be a whole weekend of bad weather;) At least I am in the sunshine now.


Blue skies! It only took 575 miles of driving to get to them.

I arrived at about 4pm and went to the fairgrounds to scope out the crating area. Most spaces were already spoken for, but I found one corner not too far from the parking where I set up the skeleton of the EZ-up. I took the top off in fear of it being lifted and thrown about. Once I was somewhat set-up I took Freddie for a walk about town. The fairgrounds are not too far from the downtown area which was nice for some leg stretching.

Not a lot of people walking around in Dixon. Trucks, trucks, and more trucks. It is a cute little town with almost every house sporting it's own orange tree. I was truly tempted by some of the fruit, but realized that it could be considered rude to steal oranges off of peoples trees;) It amazes me though, oranges, on trees. They grow down here like apples and pears grow back home. For some reason the oranges look prettier than our apples.

The town has that old Gold Rush town feel, like a mini Jacksonville, Oregon. Many of the houses are historic and have lovely wrap around porches, and gingerbread accents. If I could move one of these house up to SW Portland I would do it, adorable. This is the type of town that should have a Pioneer Days Celebration, I can just see it. Kids dressed up as Pioneers, riding horses, drinking orange crush, yeah, I kind of like Dixon;)

I walked to the visitor center hoping to find it open, but I missed it by 10 minutes. I was hoping to find out if Dixon has a Farmer's Market. An agriculture center like this place should surely have a weekly market. Rosie reminded me that California berries are ready right now. I would love to pick up some local strawberries. Maybe I can make it to the visitor center tomorrow, or better yet, find a local farm if I have the time.

Freddie is tired, why I have no idea. He slept the whole way up here and he is sleeping again. We walked less than 2 miles, so I know that could not have worn him out. I hope he is feeling well and just tired from the travel. He has been being unusually good so far. Not pulling on his leash, being calm about everything, waiting patiently for me to get things out of the car. He also is unusually snuggly and clingy. He always snuggles somewhat, but he is being really sweet about it, not pushy about it. I am very excited to have some alone time with Freddie, I think we both have been craving it.


Ahhh, the obligatory coffee stop. The reason for road trips. 

I'm heading down to Dixon tomorrow for some sun, competition, and a much needed get away. Although a quick trip, I will be able to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts. I decided to go to Dixon for lots of reasons, but mainly because of the surface in Eugene. I won't show there anymore. It has been two years since I have been there and I have been told that the surface has not improved. There is an USDAA trial up North in Washington, but my focus is on AKC right now, so Dixon seemed logical. Ashley will be there as well, it will be nice to get some feed back in person.

I have a few students that will be down there too, one of them is judging so that will be fun. Katie will be down there with the infamous Banger, awesomeness, and I get to meet Denise and Freddie's littermate, Rumor. I am really looking forward to that. Lots of reasons to go to Dixon, not to mention the sunshine and high temps and my overnight visit with Dawn on the way home. It has been so cold and rainy here. After our week of sunshine, the mist, rain, and dampness has all come back. We had 3/4" of rain yesterday afternoon.


Hear that rain... So nice to have a covered place to train and teach. I feel very fortunate.

Not enough rain in the first video?


It rained hard, and the wind was something fierce too. Spring is still here. We were both pretty tired during the making of the above film;)

Back sided serps..... We certainly need to work on our independence a bit more. If I crowd, the bar comes down or he runs around the jump. He understands the out, just not with lateral motion yet;) Sounds like everything else we have trained. I do like having a trained back side command, so helpful. Not sure how useful it will be in everyday AKC life, but it is fun to train and can only add to Freddie's jumping skills.

Things are settling down around here and I for one am ready for a peaceful household again.

   

From our Dixon trip last year. Palm trees, blue skies, lunch near Shasta, I'm looking forward to more of all of that.

Like bicycles and whales and relationships and family and automobiles and seasons. it all keeps moving forward, ready or not. Luckily I have been preparing myself for this kind of stress. I have 7 solid months of treating myself and those around me very, very well. I have four days of not giving myself the credit I truly deserve, of treating myself below the standards I treat those that I love. I can feel the difference.

I should be on cloud nine, I completed Reach the Beach, my first bicycle event. I did very well, it was easy for me, even the hills that had some people dropping like flies, I made it up and powered out of them. I completed the event and never once hurt anywhere, or felt it was too much for me. I really enjoyed it.


Super Friends!
I felt like a superhero in my blue leggings, bicycle skort, and bad ass socks. 

Rosie drove the SAG wagon and carted us and our gear around,  it was really pretty awesome of her. She dropped us at our departure site and drove to Pacific City where she met us at the finish line. It was emotional and fantastic crossing that line. I have come so far in terms of strength, not just physical, but emotional as well. This ride captured all of it. Not to mention it was one of the most beautiful routes. The Cascade mountains are lovely, but the Coastal Range is something all together even more magical. The rain forest element that just isn't captured in the Cascades is so present in the Coastal Range. It was pretty special riding through secluded areas along small rivers and creeks, over single lane bridges, being so alone, yet surrounded by so much. I ended up riding the first half of the route with Macie and Megan, but lost both of them at the deadly hill. Megan was ahead of me and always somewhat within sight, but Macie was lost behind. I enjoyed the rest of the ride with no other cyclist, just me, the wind, and the road. So peaceful.


Water break.


Finish line! I coined the announcer Duff Man. He was so annoying that we had to go for a walk.

          
Megan, Rosie and I hiked up a very tall sand dune, traveled over forbidden rock, scaled mighty stones to arrive at the spot above. It was the end of a very beautiful day. Not only was it some of the most beautiful beach, it was the perfect day too, we saw gray whales. Two of them. It was Rosie's first time ever seeing whales in the wild, so a magical moment for sure. There is nothing like making every problem you may have seem small when held up to the ocean and a few gray whales. They stuck around for awhile, surfacing for air multiple times.



Now if I could do a size chart of a whale in the ocean......


I am so lucky to work with such a great group of people. They are truly a unique group and one that I feel grateful for being a part of.

Or at least that is how I was feeling yesterday. I overdosed on Vitamin D this past weekend and I was feeling the effects in practice. I was on sun time, not Freddie time;)

I walked the course up to maybe obstacle 12 and then winged it from there. And my walk through was a bit hazy.


I feel like I was on African time;)

Don't know what Africa Time is? Read Sterling's Blog, one of my favorite blogs to read. Sterling is in Cameroon, teaching for the Peace Corps. The only problem is that she doesn't update more often.

That's it, no more hiking Larch Mountain with Megan. We have not had any hike out there go as planned. There was snow at the top as suspected, but what wasn't suspected was not being able to find the trail back down. We would find it, then loose it again, find it and then loose it again because of the snow and downed branches. Finally we just walked out to a road and walked 4 miles down asphalt back to the parked car. The road was closed due to massive amounts of snow, so it was very peaceful, an actual nice walk. The only issue is the soreness I am now feeling from walking on asphalt in hiking boots.


Lots of trillium lined the road, so it made it extra pretty.


Freddie taking a break. He liked the snow and had lots of snow baths. So cute, he likes to roll in it to cool himself off. It was 85 degrees, with snow on the ground.


High temps and LOTS of elevation gain. It starts at sea level at Mult. Falls. Megan and I started at about 2000ft.


Freddie was definitely bad ass on this hike (Mt. Hood in the background). This one has been the most difficult of the season so far and he held up like a champ. Somewhere along the way Freddie has become a good dog.


The Columbia River.


Mt. St. Helens, which I will be summiting in two months. I am hoping a lot of that snow will be gone.


Well, he is mostly good;)


And no hike is complete without a good meal.

Not really, but I know a few moms that are. I decided to make Coconut Macaroons for the moms that I know. Although made a day late, I'm sure they will be appreciated. Any excuse to bake something.



These turned out amazingly well. Not a lot to them, but making custard is always a bit worrisome. When I make custard I'm afraid I'm going to actually scramble the eggs, but not this time. Another success.

It has been a beautiful weekend, lots of sun, warm temps, blue skies. I assume this is not going to last and we will be back to 60 and overcast in no time. So Freddie and I are going to take advantage of the fact that I have the day free and sneak in another hike after I deliver cookies. I think I will go for elevation gain this time around, maybe a view of some sort.

Yesterday we found ourselves in my hometown to visit my family. Although the town is a small, bankrupt, once upon a time booming logging town, it still has some of the most magical places on earth. I spent so many days, hours, weeks on the Molalla River and wilderness that it feels like home to me. The way the wind falls through the trees, the way the sun bakes the old logging roads, the way clear cuts can pop up and knock my breath out of me in shame, and around the next corner there are 500 year old trees, the way the river sounds. The Molalla River is amazing. I do not fear it at any time for me or the dogs, it is so gentle.

Rosie, Rini, Freddie, and I had planned on trekking up to Table Rock. But we only got a mile in before hitting this:



We tried, we really did try to make it into the switch backs, but snow kept getting deeper, and Rosie was wearing her minimus shoes. I knew we would hit snow, I always do this time of year, but I had no idea it would be so deep. There was no way we were going to make the summit of Table Rock. Insert sad face.

So I decided we should go to my favorite secret spot on the Molalla River. The place I spent a good deal of time on as a kid. I always find myself going back to this spot. It would be Rosie's first time to my swimming spot, amazing she has never been before.


Her and Rini posing.


Freddie posing. Although not the best surface to throw things for the dogs, it certainly is great for teaching them to use each foot. In the summer this is the best place to swim. There is a deep swimming hole, so deep that I can even dive off of the rocks to the right.

We decided we had enough time to try to hike up to Rooster Rock which is just up the road form the secret spot. It is a lower elevation than Table Rock so I figured we should be able to summit it. I had never taken this route to Rooster rock so I was unfamiliar with the trail. Rosie and I ended up hiking an old, abandoned logging road because we missed the actual trail head. I found it on the way back down. It turned out fine though. The old logging road was over grown and quite pretty. It was also pretty safe for the dogs. Lots of elevation gain so I felt like I got in some training for my St. Helens climb.


What, not the actual trail? Freddie was still pretty cool with it, and TIRED last night. It worked out perfectly.

Now that I know where the trail head to Rooster Rock is and will have to take it next time I go up that way. I imagine there will be lots of swimming this summer, there just has to be. That river is so ingrained in me.

Off to bike with Megan, I'm looking forward to seeing how far we can bike this morning.

I have been think about Klaus lately. I have really been missing her.



Today I will channel her.

I would like a whole lot of Klaus attitude today. She was the best.