I have to tell today’s dog show story in two separate parts. First what happened at the dog show?
Nola earned her first point and was Best of Opposite Sex. The bad news is that she wasn’t Best Opposite to her handsome brother. Holmes had a little issue with Nola and me being in the ring with him. It is nigh impossible for a Cardi to gait forward with his head swiveled to the back. It didn’t help that his little sister barked at him on the down and back. We took a “First Point” photo — without the judge. She was messing around with German Shepherds and I really needed to be on the road. Anyway, I’ll post the photo when it arrives (it may be before Holmes’ finishing photo) 😛 So, it was another good Colorado Springs show weekend for us. We won 9 cans of Evanger’s Food and 2 buckets of their treats. The beef tripe is a big hit with the baddogs. Anyway, about getting on the road . . .
Part II – I took the dogs back to my son’s home at about 11:00, fed them breakfast, let them run out in the grassy yard, packed up all my stuff (didn’t clean the nose marks off all the windows — shame on me), put everything in the car and off we went. I got to the southern end of Trinidad and saw that the entire freeway was blocked. All traffic was being shuttled off the exit. It turns out another of our blasted wildfires was underway and the Raton Pass was closed — that’s the direct way home. I reversed course (confused the heck out of “Jewel” the Garmin), drove back the way I’d come about 40 minutes and took Rt. 160 west through the San Luis valley to Fort Garland. At Ft. Garland, we went south on Colo. 159 into New Mexico to Questa, then Taos, Espanola, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and finally Los Lunas. The 6 hour trip took slightly over 9 hours. I am whipped. The two youngsters had a great time. In addition to the dog food and treats, We brought home some split antlers, and a couple of cool new toys — not to mention lots of ribbons. Inca did not get picked up at the Boarding Kennel today — they close at 6:00. I’ll fetch the poor old thing tomorrow after my 9:00 court hearing.
What was important about the trip home is that it made me realize I have not been taking care of one part of me. It has been four or five years since I went up to this beautiful part of the State with my camera in hand. A camera day is curative, is soothing, makes me smile. So even though our trip took a very long time, my soul is a little refreshed. I need to make the trek again soon — this time with the camera.
In case you’re wondering, it’s still smoky at my house.
