Dog Ladies' Day Out

SUMMARY: Had a fun day off on Tuesday and took NO PHOTOS.

It was a day that was MADE for photos, and I even took my camera, but somehow didn't take a single shot of anything at all. Maybe having spent the morning sorting, labeling, and editing 300-ish photos from the weekend had something to do with it. Still, it was a trip that cried out for photos and, in retrospect, I regret not having taken any, but every time I thought about it, I just wasn't in the mood.

We had borrowed a teeter from club NAF out in Turlock for our trial this past weekend and it had to go back. KK had it in her van, and, as co-chair for the trial, I felt that it was my professional responsibility to make sure that it safely returned to its real home, no matter what hardship it entailed on my part.

Drove up to my seester's house with the Merle Girls, where they got to explore and get petted and although Boost went into the evil floor method of walking, her tail didn't stop wagging and she got some good exploring in anyway. I got a chance to chat with my sister a bit and check out the raised planters they're building in their back yard after having hauled a couple hundred concrete pavers from somewhere else.

KK met me there with her three dogs, and off we went, all crammed into the vehicle: Two Dog Ladies, four border collies, a dismantled teeter, and a nondismantled Tika.

We chatted all the way to French Camp, where we met up with with more Dog Ladies, DS and CC, at DS's beautiful house, all those lawns and that gorgeous agility field and the brand-new electricity-generating wind turbine that looks a bit like a propeller-driven rocket.

The four of us went off to a really delicious sushi lunch, leaving the dogs staring forlornly in through the sliding glass door from their cool, shaded, grassy yard. I said "no raw fish," and we ordered up a variety of rolls (lobster roll, "the volcano", I don't remember the others) that were SO GOOD (and not raw), and beautiful, too.

We sat at the restaurant and chatted long after the food was gone so that we could have room for dessert--we piled back into CC's dog-transport vehicle and ended up at the Ghirardelli chocolate factory, which is right down the street from DS's house--she said, you don't know how difficult it is to drive by there every day! I had my Ghirardelli standard, a hot fudge sundae with dark chocolate, and did not split it with anyone like CC & DS wisely did.

We went back to DS's house, played with the dogs a bunch in the yard, then crowded around my computer and they helped me to identify people in my photos from the weekend whom I didn't know.

Finished that just in time for the 45-minute drive the rest of the way to Turlock, where we dropped off the teeter and then stayed for a really helpful class with Rob Michalski. Got a couple of good suggestions for Boost and let Tika have one run, too. (DS & CC are regular students in that class--we crashed the party but everyone was really nice. Of course, we knew most of the people in the class anyway).

That's when, in the heat of the Central Valley, I was REALLY regretting not having split the sundae with KK (and she, too, likewise with her mint fudge sundae, which is my other regular favorite). Still, we survived.

Watched and cheered as one of the classmates was ordered to remove her shoes & socks and presented with a brand new pair of Aussie socks because she apparently was always complaining about not having any matching socks. Fun was had by all.

When that was done, KK checked out NAF's breakaway tire a bit, and we threw toys for the dogs--not too much, as it was still pretty warm, probably high 80s to low 90s even at 7:30-8:00ish. Boost got to do her favorite game, doing out-runs on a flock of border collies. Eventually we loaded up our bags of huge juicy peaches from CC's orchard and headed home.

Got back to my house around 10:30, realized I hadn't had dinner and wasn't even hungry (duh! no surprise there!), had a light snack and retired for the night, secure in the knowledge that my great sacrifice in taking the day off to make sure the teeter got home paid off in a safe delivery to its rightful owners.