It’s been so long. Where do I start? As I write we are camped alongside the beach in Santa Barbara. I’m perched up on the bed with Dottie licking my legs while I type. Ginger and Noche watch Steve’s every move as he prepares to go outside. Grayson is quiet in his post-surgical pen on the lower bunk. We have just experienced our first dog show.
It would have been more fun if Dottie had won but the Danish judge awarded her second place, behind her sister, Lexi. She did receive an “excellent” rating so she is now officially “breeding approved”. Meeting all the farmdogs and their people was fun, as was visiting with my cousin, Jeff, after not seeing him for 15 years. On the flip side, showing Dottie was nerve-wracking, and “camping” in LA leaves something to be desired. We spent three nights in the back of a parking lot next to a freeway soundwall. At least it was private and we could run the generator guilt-free as you couldn’t hear it over the freeway noise.
Our last night in the LA area, Steve found us a regional park campground not far from where he grew up in Corona. We had an amazing amount of space, with a large grassy field on one side, empty campsites on either end, a vast valley between us and city lights, and a nearby fake lake. Except for the flies and smell from the adjacent dairy operation, it was wonderful, and quite unexpected in such proximity to LA. We’re headed home today so I can go back to work and Grayson can see the surgeon for a check-up and suture removal.
