Snow and Hoops

Today we made our way over the Sierra Mountains on our way to Carson City, Nevada. It was gorgeous.....at least what I saw of it. I'll let you in on a little secret. I don't really watch too much when we drive as I get so nervous. The RV just looks so wide and the lanes always look so narrow! So I'm always leaning way to the left so that we won't hit things. Needless to say, that doesn't actually make the RV move to the left - it just makes me all tense. So, I just don't watch unless we are on a nice super wide road.

But today Mike told me that I had to look as the scenery was just beautiful. It was hard to get pictures through the windows as we drove - but there was definitely no room to pull over.

The white you see in this picture is actually a lake that is totally covered with snow.



It was so pretty! And it looked so inviting. Sparkie was sure it looked like a great place to play. So she kept standing up in the front looking out the window crying. We were sure she was saying "Are we there yet?"



Even though it did look a great place to stop and play we were on a time schedule and had to keep moving along. We kept going up and up to over 8,300 feet! There was a lot of snow.



I was really enjoying the scenery when suddenly I saw that the snow was plowed off the road alright but that meant there was no shoulder. YIKES. You can see in the picture where other vehicles have hit the snow bank. No more looking at scenery for me!




After we got down the mountains a ways, Mike convinced me to take another look. Now that we were down lower there was still some snow but here you could see one of the lakes.



It took us a little longer than we had expected but we made it to Carson City in plenty of time to get all set up at the trial site. Fortunately for Sparkie, there was a Friday evening run at this trial. It was our first opportunity to try the new class, Hoopers.

This is a class that is set up like a jumpers course but instead of jumps there are hula hoops (standing up on end) that the dogs run through. We had never even practiced on a hoop before so this was totally new to the dogs - and to us.

There were a number of dogs here that had done this event before but most had not. We entered Wazzu and Sparkie. Sparkie went first. She acted as though she'd done this numerous times before and ran fast and clean. She could care less what the obstacles are - as long as she gets to play agility with her daddy. The more runs the better.

Wazzu also ran it like this was old hat and ran fast and happy. Personally, I didn't really care for it - it seemed boring to me. Maybe when we progress to more difficult courses it will be more interesting.

Here, take a look at our Hoopers experience. Click on the picures to watch the videos. (Just click one time - that will take you to another screen which will load and play the video - no need to click anything on that screen. To return to the blog click the Back button.) We have loaded two videos so when you return to the blog just click the next picture to see the second video.

When the scores were posted, it seems as though the girls really had done well. Even though some of the other dogs had done this before and ours hadn't, Sparkie ended up coming in second and Wazzu came in third! Well done girls!

Driving is always hard on Wazzu but especially when we go on bumpy and windy roads. Here are a few cute shots of Wazzu sleeping after her rough day.







Sleep soundly sweet Wazzu, we've got a fun weekend ahead.

Debbie
4/13/07