Zoey's (and Mary-Ann's) Excellent Adventure!

With Maize happily enjoying special time with Dear Husband and Galen less happily watching everyone else, Zoey and I left on Friday for the place where the consequences of excess are perhaps most apparent: southern California.

I know many have an idealized version of southern California but here is the truth -- there are too many people!!!!! This causes all kinds of issues -- amazingly bad traffic, air you can see, crazy aggressive tailgating drivers, and so on! But I digress and you get the picture -- not my favorite place...

So, back to the adventure....

We (Zoey and I) arrived (after 11 hours of driving) in Indio, which is near Palm Springs, and staked out a sight for the set-up. The show (as in dog show - the purpose of the adventure) is at a HUGE horse place -- as in polo and other fancy horse things requiring lovely grass and lovely everything so a very nice sight.

Unfortunately my partners in adventure (Marti and Susan) were enjoying one of the consequences of southern California excess -- they were stuck in traffic. So Zoey and I had a leisurely late afternoon exploring the show sight and doing some grooming and enjoying the one redeeming feature of the area -- the warm winter weather.

Eventually my friends arrived and we set up our little show sight and went to the motel where Marti and I (and Zoey and her sister, Purna) shared a room at a Motel Six in Palm Springs. I went to sleep promptly, being one of those annoyingly cheerful morning people who is done not long after the sun goes down :)

But at 5 a.m. I was up and out the door and back to the show sight, where Zoey had a bath outside while the locals were all bundled in down coats and Ugg boots. We showed at 8 a.m. and Zoey won her class and went Reserve Winner's Bitch; this did not make me happy.

Zoey needs two major wins to finish her championship and we went to this show because each day was a solid major in girls. As I explained to Elizabethanne (via phone --she was not there) as I was driving to visit my Perfect Sister (more on that in a minute), the problem with Zoey is that she always wins and so it is shocking when she doesn't. I think Elizabethanne said something to the effect of, "listen dumb ass, Reserve to a major is not losing so quit being a such a loser" -- or something like that :) It was funny -- and true :)

So I met my Perfect Sister and my Perfect Niece in Pasadena where we walked Zoey and then were joined for a lovely dinner by my Perfect Sister's Perfect Husband -- it was very fun :)

Okay -- back to the show the next morning at the same cheerful hour of 6 a.m. where Zoey was once again soaked and groomed and etc. Off to the ring where I watched Susan's Woody get Winner's Dog -- YEA!!! We love Woody!!!!

Suddenly Marti was going in with Purna -- Marti did a GREAT job and we LOVE Purna!!!!! But where were the girls in the class before Purna?!!! Yes friends -- the major broke because someone left the show and took her girls home :(

Remember I drove all the way from Montana because Zoey needs majors and my goal was to come home with one -- and now the major in girls was broken -- I wanted to cry right there under the tent. But instead I said, "(insert bad language), I came all this way, there is a bred-by competition so I am showing this dog (even though she doesn't need the points since it is not a major)."

And so I did -- and we won the class and Winner's Bitch and it gets better -- Zoey went Best of Breed over three champions (2 boys and 1 girl), which then counted towards the points and gave Zoey her major!!!!!! So she was Winner's Bitch, Best of Winner's, Best bred-by, and Best of Breed -- a major the hard way and this is a HUGE deal and we are still on Cloud Nine...

And now I have to finish my drive home -- I am writing this from Mesquite, Nevada. I hope your weekend was as wonderful :) :)