Thanksgiving Weekend Wine Tasting -- Nov 26, 2011

Time for the annual trip out to the Oregon wine country for a little wine tasting. Visited these wineries:

Ayres
Lemelson
Belle Pente
Scott Paul

Stermer Vineyard at Lemelson

at Lemelson

Echo & Eric at Roseburg Show -- Nov 17 - 19, 2011

Echo and I entered the Roseburg show on Thurs, Fri, Sat; Nov 17 -19, 2011. In a word, a humbling experience. We have a lot of work to do on focus and attention.

Day 1: 
- NQ in Beginner Novice (his nose hit the carpeted floor and I picked him up and left after 30 seconds).

Day 2:
- NQ in Beginner Novice (nose hit the floor, I just started talking to him and we got all the way through the run, judge said 'nice try'. Not qualified because you can only talk to your dog a couple of times, not 10's or 100's of times.
- NQ in Rally Novice B (nose hit the floor half way through - picked him up and left the ring).

Day 3:
Qualifying run with score of 189 in Beginner Novice - yeah. Had crooked sit on the recall, some tight leash, some excessive # commands. I attributed our success to really, really , really pumping him up with our 'Eye Contact' game during the five minutes before we entered the ring.

Here is Day 1, followed by Day 2:



Here is the qualifying run on day 3:

WooHoo, Roddy & Lynne get Qualifying Run - Nov 17 - 19, 2011

Roddy & Lynne entered Rally Novice A on three days, qualifying on 2 of 3 days, yeah. They spent eight months working towards a qualifying run, what persistence.

Event was held in a heated, indoor pavilion at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg, OR on a carpeted surface. The carpet proved to be a real bugaboo for attracting our scent hounds, noses, down to the carpet. Umpqua Kennel Club sponsored on Thursday, Friday; Rogue Valley Kennel Club on Saturday. Photos follow the vid...

at least one of the team is exuding confidence

Day 1 - awards presentation

Lynne was entry R61

Yeah, 1st qualifying run

Tuned up for day 3

some kind of intensity

yeah, qualifying run on day three - now have 2 of 3 legs towards Rally Novice title

Veteran's Day Dog Mtn Hike -- Nov 11, 2011

Great fall day for walking on the fallen leaves...

Which way should we go?

ah, Black Cherry Stout

Walla Walla Wine Tasting -- Nov 4 & 5, 2011

Time for our annual trip to Walla Walla for wine tasting. Visited these wineries:

L'Ecole 41
Woodward Canyon
Long Shadows
Buty
Walla Walla Vintners
Rulo
Charles Smith

Tam McArthur Rim Hike -- Oct 23, 2001

One of those 'last great days of summer' hikes, beautiful t-shirt kind of day. Trailhead is at 6550', fairly high elevation for beginning a hike in the Cascades. We hiked up to about 8000', eight miles roundtrip.

Tam McArthur Rim

Final push to the rim, beautiful, open, high country

At the rim

Roddy Dog as we continue up the trail

South Sister from our turnaround spot

Mt Hood Keeshond Club Trial -- Sept 17, 2011

Echo and I entered the Mt Hood Keeshond Club Trial on Sept 17, an AKC all breed event held in Salem, OR. Nice venue on concrete floors, indoors - a bit small but overall very good. We entered Rally Advanced A and Rally Novice B.

For Rally Advanced A, we NQ'ed -- on the 2nd station, Echo found an interesting dog in the corner of the ring and a ran off to get acquainted. Good news is, we got through the 1st station - START. haha

Rally Novice B was a bit better, qualified with an 87. If not for a 10 point handler error we would have had a 97 - oh well. Look at about the 1:00 minute mark; we are supposed to step back 1 step, then 2 steps, then 3 three. Yours truly stepped back 1 step, then 1 step, then 3 steps. And to think, I got through four classes of Calculus and then Linear Algebra at the University - guess I shoulda taken Counting 101.

Here is the vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6pB1tfjkE

Cinderella Pumpkin

The finest vegetable in all the land, the Cinderella Pumpkin. Around for only a week or two in October.

Saturday Morn Walk -- 8 Oct 2011

Echo checking in

Heading back for the car

Our semi-regular Saturday morning 'Troutdale Airport' walk - just about an hour. The walk is a paved trail on top of a dike along the Sandy river. Great to put the beagles on a flexi leash and let them run up and down the side of the dike as we walk along.

Labor Day Barbeque -- Sept 5, 2011

Nice day with 3 generations of Wilson's & Angie and Lynne.

Head Chef

Lots of focus on that salmon.

Grandpa

Ape Canyon Trail -- Sept 4, 2011

Beautiful day hike at Mount St. Helens on the Labor Day weekend. Hiked up to the Loowit Trail along a old growth covered ridge via the Ape Canyon Trail. Was a long day and made it to the Plains of Abraham. 1300' elevation gain, 10.6 roundtrip to Loowit Trail junction and then another mile or so to the south end of the Plains of Abraham.

Views along the way on the Ape Canyon Trail

Nice old growth forest along the ridge

Nearing the Loowit Trail junction, bit of a traverse.

We made it - Loowit Trail. Loowit circumnavigates Mt St. Helens.
I did the circumnavigation 10 or so years ago.

Meadow on the edge of the Plains of Abraham

Plains of Abraham, looking north

Plains of Abraham, looking east. I camped in this area on my circumnavigation

Looking back towards the ridge we hiked up.

Phenomenal Indian Paintbrush - we timed our visit so well.

Wickiup Plain -- August 21, 2011

Nice hike on a hot August day. Pretty much a 'no' elevation gain hike on a giant plain in the Three Sisters Wilderness. One of my favorite hikes, not in the forests of the NW and great views.

Hot day and no shade - will Lynne make it to the tree island? Will Roddy?

South Sister

The Wife, we climbed it a few years ago - too dang hot today.