Today's Observation

Had dinner tonight, as we often do when travelling, at the Flying J truck stop restaurant. Pretty fair fare. Something I've noticed many times, all across the country at these places: If there's a more unfit class of people in America than truck drivers, I'd like to know who they are. These guys (and the occasional girls) are truly a mess. I can't believe any of them live past 50. I'll try and get some pictures one of these days and post them.

Hanging out in Tallahassee

Is this Florida? Or Southern Georgia? One thing for sure is that aside from being the place where the biggest ripoff in Presidential politics happened, it's where they love their Florida State Seminoles.

We decided to hang around for a couple of days, waiting for some mail that should have arrived Friday.

Meanwhile, there was the Appalachee Coursing Club trials this past weekend. While the course plans weren't exactly what I was used to from past trials here, I still got some good action. And, as usual, the lunches were first rate.

The Best in Event was won by the greyhound, Donald, owned by Glen and Pam Davis. A relative lure coursing rookie (this might have been his third or fourth trial), he's an accomplished runner. Here, he's shown in his Sunday preliminary run.








The event trophy, is the Robert Nix Memorial Trophy, which was donated by Les Pekarski a couple of years ago. While I only met Robert Nix once, back in 1996, I owe much of what Shot On Site Photography has become to him. Robert is generally considered the father of lure coursing photography. Long before the advent of digital cameras, Robert was shooting events with old, reliable manual Nikons and Leicas, and even though he eschewed photo labs, he always had images to show the very next day. Les recounted yesterday some evenings when he shared a hotel room with Nix where, the bathroom would be unavailble for most of the night because it was turned into a slide processing lab. Here is Les presenting the Robert Nix trophy to Glen Davis.






The other noteworthy happening of the weekend also involved, peripherally, Les, and his wonder whippet Gala. Gala became the first ASFA Veteran LCM3! On top of her previous 20 LCMs, that's an amazing career. Les has computed it out, and Gala (and her running mate, Spy) have each run more than a million yards. You go girl. Here's Gala (muzzle), and Spy running on Saturday.





We're still waiting to see where we're going next weekend. But while we're here, we're going to check out the area. If we find something fun, we'll let you know.

Back To Basics..

For a while now, I've lost sight of the original purpose of this blog, which was to keep the sighthound fancy aware of our travel and shooting plans. So, here goes..

This weekend we'll be in Tallahassee for the ACC ASFA lure trial. This is one of my favorite fields to shoot. The course plans always present the hounds a couple of times on each course, so I always get really good action stuff here.

The following weekend, March 11-12, we're either going to be off, enjoying Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia, or we'll be at the GOGLC trial in Brooksville, FL- this will depend on whether someone from this trial will be at Tallahassee and I can find out if we can go there in the motor home.



March 18 & 19 we will be back at Old Mill Farm in Cartersville, GA for what is being called an "ASFA National Greyhound Specialty", and which I have been referring to in my emails as "that greyhound thingy". This is a good field to run, and we may run Rally if her injured toenail is healed enough, but it's always been problematic for getting good sight angles for action. Back at the year end trials there, I did get an opportunity to shoot from a unique perspective. But Les Pekarski isn't going to bring out the 62 foot lift truck every weekend.

March 25-26 will bring us back up North for the first time since September, and it's a little too early in the season for my tastes, but we'll be at OKIGO's AKC trials in Fairborn, OH, which is another good field for unique action perspectives.

Our future plans also include the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's 100th National Specialty in Frankenmuth, MI in May, and a NOTRA weekend in Carthage, IN, also in May, and we'll be in Falcon, CO for ASFA's International Invitational in June, and this may preclude us from getting to Lexington for the Saluki Specialty.. it will require a long run, using lots of gas! Will depend on how well we do at the II.

Our 4th of July plans are up in the air right now.. we'll either be at the MGA ASFA trial in Metamora, MI or we may go back to Cartersville, as it's some sort of anniversary event, like the 20th or 25th or something.

That's it for now, we'll fill in the blanks as we get closer to April and May events.

Olympic headlines you missed..

BODE MILLER MISSES GATE IN SLALOM, VEERS OFFCOURSE, SHOT IN THIGH AT BIATHLON VENUE.
BAL DROPS TO .280 DURING HOSPITAL CONFINEMENT
Says Bode: "It's awesome, man... I got to party and get shot on an Olympic level!"

* * * * *

JAPAN WINS LADIES' FIGURE SKATING GOLD
JAP TAKES SILVER

SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE A SIGN

"There's sign everywhere"

"Lots of fresh sign here!"

"Look at all the sign!"

What the hell is that all about? Left Behind cultists predicting the EndTimes? Preparing for the Rapture? What are they talking about, these wandering voices in the desert? Nothing so monumental as that. They're talking about the body waste from Lepus Californicus. Jackrabbit crap. But to hear the hunters as they slowly walk the desert hoping to flush a hare, you'd think they were discussing the Communion Wafer Body of Christ

!

The CW is, that when you see jackrabbit sign, you will soon see a jackrabbit! What it really means is: Absolutely Nothing.


In my short hunting career, if I've learned anything, it's that these critters shit way out of proportion to their numbers. One jackrabbit can litter acres of desert, I swear it's true. If it weren't true then we actually would jump a jackrabbit when we see fresh sign. It seldom happens. Oh, that it were true.

But like any creature of habit, we'll be out there again next Winter, talking about sign. And I'll be as guilty as the next guy.

Changing the name...

Huh. No posts since August. Well don't say I never post here.... note the new name of the blog!

Meanwhile, it's the middle of the Winter in Texas, and it's shorts and shirtsleeves weather. Better hustle on that additional study of global warming, Mr Shrub.

More later...

Cherries Cherries Cherries Cherries...

The title is a link... check it out. Your health will benefit. (Other links will appear in the near future, as soon as I learn the code to put them there.)

So begins our days as tourists, and let me tell you, this doesn't happen often enough. We packed up Rally and Fanny, and headed south on US31, then East on M72, our ultimate destination the Traverse Bay and Leelanau Peninsula of Northwest Michigan; home of cherries: The National Cherry Festival, Cherry Capitol Airport, Cherry wines, Cherry Chocolate Truffles, Cherry Orchards, and even, as we discovered, Cherry dog biscuits (called "Hip Bones", because of the anti-oxidant benefits found in the tart cherry).

We decided not to stop in the "Fudgie" haven of Traverse City itself, and go on to Leelanau Peninsula... a large point of land bordered by Lake Michigan on the West, and the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay on the East. We stopped so the dogs could get wet in Traverse Bay. Rally decided that total immersion was the best way to keep cool on a day where the temperature was rapidly climbing. It was very shallow, and rocky here, but as you can see, we're talking big water here, folks.

Some friends of mine think North Georgia, or Brooklyn are God's Country, but listen to your bodies, which are 80% water.... God's Country is where the water is!

Our next stop was at the Black Star Farm Winery, on the Eastern shore of the peninsula, just South of Sutton's Bay. This is just one of dozens of wineries on Leelanau, and Old Mission Peninsulas.. before you laugh, this is prime wine producing country- the 45th parallel goes straight through the area, as it does the Napa and Bordeaux regions in other parts of the country, and the world. The area is hilly, the soil sandy, the climate arid... (well, normally, but you'd be hard pressed to prove it on this day).

When I first started coming up here, the varietals were primarily whites- Reislings, etc., and, of course, the fruit wines of the region, most notably cherry. These were surprisingly dry, and not at all what you would expect. We purchased a couple of bottles, so you will be able to see for yourselves if we happen to crack one open at a trial or race meet in the near future!

That said, the whites are still the best. The Pinots and other red varietals left me unimpressed, but I admire their ambition. On this day, I tasted a barrel-aged Chardonney that would stand up to any I've had.


We then decided to head across the peninsula to historic Leland, one of the early fishing centers of the Great Lakes. Now, a prime tourist destination, with shops, restaurants, bars, inns- but vestiges of it's past remain, with the shanties, and the old fishing boats... We had an excellent lunch at the Bluebird, which is occasionally haunted by the writer Jim Harrison, when he's not at his other favorite Michigan village, Grand Marais, in the Upper Peninsula.

After lunch, we headed to the waterfront, where I took the picture of "Fishtown", and then to the marina, where I snapped this example of the "little" pleasure craft than come in to tie up.


Then it was down M22, following the Lake Michigan shore towards Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Just inside the Federal boundaries is Good Harbor Beach, where I spent many days in the water in a previous lifetime...
We thought it would be a good time to let the girls sample the waters of the second-biggest Great Lake. Rally wasn't keen on the waves- she should see it when the West wind really picks up!

Unlike Traverse Bay, this was all sand... the entire West Coast of Michigan's lower peninsula is sand and dunes; almost 400 miles of it! Good Harbor beach is nice in that it is dog friendly- at least half of it is... when you come out of the parking area, dogs are not welcome to the left (south), but are welcome to the right, (north). There were several out on this day, chasing Frisbees into the surf, and just having a ball.

As I said, I'd previously spent quite a bit of time at this beach, and it was time to try and find another old haunt: Pyamid Point. Pyramid Point juts out into Lake Michigan, about 10 miles south of Good Harbor Beach. It also rises about 400 feet above the lake, on a very steep sand dune bluff. Unfortunately, there was no one walking on the beach, so I couldn't get any scale shooting straight down, so I thought I'd let the National Park Service let you know how high, steep, and dangerous it is. By the way, the trail from the parking lot is about a mile long, and also very, very steep! I noticed that the top of the dune, as dunes will do, is relentlessly marching East. Several trees on the East side of the crest have been pretty much swallowed up.

I couldn't resist capturing some of the ways people enjoy themselves after the climb. Besides working on golf shots, others go off to the back recesses and probably get naked. And other stuff. South Manitou Island, which is also part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, can be seen in the distance. The golf shot did not carry. But ferry service out of Leland, will take you there, and it's a whole 'nother fun place to hike, camp, climb, and swim.


It was getting late, so we decided to forego the rest of the trip south to Glen Arbor and it's shop, Cherry Republic. It was time to head back to the campground to see Buffy and Randir, who'd spent the day in the air-conditioned comfort of the Express. While passing through Traverse City, I had Margaret snap this shot, which is indisputable proof that this is a very special place.
















...and finally, this parting shot, which is more proof, that the land, not to mention the young girls, is fertile, fertile, fertile: (You can grow anything here!)