Thursday, May 29, 2014

Rally Day 1 - Hugs and Hearty Greetings

We got to the rally campground after an uneventful 2 hour drive. After figuring out where the registration was, getting that all squared away, then settling into our site we were ready for a quick lunch to fortify ourselves for visiting.

The weather was overcast, cold and windy, not ideal for standing around outside yacking - we definitely needed jackets. We chatted with the other early arrivals, walked the dogs along the "back 40" road, then settled back inside for supper. Just as we finished up, Mary (the rally organizer), knocked on the door so of course we talked her into coming in for a glass of wine. The rally is off to a good start!

Thursday morning I was up bright and early so leashed up the dogs and went out for a 1/2 hour walk, again in the back 40. It is a pretty walk, through some wild areas, as well as some more groomed grassy fields. We saw lots of critters, which as you can guess, with 160lbs of excited dogs is a challenge. I don't know which is worse: going in different directions; or, using their combined weight to just about drag me off my feet. Luckily I had lots of treats to reinforce good behavior, but next time I will take the time put the harnesses on them! (I suppose it would be better to just train them to behave, but since we don't have that excitement at home, and when we are camping I generally have all 3 at once... well, maybe I'm just lazy!)

By Early afternoon the rigs started rolling in. It was clear right away that being here early was a "good thing". We got to be the ones welcoming people. It was fun re-acquainting with everyone - hugs and happy greetings were the order of the day.  I was glad that my 2 month mood funk had passed (being down makes it almost impossible to socialize).

I even got to be the "dog expert" and remove a tick from a cute little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (did I mention cute?). Sharon had a new tool called a "tick twister" that was easy to use and did a good job of not squeezing the tick too much. We'll be picking some up for ourselves.

As supper time neared, we made plans with the group to go to Raxx, a rib place with an amazing Thursday night deal. Despite the very slow service, we made it back to the campground in time for the 7:30 campfire. Tonight, the sought after spots were in the smoke, as that was your only chance to get away from the mosquito's... ah, May in Ontario, home of the blackfly and mosquito...

I'm beat, and should sleep well tonight.  (you'll have to exuse any errors - my editor is still out by the campfire!

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." -Anonymous

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