Weekend in Little Rock

Took a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas this weekend for shows and to meet up with some friends. Stayed at Rebecca's place in Benton, about a half-hour away (longer if you're behind grey hair and a cap on a 2-lane) from the show. Sandra, Suzanne, Josie and Deb also came down, and Rebecca's brother Tim. All in all - super company!

Sadly, one of our hoped-for accomplishments for the weekend did not pan out - we did not bring back a new champion as we had hoped for. The best that Moose did was Reserve Winners Dog on Sunday. Saturday he didn't even get that. Solo was ignored in BOB too - so much for entering dogs under Mr. Davis ever again, unless they're with a handler! That was about our 3rd or 4th try under him and the modus operandi looks to be the same each time. He was kinda cranky too - but so was I, considering I was on medication for back issues.

Considering that the good company I was in suffered the same fate at the show that day...we stopped at the liquor store on the way back to Rebecca's and picked up some "mood-boosters". Sandra and I were quite delighted at the packaged frozen margaritas and daiquiris that were next to the register. Just open the top and enjoy your nice adult slurpee - woohoo!! After partaking of some libations, we played with the 10-week old pups and took stacked pictures of them for further analysis so folks could make informed choices.

The evening was a true treat. I had heard stories from them of this particular restaurant they visited when attending this show cluster - so I was eagerly awaiting to see if it lived up to its hype. Well it DID! Gaucho's Grill in Little Rock is AMAZING! Here is a description:

People come to Gaucho's for Churrascaria. Churrascaria is a 300-year-old tradition stemming from Brazil where ranchers BBQ large portions of marinated beef, pork and poultry on skewers over an open fire pit. Gaucho's celebrates this tradition in Little Rock by carving 14 varieties of skewered meat table side.

At Gaucho's, waiters circle around offering various meats to the table and it's all you can eat. You don't have to wait long for the dishes to come around. Choices include top sirloin, sirloin tip, pork loin, pork ribs, fillet mignon, meatballs, sausage, lamb and chicken.

We GORGED on way too much flesh - and the grilled pineapple....[drools]. Next year, even if the judges suck, I may have to go back just for the company and another Churrascaria dining experience!

Sunday morning came around. Rebecca's goat Sparky began the day by being castrated before he became a full-fledged billy (smelly smelly). The pups got tested for lure keenness. The darned roaming kittens that had been plaguing Rebecca's dogs decided that in the yard was as good as out - they must have a death wish! I grudgingly decided to "rescue" the friendliest before he became a Borzoi snack.

It was then time to head back to the show. Today's judge (Weiss) had given Solo Best of Breed from the Bred-by-Exhibitor class, and then BOB when David took him to an Oklahoma show. So I was hoping he would again be able to find the big goober in the line-up. Was a bit worried when he didn't find Moose for Winners Dog, although he did choose a lovely bitch I admire for Winners Bitch. He DID award Solo BOB and in a rare stroke of luck, the Hound Group started about 20 minutes after we finished up breed judging (usually on a Sunday or last day of a show cluster, Hounds end up being the last group, it seems, if we win breed). Nothing in group, but at least the judge was pleasant to show to and didn't make me a nervous wreck. There's a reason I usually have a handler on my specials!

We loaded up, went back to Rebecca's and picked up the kitten, currently dubbed "Critter". Unfortunately, once again the Sprinter's a/c has gone out. Don't know what it is about anything that involves a hose, or a wire, that made the van's converter completely inept at his task :( This problem stems from whatever "rigging" (and I use the term lightly) is connected to the compressor to steer the air flow to both [factory-installed] front and the conversion-installed rear air conditioners. Well it leaks....constantly....and we're sinking more and more $$ to fix it. The Sprinter is useless without a/c. Generator would not start - the switch is dead. And it would seem that the supposedly super-duper batteries that run all the conversion-installed electrics have only lasted 4-5 months and are not recharging when the engine is running. Hooray.

Nothing like a 5 hour trip in Texas in June with no a/c! Managed to race home with no harm to the boys (and this includes the kitten) - but I was all manner of 'icky' upon arriving at home. One would think that so many years in Texas (like....since birth) would have me much more accustomed to the heat and humidity - not!