We had the need...

the need for speed!  If you are not a fan of NASCAR, and have never seen the movie "Days of Thunder", you may be wondering what in the world am I talking about.  Well let me enlighten you.

On Sunday, September 29, Michael, Amy and I headed east to Dover Delaware for the AAA 400 race at Dover International Speedway.  This years race was especially significant because Amy finally decided to join her favorite man to see what in the world he sees in this silly racing stuff.  I am here to tell everyone that she had a good time (maybe even a grayt time!) and actually enjoyed the race!  And other than some residual ringing in her ears (yes, she did have a headset on but they didn't muffle the sound enough for her virgin ears), she enjoyed the walking, buffet and the fan zone.  If you are on Facebook you can see some of the pictures from the day.  I have a video of the flyover, my favorite part of any race, that I hope to post at some point.

The best part of the weekend for me was staying with the Anderson's.  I would rank their homestead as one of my favorite places to be.  Always welcoming, the home is set back on a lovely piece of property with a beautiful lane and woods that surround the house on 3 sides.  The drive from their place this time of year is colorful as you can see from the following photos...

 Rock Jim Rd. above the house

Barn at the end of Rock Jim Rd.

Another shot of the barn

While driving in to their place on Saturday I spotted this pumpkin patch, so when I left this morning I just had to stop to take some pictures.

Seeing all of these colors I am once again reminded that Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the green of summer but the vibrant golds, reds and soft blue of the sky in fall is hard to beat in my eyes.

The dogs were glad to see me when I picked them up from the kennel and the afternoon was spent doing a little relaxing while I finished laundry and caught up on some shows that I tape during the week.  This evening is tracking at my favorite central PA farm getting ready to enter a test this fall.  Next time I may have some more pictures to post.  Until then.

And your favorite season is?

I believe that my favorite season is the fall.  I love the brilliant colors of our mountains, the golden tint to the corn that will be cut down before long and the cool, crisp mornings when I walk out of the house and the smell coming from the steel plant makes its way to my street.  It reminds me of how grandma's old house, which was also near a steel plant, used to smell.  Add the smell of a coal furnace (which I do not have) and I'd probably be in heaven.

Fall also means the beginning of the fall shows, tracking, a few agility trials and this year I'm thinking Swing, Dodge and I may try a hunt test or two.  Before we know it daylight savings will come to an end which means outside activities in the evening will cease, so the more outside activities we can participate in the better!

This past weekend Swing picked up another point towards her Championship, she is now officially a third of the way there with 5 of the 15 points needed (the challenge will be getting those 3 point plus wins).  The good news is that her front, which is her biggest issue, continues to get better when she is stacked and viewed from the front.  It will never be as nice as Dodge's front but it shouldn't keep her from finishing the title.  I'll take pictures to show everyone what I'm talking about.  The next show will be the Garden State specialty in October and we'll see what happens there.  Dodge will be back in the show ring too as a veteran which is hard to believe!

Did I mention that it is tracking season?  Our friend and AKC judge Sandy is working with some of us to get our dogs ready to take a test, and she was kind enough to put in a track for Swing that should improve her starts.  I had told Sandy that I wasn't happy with how she was starting, too much goofing around between the flags, so this evening she double laid a straight 40 foot track and then she put in a more standard one with about 4 or so turns (sorry guys, I lose count when I'm behind the dog).  Here's a shot of her working...

Perhaps next week I'll adjust the camera some more so that the pictures are a bit brighter.  Anyway, everyone wanted to know why I thought there was a problem with her tracking since she did so well on the track.  If they had only seen her at the National, and the last time I put the track in and worked her, they would understand.  Tonight was good, I was pleased with how she worked and a few more weeks like tonight's training session and I will feel super confident on her getting that TD!

We take a break from showing for a few weeks.  As I mentioned earlier, next on the schedule is the Garden State Weim specialty followed by the first agility trial of the season for Dodge.  We've been working on contacts and weaves although not as diligently as I would have liked.  And of course there is the obedience training, mostly for Swing but I do get Dodge on the floor to go through his paces.  If he would only show the way he trains...

As always, send me any updates, pictures, stories, etc. that we can share with the rest of the M&M gang.  i started the ball rolling by telling you what season I love, what about you?

Have a great fall everyone!