Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Leaving On A Jet Plane
The countdown has begun! We are leaving for California in only 4 days! We are very excited to go home!! We have lot of things planned and lots of people to visit. I just hope it doesn't go by too quickly!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Black & Whites and The Blues
With the long weekend ahead of us, Paul and I struggled with what to do for the 4th of July holiday. We both had Friday off and we contemplated getting out of town. We wanted to go to Rhode Island to visit the coast but we couldn't bring Moab with us. And really, that was what we wanted--the three of us to go down, camp, beach it, relax, then come home. Bummer that the beaches do not allow dogs! Oh well.
There were things going on around the Bingo area, so we opted to stay closer to home. We took it easy Friday morning then decided to go to Virgil, NY to check out the Fetch Gate Farms Sheep Dog Trials. The weather looked iffy all morning, but we thought we'd chance it. Once in the car on the road, it started to sprinkle, then rain, then pour! Before we even left town we decided to nix the trip. So, we headed to Lowe's instead to pick up a few things we needed. We rented a couple of movies then came home and watched one and had a quiet evening at home.
Saturday morning we decided to try the Dog Trial again. The weather was still cloudy, but wasn't quite as threatening. We made it up there fairly early and watched the beautiful black & white Border Collies herd sheep for a while. It was breezy and chilly, but it was nice to be outside in the country amongst the green grass and all the smells country life has to offer. There were lots of dogs and it was great to see them in action. If you're not familiar with sheep dog trials, here is the quick low-down...One handler and one dog enter the pasture area. There is a group of 3 sheep way out on the hill with another handler and a dog (they just keep the sheep stationary for the other handler). The handler down at the bottom tells the dog to go and the dog runs up the hill for the sheep, guides the sheep down between some gates, down around the handler, back up the hill, around more gates, and then back down the hill and into the pen. The handler communicates with the dog with a series of calls, whistles, and hand gestures. The handler must stay in one area while the dog is working (except to open and shut the pen gate). After that, there is another exercise where the dog and handler have to try to separate one lamb from the group. That is the most difficult task. Anyway, it was interesting to watch and being dog lovers, we had a good time seeing the black & white dogs in action. : ) To get a sense of sheep herding, watch the movie "Babe" if you haven't seen it. : )
Photos and videos from the trials are here
We left Virgil and headed back toward Binghamton with the intention of going to the Binghamton Airshow that afternoon. The clouds had me concerned though so instead of going straight to the airport, I asked Paul if we could go home to check the weather first. I wanted a good aviation forecast for the airport, but was having trouble finding it. I called my dad and he gave me the ATIS & ASOS numbers for BGM and I called to get a weather report. The ceiling was not very high and I knew that meant the Blue Angels would not be able to perform their normal show. When the ceiling is low, they can perform, but they call it either a flat show or a low show. Their maneuvers in each show are limited and to be honest, not very exciting. We debated and between the three of us (Paul, Dad, & I) we decided it would be best not to go but to wait and try for Sunday.
With that decision made, I figured I'd go for my run. Paul and I thought it would be fun to bring Moab along. We went over to Otsiningo Park and went for a run. Paul and Mo ran a lot of the way with me, but Mo started to tire out, so while I continued to run, the two of them walked and then headed down to the river to cool off a bit. Paul said Moab had a drink and got his feet wet, but wouldn't go much further in than that.
Back home and we had a very tired dog! He was lazy the rest of the night, but then again so were we. It was quiet for a 4th of July. We could hear fireworks somewhere in the area, but we didn't go to see any. We watched the last part of the NASCAR race and it turned out to be very exciting with Smoke winning! After the race they had fireworks there (Daytona) so that was how we saw our fireworks. Maybe we're boring, but oh well. : )
Sunday morning was beautiful and it seemed that we made a good decision to wait for the airshow. We drove to Broome Community College to park and they bussed us to the airport. There were a lot of people. We walked around and looked at the static displays before parking our chairs and ourselves down near the tarmac where the Blues were parked. We watched the other flyers but were anxious for the Blues to perform. I've seen them fly many times, but this was Paul's first time seeing a demonstration team fly together. Soon, the ground show started with the ground crew and pilots interacting before the jets took off. Before long they were soaring high above us with the precision they are known for. I may have been in the Air Force, but the Blue Angels are the better air demo team hands down. : )
I took a lot of photos and videos while they flew so that Paul could just watch and enjoy. It's hard to capture them with a point and shoot camera, but I think there are some decent shots. Between the two of us, there are some decent shots from the whole day. Click here to see the photos and to watch the videos.
We watched them land and finish their show, but decided not to wait for them to come sign autographs. Instead we headed to the very long line forming to wait for the bus to take us back to BCC. It did take a while to get on a bus, but at least we weren't sitting in traffic somewhere. We grabbed a pizza on the way home and enjoyed the rest of our long weekend. Nothing too exciting, but sometimes that's better anyway. : )
There were things going on around the Bingo area, so we opted to stay closer to home. We took it easy Friday morning then decided to go to Virgil, NY to check out the Fetch Gate Farms Sheep Dog Trials. The weather looked iffy all morning, but we thought we'd chance it. Once in the car on the road, it started to sprinkle, then rain, then pour! Before we even left town we decided to nix the trip. So, we headed to Lowe's instead to pick up a few things we needed. We rented a couple of movies then came home and watched one and had a quiet evening at home.
Saturday morning we decided to try the Dog Trial again. The weather was still cloudy, but wasn't quite as threatening. We made it up there fairly early and watched the beautiful black & white Border Collies herd sheep for a while. It was breezy and chilly, but it was nice to be outside in the country amongst the green grass and all the smells country life has to offer. There were lots of dogs and it was great to see them in action. If you're not familiar with sheep dog trials, here is the quick low-down...One handler and one dog enter the pasture area. There is a group of 3 sheep way out on the hill with another handler and a dog (they just keep the sheep stationary for the other handler). The handler down at the bottom tells the dog to go and the dog runs up the hill for the sheep, guides the sheep down between some gates, down around the handler, back up the hill, around more gates, and then back down the hill and into the pen. The handler communicates with the dog with a series of calls, whistles, and hand gestures. The handler must stay in one area while the dog is working (except to open and shut the pen gate). After that, there is another exercise where the dog and handler have to try to separate one lamb from the group. That is the most difficult task. Anyway, it was interesting to watch and being dog lovers, we had a good time seeing the black & white dogs in action. : ) To get a sense of sheep herding, watch the movie "Babe" if you haven't seen it. : )
Photos and videos from the trials are here
We left Virgil and headed back toward Binghamton with the intention of going to the Binghamton Airshow that afternoon. The clouds had me concerned though so instead of going straight to the airport, I asked Paul if we could go home to check the weather first. I wanted a good aviation forecast for the airport, but was having trouble finding it. I called my dad and he gave me the ATIS & ASOS numbers for BGM and I called to get a weather report. The ceiling was not very high and I knew that meant the Blue Angels would not be able to perform their normal show. When the ceiling is low, they can perform, but they call it either a flat show or a low show. Their maneuvers in each show are limited and to be honest, not very exciting. We debated and between the three of us (Paul, Dad, & I) we decided it would be best not to go but to wait and try for Sunday.
With that decision made, I figured I'd go for my run. Paul and I thought it would be fun to bring Moab along. We went over to Otsiningo Park and went for a run. Paul and Mo ran a lot of the way with me, but Mo started to tire out, so while I continued to run, the two of them walked and then headed down to the river to cool off a bit. Paul said Moab had a drink and got his feet wet, but wouldn't go much further in than that.
Back home and we had a very tired dog! He was lazy the rest of the night, but then again so were we. It was quiet for a 4th of July. We could hear fireworks somewhere in the area, but we didn't go to see any. We watched the last part of the NASCAR race and it turned out to be very exciting with Smoke winning! After the race they had fireworks there (Daytona) so that was how we saw our fireworks. Maybe we're boring, but oh well. : )
Sunday morning was beautiful and it seemed that we made a good decision to wait for the airshow. We drove to Broome Community College to park and they bussed us to the airport. There were a lot of people. We walked around and looked at the static displays before parking our chairs and ourselves down near the tarmac where the Blues were parked. We watched the other flyers but were anxious for the Blues to perform. I've seen them fly many times, but this was Paul's first time seeing a demonstration team fly together. Soon, the ground show started with the ground crew and pilots interacting before the jets took off. Before long they were soaring high above us with the precision they are known for. I may have been in the Air Force, but the Blue Angels are the better air demo team hands down. : )
I took a lot of photos and videos while they flew so that Paul could just watch and enjoy. It's hard to capture them with a point and shoot camera, but I think there are some decent shots. Between the two of us, there are some decent shots from the whole day. Click here to see the photos and to watch the videos.
We watched them land and finish their show, but decided not to wait for them to come sign autographs. Instead we headed to the very long line forming to wait for the bus to take us back to BCC. It did take a while to get on a bus, but at least we weren't sitting in traffic somewhere. We grabbed a pizza on the way home and enjoyed the rest of our long weekend. Nothing too exciting, but sometimes that's better anyway. : )