Trial Commentary and Photos by Jane Pappler           

7/20 Sunday: Had an outstanding flight on Alaska Air from Philadelphia to Seattle.  Getting a rental car there though requires a bit of patience. Everyone takes buses to the lone huge facility where all the cars are housed. Waited in line for close to an hour. Then downstairs waited in line again to get the actual car. After 1 hr 45 min I'm off in the dark for just a short 45 minute quiet drive to the little town of North Bend where I met up with girls I'm sharing a room with. A few hellos, feed and air the dog and off to bed about midnight which is 3am East coast time.

7/21 Monday Morning: We are up before 7am as Diane Mazy can't read a clock too well! A quick trip to the local grocery store 2 blocks away for drinks, water and fruit for the next few days lunch. Saw Leo Lemon in the parking lot at 9am we loaded up to go train a bit. A few places we tried were unusable with very high cover. Finally found the "meadows" a beautiful rolling field with several changes of cover which is nestled between a few of the mountain peaks. Tom Cox got lost and ended up at the "ladies only training group so we let him stay. (Lucky Tom) The setup was multiple marks which we either ran as singles or double/single and these actually proved to be quite testing for the dogs, but that was good. We did a nice land blind and called it a day. Off to a picnic table in the shade for a relaxing lunch for Diane, Breidi and myself. Our little training group consisted of Tom Cox with 5 lovely ladies-Carol Knapp, Dina Perugini, Diane Mazy, Breidi Gillespie and Jane Pappler.

7/21 Monday Evening:  Contestants are arriving from all over the US to North Bend and Fall City areas of Washington. So far I've noticed people from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Connecticut, and New Jersey. 5 pm was cocktail hour at the The Blue Heron Golf Club.... oh my... Beautiful outdoor patio overlooking the grounds, indoor bar and tables for the annual club meeting.  Hot Hordorves were served on the patio, then the club meeting which was followed by Dinner with an outstanding buffet of salmon and prime rib... huge slabs were given to everyone who wanted to indulge! Linda Harger presented Tom Cox of Idaho the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Lots of hugs ad greeting to old friends and names exchanged between new people. The 10 mile drive back to the motel is very pretty and when we stopped to air the dogs we found the large Elk had taken over some of the fields!

7/22 Tuesday -  Field Trial Begins!  Another long and interesting day in Seattle. 5:45am came early with getting gear, food and drinks together, air dogs, a few hand thrown marks to warm them up and head for the trial grounds. I had about a half hour extra so made a few photo stops on the way. A quick visit at giant sequoia/lumber yard little park, then photos of the ancient trains left from prior track days. The big sightseeing place locally is the Snoqualmie Falls and Park. Beautiful long drop with water flooding onto round peaceful rocks and flowing on down the river. I stopped at 7am, only one car in the parking lot! (yesterday we couldn't get in-too busy) One gentleman with a bandaged hand was snaping a few so i said to him, "I'll take your photo in front of the falls if you take mine". Sure he said, and his name was John. Pics done and he says he is here on vacation himself as his wife and kids wanted to go with their chesapeake bay retriever to the beach instead WHAT!  I said well I have a chesapeake in the car... so on went a quick back and forth about the breed and who had what and that I was going just 5 miles up the road to the chesapeake national field trial and he should go.  He did!  John called his wife, they are from Maryland and I asked who his breeder was and he says Colleen. I replay oh yeah Colleen Gerhart know her well!  Be careful - you never know who might be standing right next to you - how small this world really is.. After this fun encounter, I turned down the road where the trial was and along the way was a beautiful little "flowers for sale" stand in front of some ones home. Beautiful Dahlias and a few others.  I couldn't resist - 3 for $1. I put them in my gator aide bottle with a little water and left them sit out on the roof of my car at the trial all day. aaahhhhhhh.  The Open was a bit late starting under cloudy overcast skies but it was cool for people and dogs. Events ended about 5:30p and we all headed for cocktail hour at the Blue Heron Golf Course and a marvelous dinner again. Can't say enough about the wonderful meals we had there - delicious - and Maureen Coleman even commented how she enjoyed it as well. Was a treat to see an old friend Janis Krogstat who was helping with the food for the trial. After dinner, money was collected from the items donated for the silent auction which spanned a long bar top. Time to head back to the motel with the usual stopping place to air the dogs. Whoa-- look at what is just hanging out in the entire field-- at least 50 elk!

   (photos to be added)

7/23 Wednesday: