Wow….yeah right! Those are the first two things that came to mind when Eric told me that he and Kori had been invited to the 2008 Stihl Dogs & Logs World Champion Ship in Stillwater, Minnesota .

There was no question in Eric’s mind that we were going!  I was a bit skeptical, after all, it is a very long drive to Minnesota and I just wasn’t sure how Kori would make out with the long travel and the pressure of competing in an event like that.  All my doubts were tossed aside and after a few phone calls to Eric’s parents to see if they would drive from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania to dog sit the rest of the pack and a meeting with my employer we were good to go!

We left Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Minnesota Wednesday early evening.  After settling in the hotel room we took a ride to check out the location.  Eric and I met some people from Louisiana at the Hotel and we all took a ride to the dock.  It was impressive to see the set up and we all got “the fever”!  Discussions about how to set up and what the best spot would be, talking about the schedule for the next few days, parking and and and……

The next day was gorgeous, blue sky, cotton candy clouds, a light breeze….  Eric made sure to get us there early and we were able to sneak in a reserve a spot for the Keystone participants.  Angie and her parents, Tim, Jay and Deb, Eric and I put our easy-ups together and create a comfortable area for all of us to hang out.  Mandatory Handler’s Meeting was scheduled for 8:30 am and it was interesting to see all the other competitors coming and setting up.  Cheers and big hellos were exchanged; hugs and hand shakes were shared.  The newbie’s were eyeballed up and down and introduced by the experienced World Handlers.  Within an hour or so we all became one big family!

The event was layered and each category (speed retrieve, big air, extreme vertical and iron dog) had to compete every day.  In between the dogs competing there were logging shows and competitions.  The crowd was amazing and I am not sure who had the bigger cheer leaders, dogs or loggers!  The temperature was rising throughout the day but we never lost the crowd.  While most of us were trying to stay in the shade and cool off our dogs in the river, the crowd stuck it out in the blazing sun!  Good thing there were vendors all over and you could cool of with ice cream, snow cones and other yummy treats.  Each day held surprises for each team! 

Tim’s Bella decided she had to be a diva and raced down the dock during Iron Dog Extreme Vertical!  She took a leap and missed the bumper by a hair!  We all were in shock, especially Tim!  One try lost as a false start!  We all were holding our breath when Bella got her second try, and to everybody’s amazement she missed!  Oh my God!  You could have heard a pin drop!  Tim’s chances for winning the Iron Dog competition just went down the pool!  What a heart breaking moment that was! 

Then it was Kori’s turn for speed retrieve!  I was standing on the side lines to give them some space but it turned out to be a mistake.  Both Kori and Eric were out of sorts and didn’t follow their usual routine!  There was no pep talk, no walking down the dock to show Kori the dock, no trash talk by the chocolate girl, no trash talk by the big guy….. double handling is not allowed so I had to bite my tongue!  Finally Kori raced down the dock and jumped in the water to race to the duck!  I was excited to see her go, but her score was, well, not up to her usual standards.  Eric was disappointed and I was still biting my tongue.  The second jump was a repeat of the first, but hey, now Kori knew what she was here for and why we spent two days driving!  She was excited, she got wet, and in the end, that was the most important thing.

Next came Angie and Nestle for Extreme Vertical!  Angie got the crowd going and the cheers were great!  Nestle did his usual routine, trash talking and all!  Nestle took aim and jumped and …….missed!  A big “oh no” and “ahwwwww” went thru the crowd but big cheers and loud applause went through the bleachers.  After all, they had a second attempt!  Angie and Nestle got ready again, he was loaded like a pistol and off he went.  We were all sitting on pins and needles ready to jump up and scream…..Nestle flew through the air, landed in the water…..the bumper still firmly attached to the EC rig.  What did just happen?  Oh My God, Nestle missed?!  I have to hand it Angie, she cheered Nestle on for giving his best and she smiled and clapped her hands for him!