Black Acorn Dogs: September 2006

Shiloh Agility

Yesterday was our Shiloh club agility day up at Melissa's place. I, for one, could happily do that every weekend. I have photos and video up at:

http://www.blackacorndogs.com/files/albums/2006.09.23_ShilohAgility/video.html
http://www.blackacorndogs.com/files/albums/2006.09.23_ShilohAgility

That includes a promised shot of Ebony in the weaves, although not in ours.

Here's one of the videos from that page, including almost everyone who was there:

We brought Ben for a while, just to see how he'd do around everyone since he was overwhelmed at the last Shiloh event I took him to. I had Diane come with me in a separate car so she could take him home after a little while, but darn if he didn't make it the whole day. Additionally, he got to participate in some of the session, including the tunnels and a-frame. He was also adorable and sweet with Marti's puppy Ember, although I don't have any photographic evidence. I was so glad we brought him along.

Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire

On Saturday, Diane and I went to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire along with my friend, CTB (don't ask). The photo below is our mutual friend Sabrina, the Ink Witch, who has a booth at the Faire. Getting to see Sabrina was Perk #2 for making the 2.5 hour trip (5 hours total) so soon after our marathon tour of the Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic coast. Perk #1 was that I finally ordered my weave poles (for agility; those are the ones where there is a straight line of 6 or 12 poles where the dog runs through, weaving back and forth through the poles). I had to pick them up in Lancaster last Saturday or else wait for a trial about an hour away at the end of next month. We needed a good excuse to haul up to the PA Renn Faire anyway, so voila. And now I have my weave poles! I should have some video up of them in action by next weekend.

Vacation Finale

So it took a couple days to get it all up there, but that's the end of them. Thanks for following along.

I'd love to know what you think of this format for sharing. It was fun to do all of the video along the trip, and I think next time I might do it again but would try to do a little more story telling and narrative long with some of scenery shots and the like. It's a bit tricky since I only have 30 seconds per clip, but the fact that I can stitch the clips together should make it a little easier. I also figured out this week how to chop the clips up to remove junky bits, so look out, world.

So did you like having all the videos? Did I post a reasonable amount of photos, or was it too much to have all in the blog? (I still plan to post photos in my albums section of the site, but that'll take a bit more time to organize). Positive feedback means I'm more likely to do this kind of thing again, so you can take that as a promise or a warning!

I had fun recording our trip to share with you, and I hope you had fun coming along with us.

Wednesday, Day 5 -- Video

Our final day at the beach started bright and early as the sun rose and Diane and I went out to walk the beach and collect seashells. Then we headed over to Assateague Island to see the wild horses and other wildlife. We finished up with a side trip to Rehoboth Beach before heading home. Well, Diane did; I missed most of Rehoboth Beach when I took a little 90 minute nap in the car. Hey, we did a LOT last week!

Morning on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland:

The wild ponies (horses) on Assateague Island:

Rehoboth Beach, here we are:

Time to head home:

Wednesday, Day 5: Shore birds in the sea grass near the surf on Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Wednesday, Day 5: A herd of wild horses hangs out in the roadway on Assateague island. We saw more horses relaxing in roadways than anywhere else on the island.

Wednesday, Day 5: Baby horse on Assateague Island

Wednesday, Day 5: "Life of the Forest" trail on Assateague Island -- ponies (horses) graze in the background

Wednesday, Day 5: Erica watches the waves on Assateague Island

Wednesday, Day 5: Public beach on Assateague Island; Diane collects shells near the waves

Wednesday, Day 5: Public beach on north end of Assateague Island

Wednesday, Day 5: Sunrise on the beach from our hotel room in Ocean City, MD

Tuesday, Day 4 -- Video

We spent all day Tuesday in Ocean City. We got up soon after sunrise to walk along the beach and collect shells. I like to walk at the edge of the surf, but that did mean that some of the big waves were able to get me and I had wet shorts for half the morning. We spent the afternoon in all the little boardwalk shops, and finished up with an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet at Jonah and the Whale. The crab legs were great, but I ate way too many.

Sunrise from our balcony:

Diane and I beachcombing and playing in the surf:

Inside "Just Moosin' Around" beside The Purple Moose Saloon in Ocean City. We'd spent time in Maine trying to find some good moose stuff for Diane, and wouldn't it figure we'd find a whole store of just moose stuff in Ocean City, Maryland!

For what it's worth, it's my camera that makes me sound like I have a lisp -- I'm fairly sure that wasn't me in any of these videos.

Tuesday, Day 4: Seagulls at sunrise hover beside our balcony above the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD

Tuesday, Day 4: Diane looks at the bird tracks on the beach

Tuesday, Day 4: Diane shows off some of her seashells

Tuesday, Day 4: Erica in kid play plane on the beach in Ocean City, MD

Tuesday, Day 4: Diane in kid play truck on the beach in Ocean City, MD

Tuesday, Day 4: Surf on the rocks in Ocean City, MD

Tuesday, Day 4: Kites on the beach in Ocean City, MD

Monday, Day 3 -- Video

Monday was all about traveling from Maine down to Ocean City. We made better time than I expected, which means that it took something like 12 hours to get between the two. It was tiring, but still a fun part of the vacation.

We stopped off at The Seashell Shop on the way through Rehoboth Beach:

I was delighted that our hotel room view and location was every bit as fantastic as I'd hoped:

There's nothing like a nice meal after a long drive: