Contributors

• Dan Epley
• Rachelle

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Summer Update

It's been a pretty busy summer so far, but we obviously have not been doing a very good job of updating the website. No one wants to read a novel written by me, so I'll try to be consise with the details!

In May we went back to Nebraska for Dan's stepsister, Autumn's high school graduation. Since we were headed to Colorado the weekend after the graduation, we decided to take a whole week off and spend time with family & friends. It was great to see everyone, but of course there is never enough time! You can see pictures from the graduation in the "photo gallery."

After a few days in Nebraska we headed to Colorado. Dan was asked to compete in a pairs frizbee dog competition, and once he decided to do it he couldn't pass up the opportunity to enter Baxter into the competition as well. While the event was really fun (and huge - it was a qualifing event for the National Competition), we discovered that after a week of running around on the farm and playing with Connie's dogs in Nebraska - Baxter is a little too tired to care about the Frizbee! But on the upside, Dan and his pairs-partner Melissa qualified for the National Competition with Melissa's dog Tag. That event is in September in Chatanooga, TN...they haven't decided yet if they are going to attend or not.

Our trip to Colorado was timed perfectly with the Twins schedule - they were in town playing the Rockies. So of course we had to head to Coors Field to take in the action. We bought tickets off the street and got to sit three rows behind the Twins dugout! It was amazing...and my new favorite player is Carlos Gomez...he's a cutie! :) Check out the photo gallery for all of the pictures we took at the game.

In June we made our way back to Nebraska to help celebrate Grandma Glaser's 80th birthday. Now most people would think an 80th birthday party would be boring...but those people have never met the Glaser's! It was a great time complete with a 4 hour game of softball, a barbeque, bonfire, canoe trip, and hours of laughter! Almost everyone in the family was able to make it - over 80 people! Of course I have pictures from that event as well in the Photo Gallery, so check them out!

In addition to our travels, we have also been doing stuff around the house. This weekend we worked on building the shed we bought...which has proved to be a little more challenging than we originally anticipated. We are also still trying to grow grass in the backyard - and while that is a never ending project, it's beginning to look much better!

posted by Rachelle @ 7:15 PM 1 Comments

Friday, June 6, 2008

LA

I've been traveling quite a bit for work, but the only work trip that was any fun was my trip to LA. I had meetings out there on Thursday & Friday (May 1st & 2nd), then stayed with Jeremiah for the rest of the weekend.

It was great to see him and Trista, since we haven't seen each other since Christmas. Trista came to pick me up after my last meeting on Friday (since Jeremiah was still working) and we headed to Santa Monica. Turns out that JC works just a couple blocks away from the Santa Monica Pier. So once he got off work, we went to the beach (first time walking in the Pacific Ocean!) and ate at a little Mexican joint on the Pier. The rest of the weekend went way too fast, but it was so much fun! On Saturday we went to the dog park with Husker, which is right underneath of the Hollywood Sign. From there we went to Venice Beach. That was the best people watching that I've seen in a long time! The boardwalk is filled with a lot of crazy little stands with people selling everthing from little trinkets to fabulous art. We even walked past "Muscle Gym"...I know you've seen it in a million different '80's movies! We spent most of the afternoon in the water and on the beach - even though it was a little chilly. Then in the evening we headed over to City Walk at Universal Studios. That was pretty cool, had some great places to eat and some cute shops (of course this was pre-fire) but since it was so late all the rides and stuff were shut down. But we still had a great time. I even got to meet a couple of JC & Trista's friends, so that was really fun. My flight left Sunday afternoon, but before heading to the airport we hit the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rodeo Drive. All in all it was a great trip!

Check out my pictures in the "Dan & Rachelle" picture album!

posted by Rachelle @ 6:58 AM 0 Comments

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Down goes Frazier...

Well, it wasn't quite as epic as Joe Frazier v. George Foreman, but I'll set the scene anyways...

April 12th, 2008 - Oak Grove, Minnesota. Located North of the Twin Cities this small town played host to a small gathering meant to be a spring kickoff at the Oak Grove fire house. We received word earlier in the week that most of the displays, clubs and businesses cancelled because Spring apparently forgot to set his alarm this year. 29 Degrees, the snow was already on the ground and would continue to fall from the sky the rest of the morning. Wind chill was a balmy 18 degrees with 17mph winds out of the North.

What's that you say? Perfect weather to throw a frisbee? Of course it was, and over 20 dogs and a dozen handlers showed up to prove it. First up was Round 1 of Distance and Accuracy. We can assume most of the competitors were a bit rusty since we were 5 dogs in before we even saw a catch. The wind was blowing fiercely and knocking all our flying discs out of the sky before our talented dogs could snatch them out of the air.

Round 1 for Baxter proved difficult as he felt it was of the utmost importance to find Rachelle among the spectators ... DURING his 60 second round. He was able to make an impressive 2.5 point catch with all four feet off the ground during the round. We finished round 1 with 1 catch for 2.5 points. Because of the lack of catches for all competitors, Baxter sat in second place after Round 1.

Disc Dog Freestyle brought out the best in all the competitors as the wind mercilessly batted down disc after disc. Well practiced routines were swept aside as improvisation took over to combat the wind.

Baxter and I were able to complete 10 out of 18 throws and received scores of 5 for Presentation, 6 for Athleticism, 5.5 for Wow!Factor and 6 for Success. We were able to complete some flip catches, some medium distance throws and 4 or 5 vaults throughout the 60 second routine. After a successful round it was back to Round 2 of Distance and Accuracy.

Round 2 proved more stable than the previous round. Handlers started to gauge the wind better and adjust throws to allow for more catches overall. Baxter on the other hand felt it was imperative to investigate the playing field for scents ... DURING his 60 second round of course. Baxter was able to make one catch for 2 points from 3 throws.

Stats were tallied, checked and double-checked and winners were announced. Baxter's second round was .5 short of pulling into a third place finish in Distance and Accuracy. After Distance and Accuracy placings were announced the Freestyle winners were announced. Months of grueling practice in our dark, cold training facility (the basement) payed off as Baxter and I were announced the Novice Freestyle winners!

A fantastic day put on by the Twin Cities Disc Dog Club.

posted by Dan Epley @ 3:30 PM 0 Comments