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Our trip would start on October 23rd, Tuesday. The only
place we knew we were going was Nationals in Nebraska. The rest of the
trip would be 'played by ear'. This would be the first year Nationals
was held this early. The weather was great for the whole trip.
With the cost of gas being outrageous, we elected to take the
LlamaExpress (the van). On the way to Nebraska, we would drive until we
were tired & then all of us would sleep in the van.
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The trip out was uneventful. We would drive a few hours
& get out to stretch our legs, etc.
We spent the nights near Salt Lake, Utah and Grand
Junction, Nebraska.
We arrived at the Lancaster Event Center on Thursday,
around 1 P.M. We settled Lakota into his stall and said hello to folks
we knew. Lakota was given a bath & we crossed our fingers, hoping he
would stay clean for Saturday.
Friday started the Nationals. We watched the opening
ceremonies, cart driving, suri & youth classes. Being that we only
brought Lakota and he was entered in only on class on Saturday, we had
the opportunity to watch more llama classes then we have ever seen
before. In the evening, we attended the cocktail party. We arrived in
line about a half hour after it started and waited in line for nearly an
hour. When we reached the buffet tables, we looked back to see around
100 people still behind us. We also found all of the hot meat trays to
be empty. Oh well, we contributed to the cause.
We did not experience high anxiety or nerves. We had been to
Nationals two previous times - 2002 & 2004. We had seen the grand
scale of this show. We had seen the big scale ranches and their fabulous
llamas. We no longer dreamed to place in a class. We came for the
grandeur of the show, cheer for the folks we admired and watch people! |
Saturday came.
We arrived early to walk Lakota out and take him to the
bathroom. Since both of us were still nice and calm- we watched the
female light wool classes and the juvenile male light wool class. It was
then time to get Lakota. A quick brush out & we were set
Okay, nerves started to set in then. But a deep breath
(and a few trips to the little ladies room) & the class would soon
be started.
We lined up and were called into the ring by number. |
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We made our circle around the arena and set up the
llamas. A few were moved to the medium wool class. The other 12 llamas
would go on to compete. We squared up, presented to the three judges and
walked around the arena, Then we waited for numbers to be called. Anyone
who did not get their number called was not one of the top ten llamas
and left the ring. We were called - WE MADE TOP 10!!!
All of the other Top 10 for Light wool males entered the ring- 50
llamas in all, juvenile, 2 yearling classes, two year olds and us (the
Adults). |
Placements were announced starting with juveniles. By
the time it came to us, only 10 llamas were in the ring. Our placements
were being called.
As is his way, Dan Milton (the announcer) call the
placements real slow, or maybe it just seemed that way.
10th...9th...8th...7th. Now I was getting really nervous. Was I suppose
to be one of the llamas that were to leave the ring?? 6th...5th...4th. A
quick count. Was there one too many standing in the ring? 3rd. Oh my
god, there were only two of us there.
'...And second goes to PFO Lakota' |
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Wow!!! I was so amazed and beside myself, I forgot to
congratulate the handler who came in 1st Place (if you ever read this,
I'm sorry- Congratulations!)
The two of us stayed in the ring for Champion class. We
set up, we walked around & we set up again. The 1st place llama in
the adult class placed Reserve Grand Champion.
LAKOTA PLACED #3 AS OVERALL LIGHT WOOL MALE!
(out of all of the males in the Division)
Now though Lakota placed second in the Light Wool Adult
Class, the Nationals had another name for it- NATIONAL RESERVE CLASS
CHAMPION. I think we will use that one! The second best Light Wool
Breeding male in the U.S. & home grown from OUR LITTLE RANCH!!!
Sunday found us hitting the road again. The weather was good, so we
would head for Vegas. We did an all day marathon drive & parked at
some small town about 100 miles west of Denver to sleep. |
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We hit the road early on Monday. The intent was to hit
Vegas by the end of the day BUT anyone who knows us KNOWS that we are a
little impulsive. We saw the highway heading for the Grand Canyon &
we took it.
It was a good choice because the road was much more scenic then the
one we were on. We stopped along side the Colorado River to stretch our
legs and stopped a THE HOLE IN THE ROCK to do the tourist thing. We
arrived at the Grand Canyon around 10 PM |
We spent many hours at the Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Many
pictures were taken, including a photographer employed at the Canyon. We
have previously experienced that specific cultures approach picture
taking in different ways. Some ask first, some don't. We have found that
one culture will grab the llama away, holding it by the clasp (several
times we have to pull our llama back). |
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This time we encountered a new challenge. We were by the
lodge taking pictures with many people. A Scandinavian couple approached
Dave and Lakota with their daughter (around 10 years old). The father
picked up his daughter and put her on Lakota's back. No asking- no
warning. The parents immediately backed up to take pictures. Lakota was
good with it, we were in shock! The girl was promptly removed. |
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