A Small Bite of the Apple

It was touch and go on Friday and Saturday with winter storm Nemo causing havoc in the Northeast, with power outages and flight cancellations but travel Karma was good to Leslie, June and I.  I made it to the El Paso airport on Sunday at 4:30am for my 6am flight and I swear I was the 1st person through security.  American Airlines had great service and I arrived with no delays and all luggage intact.  Delta did the same and most importantly Junie B arrived safe and sound.

After a pretty quick trip from Newark, NJ into the City we arrived at the famous or infamous Hotel Penn.  The lobby was filled with dogs, dog people and dog fans.   And yes like Leslie always says I ran into someone I knew pretty quick, like on the curb as we were getting out of the Pet Taxi.

Leslie waits in the check in line

Penn Lobby

Cardis ruled the lobby, Coco featured on the cover of The Chronicle.

Even the Room Keys are decked out

The Hotel Penn is very dog friendly, they even have an spa and potty area in the lower level.

The exercise area at the Hotel Penn

The lobby of the Penn is lovely but the 1700+ rooms and hallways make one think of Overlook Hotel in the Shinning.  Although our reservations were for two double beds by the time we checked in all that was available were twins beds.  We were OK with that (Leslie had to share with June) and we thought it was a hoot that we had two twin beds and THREE closets!   It was old and creaky but clean and there was plenty of hot water and towels so we were happy.  Leslie and I have stayed in much worse places…. the possible hooker hotel in Mexico!

June likes the twin bed

After making sure June was settled (after her $$$ spa bath) Leslie and I changed clothes and caught a cab to the Atlantic Grill for a lovely dinner.  My friend Angela who is local  had recommended and made reservations for us.  I was so happy she was able to join us and a nice dinner and conversation was enjoyed.  Angela is the owner handler of one of my favorite Cardi Freddie Mac and I was happy to get to spend some time with her.

Yummy!

After a very short night’s rest it was time to go to the SHOW!  The WKC people had it down, transportation was swift and efficient and in no time at all we were at the Piers benching area:

Junie B on the “Bench”  that is PJ’s brother Harvey next door.

Sensation, the logo for WKC

The famous Green Carpet!

Before we knew it, it was time to start getting ready for the show!  Now it was just a dog show, grooming, prepping and the normal activities.

Getting their game faces on

Junie B ain’t stressing

Here I am doing my Kennel Help and memory keeper jobs outside the ring.

Show Time!

PJ’s brother Harvey, Harvey was awarded Best of Opposite at the show.

Love this shot, only Leslie and June in focus, Leslie says this is how it feels when she shows her dogs, everything fades but the team.

It was funny, I haven’t seen my friend Phyllis (Philmac Tollers) who live 2 hours from me in NEW Mexico in months but I get to see her in NEW York.  Here she is sitting ring side right behind the Best Of Breed sign.  Good thing she didn’t call in sick since she was in camera view on the Live Stream the whole time.

After the Cardigans showed I did my best to bossily herd the Cardi exhibitors to the logo for a photo op!  I’m betting there were not a lot of other breeds who could get it together for a group photo.  Cardi folks are the best!  There were a few missing but in the chaos of the event I was happy to get this many of us together.  We are missing Team Coco as she was off doing her official BOB winner duty.  This was hilarious, as once I started taking photos the paparazzi showed up and we had a dozen or so people taking photos and others holding back the crowd so we could get clear shots.

What we did after the judging. (we did run out to find some lunch in a neighborhood (Hell’s Kitchen) bar and grill, while other Cardi folk kept watch for us). June did a great job on breed PR.

After a quick return to the Penn, wardrobe change and a diner dinner we moved across the street to Madison Square Garden for Monday’s group judging.  It was so cool and when the announcer said “May I have the Hound group please”, shivers went up my spine, we were really here!  The Super Bowl!!!!

Our seats were amazing!!!!  Phyllis took this photo from her “cheap seats” LOL.

Brussels Griffon (Smooth Coat)

Our BOB winner Coco!

It was a great experience for us, Leslie and June made me proud! The Cardi people were amazing!  The entire WKC team made the whole thing easy and fun.  To just add to the experience we were very excited to meet one of the great people in dogs, David Frei the TV announcer for the WKC, National Dog show, AKC Judge, Owner Handler and author of “Angels on a Leash”.  David is one of our Champions and he is so appreciated as he tells our story and his support of Dogs, Breeders, Owner Handlers, Handlers, Judges and responsible dog owners everywhere!  He was so gracious to take a few moments of his time on a busy night to do this photo op with Leslie, Clair Ward and myself.  Thanks David!

Our night ended with packing and getting ready for a VERY early wake up call for our trip home.  Again, travel Karma took care of us and all 3 of us arrived safe and sound at  home.  I got home just in time to watch the show on TV (it wasn’t the same).  Congrats to Banana Joe!  He was Mom’s pick.

I can’t wait to go again, watch out NYC the next time Leslie and I come we will be taking a much bigger bite of the Apple!