Sorry for the lack of postings...  It seems that the wireless connection is rather fickle!!  All day yesterday and this morning, the connection would only allow MACs!  I didn't think I'd be able to blog from my i-touch....  The lack of internet connection has also limited my uploading of photos.  I apologize!  I will try and add some later....  It is rather funny that the wireless is only available in the hotel's pub.  Sadly, I'm not blogging with a beer right now, but I did manage to get some cash, so there's no excuses now!

Yesterday morning, Deb & Marti McCann invited Kim and I to join them and Kayl on a trip to see the Roman Baths in Bath.  Driving on the wrong side of the road in a big bus isn't quite as entertaining as driving with a Canadian driver in a car on the wrong side of the road!  We also had to pull Kayl back in the car while on the narrow streets of Bath when she leaned her head out to take a photo.  The cars pass REALLY closely and we really didn't want to have a headless handler running Ping Pong tomorrow!  We had a turbo quick visit to the Baths and then had to head back quickly to our hotel ("quickly" included a quick trip the wrong way down a one way street.  Suprisingly enough, no one honked or acted surprised—they just sped by us without slowing!).


Kayl & Kim happy to have arrived safely in Bath happy to have found a parking spot


Kim (& smiling mystery lady in red) outside the Roman Bath museum



Our new little friend at the Roman Baths



We headed to the venue for a quick walk-around and then we had a one hour team practice that was a bit of controlled chaos   The dogs were all higher than kites and Rio was actually almost out of control, jumping long and barking her brains out!  Quite amusing, but not really all that useful when you are trying to practice in a tight time frame.  I reigned her in a bit and we ended with a good Standard course.  The only obstacle she appears to be having issues with is the slatted dog walk—we aren't getting close to 2on 2off position, but hopefully she'll drive a bit more during the competition.  Actually she had a few issues when the double was accidentally set to 40" wide!  She thought it was some weird form of jump grid!  LOL  She did much better when it got set at the right width of 16"!

Our crating is in horse stalls!  At least they are spacious with 4 dogs per stall, but they are a little cold and there's a serious lack of seating.  At least they are clean!  I will get some pictures.

Last night ended with a team dinner and some more Manager's Awards.  Prizes were given to the dogs that finished in 2nd to 5th positions (Rio came home with a set of London shot glasses!) in the standard run at practice and the winner would carry the flag in at the opening ceremonies tomorrow morning.  The honor of being the flag bearer went to Kayl and Ping   Its so very fitting since this is Ping's last World Championships and she's been a member on every single Canadian team previously. 

Dinner was at our 'favourite' pub in town.  Nina read all the supporters comments from the aac world team blog

After another full English breakfast this morning (sad that it will probably be the last one as the breakfast room doesn't open very early), we headed back to the venue.  Vet check went smoothly although the vet did say he was having a hard time finding Rio's heart (?!?) and all the dogs easily measured into their right height categories.  Yea!!  With that all behind us, we had a very efficient 1/2 team practice (the 26" dogs had a total of 6 minutes on the floor) and went on to get some fun photos taken by the event photographer.

The venue is quite nice although small and there's a serious lack of loo's and (I love this) "Porta-Loo's".  I don't think I'll be drinking much!  LOL  There is very little seating in the bleachers, but plenty of viewing room from the bar and restaurant (go figure!!!).  The  competition floor seems to be a mixture of dirt and very fine sawdust.  It is easy to run on and the dogs seem to dig in quite well.  Not sure cleats are required, but I will probably wear them anyway.

We are now back at the hotel for a quiet afternoon before we head back to the venue for the "Gala" dinner.  I guess I should get this posted before I run out of batteries yet again! 

Thanks for all your comments!  I love hearing from you guys