Back from the NAPgA rendezvous! :)

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

I got back a couple of hours ago and am glad to be back with my goaties. Had a real good time. That was my first over nighter away from the farm while there were babies to feed in many many years. The 2012 rendy was later in the year and all of our babies where weaned by then. Tracy was a trooper though and did both sets of chores (hers and mine) for 2 days and nights!

Got there about noon Friday. Only missed my target time by 2 hours Lots of people where there and more filed in as the day progressed.
I showed up with Legion, Lincoln and 3 prospects. Their new owners picked them up that day so that left Legion alone. Which he of course milked and convinced me to just leave him off leash to follow me around the entire time. Legions fame proceeded us. Had quite a few people whom I had never met or seen before come up to us asking if he was Legion. Which totally inflated his ego and he acted like a stuck up snob the entire time. He would turn his head and actually walk away from anyone who tried to pet him. I felt bad but no one took it personally and if anything, it only added to his fame . But other then a few clash of horns (your typical male sword fighting) he was a perfect gentleman.

Was on a trail walk within an hour after showing up but had to turn back to finish up with Lincolns new owner who I just left holding his leash... Sorry Doug! And thanks again Sussie Due for providing an outstanding home for Clydes and Daphnes boys.

Was pretty cool. I parked next to Curtic, Saltlick next to me and Taffy next to her. (Sussie joined us on the second day for the auction.)
Spent the rest of the first day walking around, chatting and bouncing from one person to the next. Met some great new people. Dawn did an absolute amazing job (hats off again) and her helping/hunting partner Bre was a pleasure to met. Not to many women cut from that kind of cloth anymore, you both rock. Wish I lived down there just so I could hang and hunt with you "chics" I got a little fishing in, in the crystal clear stream that ran next to the camp ground. All along the stream was beautiful browse which really added a kinda surrealness to the area. Didnt catch anything worth putting in a pan though. The weather was pretty epic in that it would change form every 15 minutes or so. Sunny to cloudy to windy to calm to light rain and any and ever combination in total randomness. Stayed up late chatting with Saltlick while most of the others turned in early.

The second day saw me up and 3am... then 3:20am, then 3:40am and so on until it was actually light enough to call it morning and get outta my sleeping bag. I had to sleep on a cot in the trailer with Legion cause he was all by himself. It got pretty cold but at least there were no mosquitos.
Legion woke Curtis up a few times during the night with his horns knocking against the side of the trailer while he was nibbling on his hay during the night. Sorry Curtis! At least you had ear plugs to put in.

After a cup of coffee with Curtis we took the boys near the stream to eat breakfast and to chat. 45 minutes later I went off to do some more fishing. While I was wrapping that up a large black dog (lab / mastiff mix) came outta no where and surprised Legion and sent him running in the opposite direction from me. I was able to call him back to me and was able to bash the dog with my fishing pole as it tried to run by me after Legion. Douche bag owner didnt even have a leash with him. Then that same dog did the same thing to someone elses cutie lil prospect. Legion ended up hurting a front and back leg from that and would lay down next to me anytime I stopped. All seemed better in the morning though. It happened so fast I really didnt have time to get pissed but everything time I think about it, I get a bit more angry. But thats just one of those things that happens on a public trail.

Got back to the camp and missed out on going with Idaho Nancy, Curtis and a few others on a hike up at the lake trail head. Thank God! Turned out to be much longer then they expected and they didnt return back till after 4pm pooped. In the mean time walked around and chatted with even more people. OH and Taffys hubby made Saltlick and myself a breakfast sandwich. Thanks! Poor Saltlick got burnt by some boiling water (she was making herself coffee) but Taffy had some med supplies and Salty got lucky with minimal burning and blisters. Was happy about that! Really enjoyed chatting with her.

Taffy broke out the bale scale and her cool measuring stick and weighed and measured peoples goats for the rest of the day. Charging just a dollar to do so and donated that money to Napga. Legion was of course the largest and fattest 2 year old there. Someone whom I dont remember had some big kinda fatty boer crosses in the 240 weight range but Idaho Nancy's boys stole the show of course. Even in a fabulous condition as they were, her largest boy weighed in at a mammoth 270 lbs!!! Great job Nancy on your boys and it was so great to be able to chat with you over the weekend. Legion told me when we got home, out of everyone he turned his nose up to, you were one of the few he took no pleasure in doing it to... well ok, not as much pleasure

There as a nice pot luck dinner which I didnt partake in. My stomach was acting up and food just didnt seem like a good idea. After which the auction was held. I walked away with the only item I set out to get. A 3 goat night (or whatever its being called) shirt with Nannos goaties on it Knowing how much they were going for I of course under bid that and got a good deal and no shipping But there were lots of cool items. And most went for a good price but the goat people stepped up and opened their wallets and I think it was a pretty good auction. The drinks were flowing and I was really bummed not to be able to join in the fun. Would have loved to have stayed up chatting with Salty, Dawn, Bre, Nancy and the others but with a departure time of 6am (which I actually made on time), a few drinks woulda turned into to many and pushed that time to at least noon.

It got even colder this morning (Sunday) So cold in fact that when I turned the truck wipers on to clear the due off, it froze the water on the windshield. But thanks to Saltlick letting me use her sheep skin, I didnt get woke up from the cold till it was almost time to get up. Cleaned up and got Legion loaded into the back of the truck. Was to cold for the trailer. The trip back was pretty good. Legion was burnt on traveling though and hide his face in the corner of the canopy most of the time. He would try to lay down only to stand back up 30 seconds later. I think 4 hours is our max travel time from now on. But I am so glad I didnt miss this year rendy. Was an absolute pleasure meeting everyone and chatting. Cant wait till we can do it again next year... in Walla Walla maybe? Thats nice and close

(Disclaimer) I am undead tired and have not want or need to go back and proof read. If something is spelt wrong or uncomprehending, I dont care. Its nap time!

[nebs]

Wish I could have gone this year, it sounds like it was a blast! I hope someone has pics! Thanks for the status report Dave!

[Charlie Horse]

LOL nobody else is back yet to comment

[Nanno]

That sounds like soooo much fun! I really really wish we could have been there! This is such a lousy time of year for me to leave home, and that would have been a very long trip, especially for Cuzco. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

I hear ya about your goat's reputation preceding you! Cuzco had such a reputation last year, so we had several strangers walk past me and say "I've been dying meet Cuzco!" I felt like Cuzco's agent on the first day. Cuzco is also fairly stand-offish with strangers, but it sounds like Legion is worse! On the other hand, Cuzco is quite good at tolerating people's attentions if he's haltered.

Between performing tricks for everyone's entertainment, lying obediently by my chair at all times, and voluntarily going for a swim in the lake on one hand, and on the other hand bopping Phil in the face on purpose at the campfire, I'm still not sure if we had the best-behaved or worst-behaved goat at the Rendy. Cuzco has excellent manners, but he doesn't always choose to remember them when someone besides me is on the other end of the leash. I guess he's decided that he belongs to me, and no one else has the authority to tell him what to do. We'll be working on that with our up-and-comings. They must learn to respect all people from a young age--not just me.

[Teckelhut]

Hey Dave. I showed up Sunday to let Clyde and Clancy give you one last good-bye but heard you had left at 5:30am! Oh well. I took the boys down the path by the river but they started getting nervous. I think they were worried that Mastiff was going to come after them again. When I got back to the truck I put them in the trailer and had that wonderful $5 breakfast they offered.

Back again to let the boys out and while they were wandering around I took Gunny out and held him for a little bit while they kept an eye on me. I guess they figured since "Mom" was holding him, then he must be OK so I released him and they could have cared less about him. Taking this as a sign, we went out for a walk again. Myself, followed by a dachshund, followed by one small goat and then one slightly larger goat bring up the rear. All the while said dachshund, who had been rolled once by a Nigerian Doeling last year, kept looking straight forward with an expression that clearly said "Pretend they are not there. Pretend they are not there". I was not aware of how intent the boys were on following a weiner dog until I stopped to chat with someone and Gunny kept walking, followed by two goats. A second or two later they realized I was not there and all three came back.

I was very happy that Legion instantly accepted me as a friend and did not care if I loved on him. I guess he figured since my boys accepted me right away then I just simply must have been a member of the family he had not met yet.

Clancy thinks the world revolves around me. Clyde has an independent streak. But since he is quite attached to Clyde, he generally does whatever Clancy does. This is a plus and I can see that Little Clancy is going to be the leader of the two. I am really glad I decided to take him.

[Taffy]

Got in about 6 tonight from a fabulous Rendy! Charlene (deschutesdawn) did an amazing job! The campsite was fabulous as were all of the things she did to make the event a success! Thanks to Breanne who fixed a delicious breakfast on Sunday with $1 from each meal donated to NAPgA. There were a lot of great items for the auctions. Thank you to everyone who donated! I'm looking forward to hearing from Charlene how much money we were able to raise for NAPgA. I met so many wonderful folks this weekend. It was great putting faces to names and seeing all of the wonderful goats. Weighing and measuring goats on the bale scale and the measuring stick was fun. We were able to raise $21 for NAPgA at $1/goat plus the $1 my husband chipped in to weigh himself! I have all of the data on the 20 goats that were weighed/measured and will post it soon. More details and photos later. I'm headed to bed.

[Teckelhut]

I wish we could have one here every year. There just are NOT that many goat packers in this area.

[Saltlick]

Hey, better late than never!!! I had a nice time despite burning myself (still changing that bandage 2x daily and treating it as it's an open, meaty wound). I really enjoyed meeting everyone, mostly stuck to my "corner" after burning myself and was so lucky I had great neighbors Taffy and her husband, Dave and Curtis - really enjoyed hanging with you all, meeting your goats and experiencing your hospitality. Big thanks to Charlene and Bre and everyone who helped make this happen!! I hope I can come to more rendy's in the future and actually bring my goats Really left me longing to know some pack goat people down where I live. Btw, the offer still stands to adopt me if you live in the high desert or mountains where there's no poison oak I'm pretty low maintenance (when I'm not burning myself accidently - lol). OK, I have to pack for Mongolia now, bye!! OH, btw, I posted some photos from the rendy under the NAPgA section, not sure if that's the right place, but there they are.