A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{February 28, 2021} A new resort…to me. Vail!

What a weekend! Friday…Breck. Saturday…Beaver Creek…Today…Vail! I do lead a charmed life, I admit that!

I got up leisurely, no pressure to go out there and ski all day, just when I get there. I got dressed, made myself a sandwich for lunch and headed out the door, about 9am. It was about a 30 minute drive, such a change from yesterday, almost no snow on the roads, it was as if someone had a giant hand dryer and poof! And gorgeous, as always!

I got there and drove around Vail Village looking for parking, finally decided on the parking garage, which, turned out great, covered parking with ski gear! Not freezing sitting on your car trying to get dressed? Possibly no snow under your feet in case you happen to step down before you get your boot on? I’m good with that!

I followed everyone else through the parking lot, out to Vail Village. What a charming place this is. It’s a charming, adorable alpine village, like walking through some of those towns in Europe with PSM. You get that Winter Holiday feel all around. It’s hotels, restaurants, and shops, lost of shops, of course! Not just clothing, but, as you can imagine, ski and snowboard equipment and accessories. It reminded me of Keystone, but the streets were more narrow, like a European town or city, whereas Keystone’s lanes are much wider, just as charming!

Headed through Vail Village to the gondola line. That line…well, that was a long line, but it moved. When it’s your turn to get into one of the gondola cars, you put your skis in one of the holders outside the car and only take your poles in with you. As I’m standing there waiting for my turn, I get to look around. It’s a beautiful place, the slopes coming down to bottom were wide and bright. I could see on one of the slopes that there were a lot of moguls, which I discovered as a kid, were not my thing. Moguls are those bumpy places on a slope, a lot of people enjoy skiing them, I don’t happen to be one of them.

What I did notice throughout Vail, on the runs that I did, a bunch of the blue squares and most of the black diamonds were all moguls. I knew what I would be avoiding! I got out of the gondola and walked over to the first lift line, put on my skis and up, up, up, and away I went! I got off the lift and looked for green dots, which, I believe we talked about, is what I tend to do on mountains I have never been on, just to get a feel for it. And today, I stuck to mostly the green dots, threw in a few of the blue squares, but the green circles were just fine for me!

One thing I found that they had, in abundance, at Vail, were catwalks, which is a narrow trail connecting one slope to another or going all the way down the mountain. What vail has… are flat catwalks! Oh no! I tend to ski with my poles in one hand, but…I am ever so grateful to have ski poles when I end up on a catwalk! Oh my! Now…if you can get enough momentum when you get going, you can sail through a flat catwalk, but…if you stop at the bottom of one hill, to take in the splendor and a picture, and lose your momentum…there is a lot of walking, using the poles to try to push, skating, and a few four letter words. Let’s just say, I know why professional skiers are so skinny! O M G! I was sweating! I wasn’t sure if I had enough layers on when I left the house, since it was -2! Nope, I was fine! I had to unzip my jacket and take off my gloves just to get a breeze going! And…I didn’t make that mistake again!

This is that first time I realize that you cannot lose your momentum!!!

Between the gondola ride up and the catwalks, my first run took me almost an hour to get down! I did learn my lesson though and the rest of the day, there was swooshing and swishing to my hearts content. The cool thing with the catwalks was that if you chose to do a run going down, you could go for a piece, then take a catwalk and start the process over again.

I went up in a chair, then skied a short distance and got on another chair that went up, then skied down, the went up and it was like that for about four hours, at least, non-stop, it was great. I remember going up and up and up on one chair and as I’m looking down, it’s mostly moguls and steep slopes and I’m thinking not my bag, and as we get to the top, I look to my left and see black diamond and double black diamond signs, uh oh, what did I get myself in to? I would go down if that’s the case, it might take me a while, but I’ll do it. Then…a sigh of relief, I looked to the left and there were my green circles and blue dots, whew!

I skied a few more runs, somehow made it to the bottom to where I needed to be and it was like everyone was having the same thought, they were done. So, I kicked off my skis, well, not kicked, and walked through Vail Village a bit, I got a zipper pull, a t-shirt on sale, and a sticker for my helmet, not very exciting, and this was all in one store, I was good to go!

I headed to the parking lot, found the car, got out of my boots and ski pants, and away we went! Headed back to the house for a hot, hot, hot shower, some dinner, work, and chill. Not a bad day. I’ve been to Vail and I really liked it, I know I’ll go back! But I think tomorrow, might be a day off from skiing, we’ll see!

{February 27, 2021} It’s Saturday…let’s go to Beaver Creek!

I was excited today, going to a new resort, Beaver Creek. I think I mentioned the other day one of the things I like about having to make reservations to ski is the opportunity to explore other mountains. I was thinking about it, I think the reason I only go to Breckenridge and Keystone when I visit Colorado is that I’m usually only here for a few days, so I think I stuck to what I knew. In addition, Beaver Creek is about an hour from Dillon and Vail is 30 minutes, which is not bad, while I stay here, but if I am staying in Golden, which I usually do, that adds almost 2 hours each way and while I don’t mind driving an hour and 20 each way, the longer trips don’t always seem worth it, especially if I’m only going for a few hours. Driving 2 hours there isn’t bad, but driving back, after skiing a few hours, exhausting. Well, that makes sense to my swiss-cheese brain!

I must be getting comfortable with the altitude and time difference, I have been getting up a little earlier every day! 530am is too early, but it is what it is! Even though I was up, didn’t mean I had to get out of bed! I leisurely lounged, watched some Netflix, and made it a lazy Saturday morning, sounds good to me. Eventually, I got up, motivated, dressed, made some breakfast, and looked outside…snow…and lots of it. I’m in the mountains of Colorado, what did I expect?! Let’s get the car packed and go!

I left the house, the streets had a new layer of snow on them, made it almost to the highway and almost couldn’t see the cars in front of me, hmmm…do I still want to go? I called PSM and we looked at the weather together, well, he looked, he’s much better at it than me!

We already know Annie II can do it! Not worried about her at all, and she proved that she can drive in the snow and we made it to Beaver Creek. Let’s just say it was a little crowded, all but one of the parking lots was full and when I finally got to the parking lot that was open, it was closed, huh? As I’m driving back down the hill I asked someone and he let me park on the side of the road, with everyone else in the same boat, which was great because we were pretty close to the lift!

I walked up to the lift, put my skis on and headed up the mountain. I really enjoyed Beaver Creek, just like all the Vail Resorts I have been to, the slopes are wide open and manageable. I find that when I haven’t been to a mountain before I tend to stay on the green circles, which are the easiest, for the first few runs, then I venture into some of the blue squares, more difficult. I haven’t reached the point this year that I want to ski the black diamonds or double blacks, most difficult. I used to, I just don’t these days and I’m ok with that!

I think I mentioned the snow that started sometime in the morning, continued on the drive and…most of the day, there were times you couldn’t see too far ahead of you, the snow kept coming, and the wind picked up, there were even a few snow swells and swirls, not quite snownados, but looked like it! If you look at my pics, it looks like of black and white, doesn’t it?!

Despite the view, or lack there of it, there was still much swishing and swooshing, and smiling while doing it! All that snow made for nice fresh powder in a lot of places. I had a few very nice companions on the chair lifts who gave me some advice on runs to do and they were spot on, thank you!

I lost track of how many runs I did, but I took a break at one point at one of the lodges, hung out by the fire and was thinking it might be time to head out, I had been there a few hours, but when I asked someone how to get back to the gondola, their answer didn’t fill me with warm fuzzies, the other resorts I have been to had ways to get back to the bottom, wherever I needed to be from wherever I was. Thankfully at that, because half the time, and I know you won’t be surprised, but I don’t know where I am half the time! I was telling someone that I admired all the skiers and riders that knew the runs and what they were called and where the ended up. You laugh, but it’s true! I remember when I would stay at the Doubletree in Breckenridge, a fabulous ski in/ski out hotel and I would have to remember the run that would take me back to the ski in part!

Anyway, she told me that I would need to go back to the top and ski to where I needed to go. That’s a tough one when your mind has told you your done. You have to kind of trick yourself, ok, let’s do another run! Well, two more and then skip the last one! I went to the top where she told me and I couldn’t figure out where she was telling me to go, so I asked someone at the top and they said, no, go this way, which I did and whew, I ended up where I needed to be! When I got to the bottom of the hill, I was a little confused, but…I found the exit, it was actually a nice run to the bottom, the lift that I came up on! That was very cool, at some other mountains, you ski, then get on a gondola, or you’re at the bottom and you walk out, this was ski to the bottom to where the hotel entrance was, a very short walk to the car, that was fun!

I got to the car, it had stopped snowing at some point and the sun came out. I thought, ooh, I’ll go into Beaver Creek Village and look for something to eat. I should have kept my car there and taken the gondola into Beaver Creek Village. I was not paying $30 for parking for the very short time I was going to be there. I wanted to walk around, get a bite to eat and maybe a t-shirt and sticker for my helmet, not worth the money. So…I started back to the house.

The drive was sooo much better on the way back than coming up there! It was a breeze. I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some supplies, then back to the house. Into the house, and I told you how nice that was to be able to put my stuff up in the garage/house! I even memorized the codes for the garage and door! Go me! Shower, pizza, movies, and you. What could be better! Tomorrow, Vail, another mountain I haven’t been to and I’m so looking forward to it!

{February 26, 2021} It’s Fri-yay! Let’s go to Breck!

Apparently I got enough sleep last night because I was up about 6am, so I settled in to work, I had some playing to do too!

I think I told you I made some reservations at some resorts so I can ski while I’m here and today’s reservation is Breckenridge. I worked until about 1230p, got dressed, loaded up the car, and headed out the door. I have to thank AM and NM for letting me stay here, it’s been so great to be in a house, be able to keep my stuff in the house and just walk into the garage to load up, instead of having to gather everything and head out of the hotel. Being in the hotel isn’t that bad, honest, this is just really nice. There is a closet right inside the house from the garage, I don’t have to lug everything from the room, down the stairs, out the door, find the car in the parking lot, just nice.

It’s also nice staying about 30 minutes from the resort, and when you stay so close, you don’t worry about how long you’re going to be there, even when I stay in Golden, I don’t mind the 1.5 hour drive. And I think I told you, since I have the pass, I don’t feel like I have to stay all day, and I’m at that age as well, I can go for a few hours and I’m good.

The drive to the resort was nice, it was a crisp, clear day, good visibility and always fabulously scenic. So much better than my drive here Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I got to the resort, found a decent spot in the usual lot not far from the gondola, paid for parking, walked to the shuttle and away we went. I got on the gondola and headed up the mountain to the lifts.

All the Vail Resorts are doing their best to abide by social distancing, there are mandatory mask signs everywhere, the gondolas and chair lifts have seating suggestions, people even putting their own stickers on things and for the lifts, I didn’t realize, but if you stand with your skis touching someone else’s skis, that’s about 6 feet, I hadn’t thought about that, well, unless it’s a kid, then it’s a little shorter!

The lift lines were a little long, but they moved and when you talked to people on line, it moves faster. It’s fun to look at what people are wearing, the kids and their colorful and fun ski or snowboard outfits, the helmet covers, and then…the group of 8 in front of me, all wearing different furry ski/snowboard outfits. Let’s see, there was an elephant, crocodile, engaged couple, both unicorns, hers said ‘Future Mrs. Somebody’ and his said ‘Fiancé’, they were quite the gathering.

Up, up, up, and away we went. As I said, the day was clear and crisp, the slopes, as always, never crowded, and there was fresh powder from the Wednesday/Thursday snowstorm, it was wonderful! There was swishing, swooshing, and more swishing. I lost track of the number of runs I did, I just went until I was a bit peckish, I grabbed a chai latte and a fabulous piece of coffee cake, it was heavenly!

Swish…Swoosh…Swish…Swoosh

One more run for me. Up I went and swished and swooshed my way down and realized I was done, so I wrapped up my skis and headed for the gondola line and oh my word, the line for the gondola was ridiculous! They even came up to move us into a more formal line, helping up avoid getting hit by any skiers, happy for that! It didn’t wrap around like that when I headed up for my last run. It is what it is.

As I was waiting on the line, a woman and her daughter walked by and I asked if they wanted to stand in line with me, mom was ever so thankful, she was done, and she was carrying her skis, boots, and her daughter’s skis. Very nice people, mom and I got on really well, it turns out we had a lot in common, and her daughter was a five year old cutie! At one point, I offered to help her and carry something and her daughter told me I could carry her skis, thanks! Bottom line, it made the line move faster and that’s what matters.

I got to the bottom, headed for the shuttle, got to the car, took off my boots, ahhh, back to the house, shower, a little more work to round out the week, dinner, and chill. Sounds like a pretty good day to me! Looking forward to tomorrow!

{February 25, 2021} To ski or not to ski…not today!

As we talked about yesterday, I got to the house in Dillon, Co, early this morning. When I say early, it was 330am. I got in the house, unpacked the car, crawled into bed and couldn’t fall asleep right away, go figure!

I finally nodded off sometime after 4/430am and it was deep when I got there! I got up about 7am local time, which is 8am Central, yeah, it gets confusing! Imagine trying to keep all that, and other times zones, straight while you’re on the road! It was something.

I got up and got to work, played with the idea of going to Keystone to get in a few runs, kept working, toyed with the idea, after all, that’s why I’m here, to ski and work, work and ski, then ski some more. I got my Epic Local ski pass when I first moved to Colorado and I renew it each year, and I always think that if I can ski 6 or 7 days each season, the pass has paid for itself. I already skied three days last month, I’m here for about a week, let’s see what I can do.

That being said, since I’m going to be skiing a bunch while I’m here, do I really need to ski the day I arrive? After driving 15 hours and getting about 3 hours of sleep, nope, I’m good. I worked until about 630/7p, had some dinner, then sat on the couch and watched some tv, ok, I laid out on the couch and started watching tv. About 2 glorious hours later I got up and headed to bed, where I couldn’t sleep, go figure again! I love naps, but they kill what little sleep I get!

I’m happy I made the executive to skip skiing today, tomorrow is a new day and I made some reservations. No, I don’t have reservations about skiing, ha ha, I made reservations to ski! The interesting thing, I’ve gone to one or two other mountains that are included with the pass, but I’m usually only in Colorado a few days, so I tend to stick to Breck and Keystone. With Covid restrictions, you have to make reservations for the resort and that has forced me, so to speak, to look at other resorts based on availability. I’d say that’s a plus!

I’m going to Breckenridge tomorrow, Beaver Creek on Saturday, and Vail on Sunday, two resorts I’ve never been to, very excited about it! And you know I’ll tell you all about them after I go.

Gotta get some rest, work, then ski tomorrow, night!

{February 24, 2021} My car is not a 4-wheel drive…shhhh don’t tell her!

PSM kicked me out of the house…to Colorado to go ski! He’s so harsh! Ha Ha! He knows what it means to me and with my new job, I can do it, serious work/life balance. Besides, sometime in the next few months, he’s going to do the same to me, take off work and disappear to parts unknown. Works for me.

I packed up the car with my ski gear, it all fits in the car! and cleared out the fridge and freezer of al the things I knew PSM wouldn’t eat, I didn’t want it to go bad, besides, this helps me not eat out every meal, win-win. Even had the leftover ovo-vegan lasagna from Thanksgiving, it’s been in the freezer, and it’s still good! Here we go!

It was 59 degrees out, you know what that means! Yup, sweatshirt on, butt warmers on, drop the top! It was gorgeous! Eventually the top had to go up as the temperature dropped, which was alright, I could hear people on phone if they called and eventually it would be too cold for the top down. It was a good thing too, NM told me there was a snowstorm coming to Denver, it wasn’t predicted earlier in the week, I checked the weather. Ok… we could do it. I don’t know if you remember me telling you that we, Annie II and I, drove through the a bit of a snowstorm a few weeks ago coming back from Denver. Now…we’re getting on going to Denver, oh joy!

Annie II is a beast! I had her when I lived in Colorado years ago and she drove through the snow all the time, she even had to do some snow and ice driving in Atlanta when I lived there. So the snow started somewhere in Kansas, it is a very big state! I know it was after Topeka, but I couldn’t tell you where I was, only that it was Kansas.

It started as just snow coming at the car, then it progressively got stronger, slicker, and started to build up on the ground. I was able to keep driving in my Chucks for a long time, there was cover at the gas stations, and I would have to start kicking some of the snow from the wheel wells. Eventually, as I was driving through Denver, people were starting to skid out, the work trucks and snow plows were out in force. I had a few moments of “don’t use the break”, “go with the skid” nothing major, but I remembered my experiences while I was growing up in New York, driving, even learning to rock a car out of a snow bank, driving in Western New York, learning what to do when you start to skid. The skid warning light or traction control indicator came on a few times, but we were fine, just go with it.

One of the last time I stopped to get gas, I had to put on my wonderful, furry, winter boots, love them! I got out and got A LOT of snow from the wheel wells, that’s the only thing I worry about, it builds up so quickly and can mess with your driving abilities. As I was getting back on the highway, we spun a little, slowly, but we spun, not sure if it was lucky, but the snow was thick and soft, we righted and got back on the highway.

By now, the roads had cleared and it was just me, Annie II and the work trucks and snow plows, that was kind of interesting. Eventually, we got to Dillon, we made it to the house and into the garage, safe and sound. The trip took a little longer than it should, 13 hours turned into 15, but…

My car, my little beetle bug convertible, a car that is not known for driving in the snow, conquering the skids, mounds of snow, and slippery roads, but…Annie II is a champ and seems to love it, so…don’t tell her she doesn’t have 4-wheel drive, why crush her dreams!

Ok, so….I have to correct myself…sort of…I just looked up Beetles driving in the snow, and I had forgotten all about this and now I la la la love my car even more and know why she is a champ! She has front-wheel-drive, this gives her a natural advantage for dealing with snow and ice, it’s the weight distribution. Go Annie II! Oh yeah! Could I love this car any more?!

{February 23, 2021} A ladle…a vets tool?

Earlier in the week, Bee and Ruby to the vet for their annual everything. I’m so glad they don’t mind going to the vet, so different than a cat!

So, the annual everything includes heartworm, flu, Bordetella, rabies, I’m sure there are other things, I can’t remember, but they got it all. We got good reports, happy and healthy dogs, I have another post to tell you about, that will make you laugh, but this is all about the ladle.

A day after we took them to the vet we got a call that in their bloodwork, there was signs of something they wanted to test further, a blood and pee test. Ok, no problem, let’s book an appointment. Only issue, sort of…they need the first pee of they day, they open at 8a, no problem, we’ve left them in the crate until almost 8a before, no, the problem is…some of the staff they need aren’t in until 8:40a, what? I don’t know about you, but I know what I’m like first thing when I get up…

When we go to yoga early, sometimes the dogs realize we’re up, but we leave them in the crate, then take them out when we get home. The longest we’ve actually left them in is 8am, they start stirring about 7, maybe 7:30a, then the whining starts about 8am. At one point there was a yelp and a bark, someone stepped on someone else, I had to tell them to quiet down. I don’t know who this morning was harder on, them or me!

I waited as long as possible, 8:35a, luckily we only live a 5 minute drive from the vet’s office. I got them out of the crate, leashes at the ready and luckily they love to get in the car, so I very excitedly got them to the car, let’s go!

5 minutes and I’m dialing as I pull into the spot. Whoever answered the phone I told what spot we were in and she said someone would be out shortly and I said sooner, they need a pee test and they haven’t been yet, that seemed to work! The dogs were looking out the window, well Ruby had her nose pressed against the window and they were both starting to whine…Here come the techs! I noticed they had ladles in their hands. Ladles? Really?

They grabbed the dogs and off they went to the grass. I didn’t see anything after that, well, I saw one of them holding or trying to balance the ladle while wrangling my dog! Ha ha. Um… how are you going to hang on to the ladle’s contents?

As they were walking back, I saw it…a giant syringe looking thing. Ok, that makes sense. And while I was waiting for them to come back out, I watched another vet tech trying to collect pee with a ladle from a much smaller dog, it was funny, she kept bending down thinking the dog was going to…well, go.

Whew, they got what they had to, go girls! And when they brought them out, they told me how great our dogs were, honest! They told me we had two very lovable dogs and Ruby just wants belly rubs! We love that!

{February 22, 2021} Yoga…Love…Love…Yoga

As you know, PSM and I have been taking yoga together for almost two months, well, you may not have known how long, but you knew we were taking it together.

People ask me how I like yoga…I’m getting there.

My favorite question and answer:

“How do you like hot yoga?”

PSM LOVES hot yoga.

I LOVE PSM.

{February 21, 2021} It was almost like Spring!

For about an hour…

We went to yoga a little later today, there weren’t any early morning hot yoga classes, so we took the 11am hot yoga class with a powerful instructor. She changes her routine, goes a little faster than some instructors, and makes us sweat…wow! The thing I like is that she is doing most of the poses and moves with us, which made her sweat…a lot!

When we went to yoga it was about 35 outside, we only wore sweat shirts over our yoga clothes, as opposed to our big winter parkas, and I wore a pair of chucks, no socks, yeah! The snow is starting to melt, it should be gone by the end of the week. Do I hear a vroom-vroom of a motorcycle?

Oh! I forgot to tell you that yesterday, I was running errands, it was about 35 out and I put on my winter coat and hat and…dropped the top! Oh boy, Annie II was so happy, and so was I! I cranked up the heat, turned up the butt warmers and away we went. It actually wasn’t too cold, so I turned the heat down and just enjoyed the sunshine and the crisp, fresh air. Something people don’t realize about convertibles is that if you have the windows up and you’re going at a good clip, you don’t feel the cold or even the rain, if you happen to get caught in it, it’s marvelous!

But, back to my post! After hot yoga, we changed clothes, walked outside and I never put my sweatshirt on, just jeans and a t-shirt, and it was fabulous! We couldn’t believe it! Is it Spring already?! Yes, it was 47, and while to some, who live in much warmer climates, 47 may sound like chill fest, when it’s been in the single digits, 47 is a heat wave!

We went to brunch, which too much longer than it should have! [Possibly like some of my posts! ha ha ha] Apparently the restaurant had a rush of people…anyway…I was very excited about the drive home, I was going to drop the top and enjoy the sunshine. Let’s just say…in the almost 2 hours we were at the restaurant, I know, I know…the clouds came out to play and the sun said…buh bye…so we drove home, top up.

So…it was almost like Spring…for about an hour… But…it gives me hope, I know it’s coming! Wait, does that mean…Hope Springs Eternal? MUWAHAHAHA

{February 20, 2021} Vegan Indian…and in my neighborhood!

February of last year, 2020, in case you were hoping you just skipped it! a restaurant opened near us, and oh boy was I excited! Vegan and Indian food! What?! Bombay Food Junkies started as a 100% vegan food truck in St Louis! What are the odds? And lucky for me, a brick and mortar store…right near us!

We have ordered take out from them a few times, the dining room was closed, just like so many places, and the food was good. Tonight, we got to eat in! Wah to the hoo! It’s been great the way the counties and cities are opening back up, social distancing, of course and Bombay Food Junkies was no different.

I’ve told you this before, the things I love about eating at a vegan restaurant is never having to ask if something has dairy in it or where it’s cooked! The only things I need to ask…What do you recommend? And is it spicy? The first is easy, people who work at or own the restaurant have opinions. Sometimes they haven’t eaten everything, so they can’t always tell me, but I can usually get a good idea of what to order. The second, not so easy, we’ve talked about this before, when people say it’s not too spicy, that usually means no good for me. Indian food is really tricky, a food known for its fragrant spices and I do mean spices! Well, I should say spicy! And, because it’s Indian food, when I ask…well, you can imagine. I am always hopeful! There was an Indian restaurant in Atlanta that really listened and understood!

Tonight, what we ordered was delicious, even though everything had a kick, good thing they left a full bottle of water on the table! We’ve tried different things every time, this time we ordered falafel with a small hummus sauce, yum, fried cauliflower bites with a creamy mint sauce, veg manchurian with a soy-ginger glaze, and butter chick’n bowl with fried rice and garlic naan. [All these links are for other sites/recipes and by the looks of it, I may be trying some of these out, but…that won’t stop me from ordering from Bombay Food Junkies!]

The food was tasty and not too much! Three appetizers and one main dish that we shared, perfect! I will say that I went through about two bottles of water, but very much worth it! I keep checking things off the list to try, what’s next? I haven’t quite made it to dessert yet!

{February 19, 2021} We are the Champions Part III

Aren’t you glad I broke this into 3 parts?! It might have taken you longer to read it all in one post rather than binge watching all 6 episodes! Well…here we are, finally! We are the Champions Part III! Still fantastically funny! And, what hasn’t changed: Netflix, Rainn Wilson. Just a reminder!

Episode 5: Dog Dancing. Yes, I said Dog Dancing. The IMDB description is better than anything I could come up with: Powerhouse trainers and their prancing pooches go for gold at a prestigious competition with hip heelwork, fancy freestyles and dogged determination. Yup, that about says it all.

This episode focuses on the Russian Dog Dancing Team, yes, that’s what I said. The episode opens, slightly deceptively, if you weren’t paying attention to the name of the episode, because we follow a ballerina as she runs through a mansion and then puts on her toe shoes, and then her dance partner walks in, a fluffy, furry dog!

Be prepared, all the dialogue except for the narrator is sub-titled. We meet the leader of the Russian team who’s goal is to win the O.E.C., Open European Championship, according to the episode, it is the most important competition in the world. Polina Ilina is the captain and in charge of the team of dog dancers. There is heelwork and freestyle. Heelwork is more formal and freestyle is a little more fun, costumes and all!

You should see the medals in this woman’s studio! The only one left…you guessed it, O.E.C.! These styles came out of the traditional dog shows when Mary Ray and Kizzy set the heelwork to music and the rest is history! This team is the most successful team in history…no pressure! Just watch it, you’ll be amazed what these dogs can do! Wow!

Now, on to the last episode, and it’s a hopper! Let’s just say…the joint was jumpin’! I’m so sorry, I couldn’t resist! Have you guessed yet? What if I toad you it was frog jumping?! This episode is all about a frog jumping competition. And not just any frog, but the American Bullfrog. The competition was inspired by a short story by Mark Twain, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and has been going on since 1928!

As with each episode, we feature several competitors, or jockeys. But first, the rules…each competitor’s frog is allowed three jumps in a row, the distance of each jump is combined for the total score. The current record, set in 1986 by “Rosie the Ribiter” and jockey Lee Giudici, is 21 feet, 5 3/4 inches: 7.16 feet per jump. Just wow!

Jon Kitchell, who, at the time of the taping, has yet to win, others in his family have won, like his wife Laura Kitchell, and Riley Kitchell, but he personally, has not won. Then we move to the Gustine Frog Team, headed by Bob Fasano, and we meet Justin Fasano, his son, a champion jockey. Lastly is the Busch Family twins. And just like some of the other episodes, there are competitors we never meet, until the competition.

We see how each team/family goes out to catch their frogs for the competition, some are secret, they actually black out the name of the canal, classic! They all seem to go out at night on flat bottom boats with flashlights and nets, not sure what the science is behind it, but…it was interesting to watch.

Next, we see how each team trains with their frogs, in the backyards, in the streets ‘CAR!’ both watching the frogs jumping and how the jockeys train, there’s a lot of jumping, the people, not just the frogs, yelling at the frogs, I think they’re trying to scare them! Made me jump.

Then…we get to the actual day of the competition…This is stressful, watching them jump their little froggy hearts out! The jockey’s too! Not sure if the frogs truly realize what’s happening, but the crowd does, and we are sitting on the edge of our seats! Can they do it?! Will they win?! Will the frog jump straight of off to the side! Oh my, the stress!

The winner…gets a trophy and belt buckle! Talk about the swag! I’m in, I so want to go and get at least a t-shirt! I don’t need a belt buckle, but the bragging rights seem to be the real prize!

Six episodes, six competitions, dozens of competitors, millions of fans! Now, go forth and champion! What, you thought I would go an entire series of Champion posts and not give you a taste of the Queen classic?! Hmph!

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What was I thinking?