LOOONG short trip to Sedalia, MO

Made it home from Jr Nationals in Sedalia with only one flat!!!  That is an improvement on the two that we had on the way up there last Sunday.  What was normally a decent drive turned into a ..... pain in the tail.  Both of our kids had a fun time though.  Son enjoyed his last year in novice and Daughter had a bred and owned % heifer that we almost left at home, do pretty good.  We like her,  but being a november along with her red hide..... we didnt think she would end up where she ended up.  My daughter was ecstatic when she left the arena.  Gotta love this comment, "Dad Spree did really awesome, I cant believe she beat all those heifers that were better than her."  I just smiled and told her that today, she must've had her show toes on.  My neice had a bred and owned PB that was chosen for the twentieth spot.  She was very happy and had a great time for her first nationals.  Contests, while somewhat difficult, really weeded out the kids that knew their stuff.  Pretty sure I lost some weight the first day setting up in 100 degree temp with HIGH humidity, but also know I gained it all back and then some with the meals that were served.  It was just the beginning of a very busy July and August and it was a great way to start it off.  Met many new people and started many more friendships.  Looking forward to Fayetteville regionals next year and the possibility of road tripping to Ohio for Nationals 2012.

It was a bad trip for many  :-\ Our trailer drop down door flew open one turn before turning into the fairgrounds, and we lost feed along with minor damage to our door. Luckily, the trailer company is standing behind their product and repairing everything FREE!!!
Another group was not so lucky; their heifer slipped through the slider door in the back and got drug several hundred feet before they figured out what had happened. They had to put her down when they got to the fairgrounds because her injuries were so severe. Made our trailer issue look minor  :'(

But, it was GOOD! Missouri kids did well, and having that air conditioned show ring was really nice  <party> We will not complain on how our kids and cattle did!!!

:'( :'( That is so sad about that heifer....poor thing.  When I was in 4H way back when-we had a pig that had a leg fall through the trailer floor on the way to the county show.  We had a sift then too....the ag teacher that picked up the kids pig told the show board it was his fault, etc. so the kid could still show the pig.  Pig limped like crazy, but beared weight on it and what not.  Needless to say they were a white ribbon by the judge in the show.

It was a long but good week for us!   The first day sure made me appreciate fans and air conditioning.   Our trip was fortunately fairly uneventful.  That is always a good thing.   I really liked that they moved the banquet up to 2 so we could get out of there at a reasonable time.    The contests were hard but like coachmac said it weeded out the kids who knew their stuff.    

That's sad about the heifer..