Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo

On Thursday I left home at 8am to fly to Chicago, pick up a rental car and drive about 150 miles East to Kalamazoo, for a 4 show weekend, where I was judging. The flight was good and I arrived in Chicago at about 2:20 local time, the pick up of the rental car went smoothly and I got on the road. Plugged in the GPS and off I headed....Oops - the GPS (in its wisdom) decided the quickest route was right through downtown Chicago - now granted this is the SHORTEST route but definitely not the quickest. After 90 minutes I had gone 25 miles! So it was about 7:30pm when I arrived in Kalamazoo (as I lost another hour on the time zone change)
Got settled into the hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed off to bed. The next day (Friday) judging started at 9 - very civilized. I had about 125 dogs to judge, outside in one of the most uneven rings I have been in for a long time - at the end of the day I felt handicapped and my poor exhibitors, really had a hard time of it, running around.
Saturday was predicted to be very warm and sunny and again I was outside all day (140 dogs to judge that day) let me tell you I was cooked, sun burnt and hot by the time I finished at 3pm - I had been looking at a vending booth longingly for the last hour or so of my assignment, as soon as I was finished judging I was over there and got a smoothie - Peach, Strawberry, Banana - and boy did that hit the spot - I then was able to stand in the sun a bit longer and do photos.
Sunday: Got up at 6:30 and looked out the window - WOW - it was really raining hard (and again I was outside judging 150 dogs) so out came the rain boots, the raincoat but also lightweight clothing as it was still predicted to be warm. Fortunately by the time I started judging, it had stopped raining, so just needed the rain boots for the first hour of so, on the wet grass. Never unpacked the raincoat. By 3pm, it was again pretty hot...
Lets see what tomorrow brings.