May 29, 2013

Wordless Wednesday:That Was a Dumb Idea

We recently took Rita with us to Santa Barbara for a few days. (That wasn't the dumb idea. It's coming.)

My sis lives there and we wanted to visit and check out the Amgen Tour of California. (Drug scandals notwithstanding, we're big pro cycling fans and this is a very cool week-long race that shows off the beauty of our state.) One stage was ending on the Wednesday we got there, so we knew we'd be able to see an exciting sprint finish, and the next day's stage was starting from the same spot. Always fun to go to the start and see all the big US and European cycling stars at the team buses before the race. (Yes, I'm a cycling groupie!)

We stayed with my sis, who has a cat. Rita HATES cats. (This also wasn't the dumb idea.) But she apparently likes cat toys... She immediately tried to steal a mouse toy:
A terrible - but hysterical - pic. See the mouse's tail? 

Here is the mouse toy with a bit of Rita-spit-hair-mousse:
My nephew used to wear his hair this way. (Wonder if he used dog spit?)
Poor Topi, my sis's tabby, had to hang out in the backroom/his screened porch most of the time while we were there. He came out for a bit while we took Rita for a walk. When we came back in, he was still in the living room so I kept Rita on leash. It took her about 15 minutes to realize the cat was there - and then it was: HOLY COW! WHO LET THE SPAWN OF THE DEVIL INTO THE HOUSE??? Yeah. She went a little nutty. (This also wasn't the dumb idea, since Rita was still on leash and Topi just retreated to his back room.)

Later, Rita noticed this cat sculpture, and - just to be on the safe side - gave it a good trash-talking too:
Terribly frightening cat sculpture!
That afternoon, we went down to watch the sprint finish, and we took Rita along since it was on a road near the beach with lots of grass/paths to walk on. We got there really early and checked out the expo, etc. and walked around.
Rita, chilling in the grass, with Daddy
Then about 20 minutes before the racers came through, we staked out a prime spot on the barrier about 50 meters (sorry - cycling talks in meters... um, 50 yards-ish maybe?) from the finish. We convinced Rita to just chill in the shade of the barrier and wait there with us. And this was where the dumb idea was hatched.

Well, as soon as the cop cars leading the cyclists and the helicopter (for the TV coverage) swung into view way down the road, everyone started to beat on the metal barriers. It was insanely loud, and poor Rita FLEW out of there, dragging me behind her. No, not out on to the race course - thank heaven! (that's what the barriers are for) - but as far away as she could drag me.
Rita, terribly unimpressed. 
So much for staking out a good location to watch the finish! Luckily my super sweet hubs traded places - he walked around away from the action with Rita, while I joined the other nutty fans at the barrier, screaming and cheering as the cyclists zoomed past. Super exciting! Sorry I don't have any pics of that, but I didn't bring my good (and BIG) camera along, cuz I knew handling Rita in the crowds and taking pics was not going to be possible. (I guess that was one smart thing we did.)

We took her along again the next day, knowing the start would be much calmer, and she did fine.
Here she is with the Team Cannondale bikes - looking much happier!
The start of the stage out of Santa Barbara - a much calmer affair!
Next time we'll know - leave Rita home for the finishes and only drag her along to the starts! Sorry about being so wordy! (I've got words to use up from being away from the blog all last week!)




43 comments:

  1. Cute photo with the mouse tail!

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  2. There's an idea for how to use Leo's drool--hair gel!

    Love the mouse tail photo.

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  3. we liked that cat way up high where it couldn't hurt us...we live with mean ole cat dietzman so we get hurt sometimes....we think rita did just finnnnne.....we would have totally freaked out!
    stella rose

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    1. Yeah - I figured if the 2 of them got into it, Rita would for sure get the worst of it! I'm sure she only barked at him because she was afraid. A cat came in our yard yesterday and she ran after it, but when it turned back at her - she screamed like a little girl!

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  4. LOL Rita you are a dog after our own hearts. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  5. First, glad you took Rita with you. What a FUN event to watch. Yes to cats ... I felt the same way when I met mom's 2 cats and I even stayed in their house for 2 days. cats do have strange toys. Golden Woofs

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    1. Apparently Rita thinks cats have YUMMY toys! :)

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  6. Hey Rita,

    So sorry it wasn't much fun for you, that sure sounded like a lotta noise!! But it sounds like you had fun the rest of the time! My Mum and Dad just discovered Santa Barbara a few weeks ago and totally loved it, I think next time I may get to go with them too! Yay! :)

    Wags to all,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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    1. S.B. is wonderful! Hope you get to go along next time, Snoopy. There are lots of nice places to walk with a pup!

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  7. We often try to include the dogs in our plans but after many failed attempts, we've learned it's mostly just better to leave them in the comfort and safety of home. They aren't scared and we don't miss anyting!

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    1. Yeah. It's a bummer cuz Abby was super friendly and happy and would have loved to go along everywhere - but she couldn't walk very far cuz of losing her one leg, so she mostly stayed behind at home. Now we have Rita who's fit for walking as long as we want - but she's afraid of so many things!

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  8. Your Wordless Wednesdays are never wordless, but I'm so glad, because I love the stories and photos!
    Poor Rita - it must've been so scary the first day... but it looks like the second day was much nicer for her.
    OMG, the pic with the mousetail! LOL! Thankfully, she didn't decide to just swallow it. With a lot of dogs, it would've already been down the hatch.

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    1. Yes - we caught her with that mouse just in time!

      I know on the "wordless" thing... I hope I don't get kicked outta the hop someday for always being so darn wordy!

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  9. We watched that race on TV. Daddy-dog is a huge cycling fan! And remember, nothing is a dumb idea until something dumb happens. BOL
    *Cairn cuddles*
    Oz

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    1. We watched it all on TV too. We love that race! You'll have to come see it in person some day!

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  10. I love the suspense of finding out what the dumb idea was! It's all so enjoyable and I am happy you had a good time.

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    1. Thanks! I was hoping to keep the suspense up! :)

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  11. Poor Rita - she probably had no idea what was going on! We are huge cycling fans too! It's so exciting to be at the races - someday we hope to go see the Tour de France live!!

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    1. Hooray for fellow huge cycling fans! We'd also like to go see the TdF some day! (I'm a total Tour freak. I watch almost every hour of the coverage. I go into a big funk at the end of July when it's over!)

      The hubs has gone to see the Tour of Italy, which was why he was nice and let me have the spot at the barrier. We've also gone to other stages of the Tour of CA before - but mostly the ITT and once a mountain stage. I'd never been to a sprint finish before. Insane!

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  12. Haha she looks silly with that mouse toy

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com/

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  13. you are sooooo lucky that she didn't EAT that mouse!

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    1. Yeah - if the hubs was a few seconds slower it would have been down the hatch!

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  14. Poor, poor Rita! First you take her to a feline house and then to WWIII or something! Looks like she's the forgiving sort :-)

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    1. *AND* we didn't let her eat the mouse toy! We're terrible.

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  15. I think that falls under the "live and learn" category. Who would have expected them to start making all that noise? We once brought dogs to fireworks (we did at least stay in our car)....when we were young and stupid and new at having dogs! Actually, the dogs were fine, those were calm dogs, but I would never bring my current dogs in a million years!
    That photo with the mouse tail is priceless!!

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    1. Yeah, I knew there would be cheering and noise - but was not expecting the BANGING! Oops... As you say though, live and learn!

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  16. My dog hates cats too... I don't know how we managed to have a cat as well as the dog living together for 9 or so years. The cat always won, but oh my goodness they were so annoying with each other!

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    1. Wow, that's impressive that you had them together for 9 years. Rita would probably never forgive us if we brought home a cat at this point.

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  17. My poor, poor bunny love Rita! I'm so sorry that you had to endure such awful treatment! I would have been annoyed at the cat and the fake cat too. I don't think I like cycling races either. They sound scary.
    I'm glad you are home safe.

    Your, annoyed by cats too boyfriend,
    MBBVP Rocket

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    1. Thank you, Rocket, for stopping by! Rita always loves to get messages from you. She's glad you 2 have so much in common.

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  18. Rita does a good job of letting you know exactly what she thinks about things - from toy mice to cycling groupies! :)

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  19. That mouse tail shot would have been better if it was a real mouse. Work on that, will ya? I'll talk to Mary Ann and Ginger about catching one and send it to Rita.

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    1. LOL! Fantastic. We'll look forward to receiving the mouse in the mail!

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  20. Poor Rita! Hufflepup would have reacted the same way, or climbed into our laps and his eyes might have fallen out from hating the noise.
    That mouse tail shot! <3
    We have a picture of one of my older dogs being offered a real mouse in hand, and he looks EXTREMELY contemplative.

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  21. Chester and Gretel are not well-behaved around cats either :( Fun that you got to see a big bike race. While I am not a "groupie", I like to bike and have enjoyed going to some events over the years. They have all been pretty small though.

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  22. Poor little pup, but you handled it well. Sometimes we think a plan is good but we forget one tiny detail....;-) All's well that ends well.

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