"How do You Judge a Boat?", or the prestige! the glory! the glamour! of being a goat judge.

I think I look pretty much like a normal person.  I have my own teeth, I speak in complete sentences, I'm usually not drunk.  So one day as I was flying to who-knows-where on my way to judge, my seatmate said to me:

"So are you heading to Whoknowswhere for work or vacation?"
"Work, actually."
"Oh, what do you do?"
"Mmm, I'm a goat judge."
"Pardon?"
"I said, I'm a goat judge.  I'm going to a goat show."
  --  moment of confused silence and then:
"How exactly do you judge a boat?"

I love judging goat shows.  I love the people I meet.  I love the friends that I've made.  I love the goats.  C'mon.  People ask me my opinion and then hand me a microphone.  What's not to like?

But glamourous, it's not.  It's usually a long plane ride, then a rental car, then a search for where it is I'm supposed to be.  I'm actually fine travelling alone and don't mind spending time on my own in a strange city.  In the last two years, I've had one club's members pick me up at the airport and entertain me (i.e. dinner) when I've flown in. (Hugs to Amy, Sheila, and the Idahoans.  And Terry, I know you would have, but you had WAY too much to do.)  So I'm usually on my own, trekking around, getting lost.

So here's snapshot in time of what  a judge's life looks like...

Here I am waiting for my connecting flight from Salt Lake City to Twin Falls...wait. let me get a better look... is that SNOW on those mountains?

HELLO!  That is SNOW.  Don't you all know I am a California girl?

***

So while I'm waiting for my flight, I take a picture of how crowded the airport is.  There are like 40 different gates in one room all leading to two-seater planes..oops, apparently I have the camera backwards...

***

Yeah!  I make it to Twin Falls.  The sun is setting outside my motel...

and first thing in the morning, I'm off to the fairgrounds to judge.

****

Okay, I finish up with the goaties.  After a quick change out of my bucky clothes in the bathroom at the fairgrounds, Amy takes me back to the airport the next day....

Bye, Twin Falls!  You're one of my favorites!

***

Taking off out of SLC -- a very common view....

***

I was in Twin Falls for 25 hours.  I arrived at the airport around 6 p.m. on Friday and left just before 7 p.m. on Saturday.

***

CAN I SAY IT AGAIN?  THE GLORY, THE POWER, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...

Do I love it?  Is it wonderful?  You bet.