Wednesday - Today is the day we've been waiting for, our arrival at the Draft Horse Classic. We got up early, ran up to McDonalds, came back and got the RV ready, then fueled and hooked up, and were on the road about 8:50. We only had a 32-mile drive, but it took about 45 minutes by the time we actually got to the fairgrounds. We really got lucky, they had one cancellation last night for a spot with water and electric, so we got it, we didn't have to go to dry camping. And since the propane tank was right by the check-in booth, Joe decided to get our propane filled up too, so we should be good on that until we get home. We were met by a small flock of geese sauntering across the road, and a nice wooden elk.
While we were getting propane, the cinnamon roll trailer arrived -- things are looking up!!
This campground, which is at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, is quite nice, with lots of shade. Had we had to stay in dry camping, we would have been able to find a good spot because there were not many campers here yet and there is lots of shade trees. It was a chilly 64 this morning, cloudy, and we had rain starting about 2:00 so heat was not a factor today.
The camp sites are not clearly marked, so we found our spot but had a little trouble figuring out exactly how to line it up. Joe moved it around a little, and we may have to move over a little more when our neighbor arrives, depending on the size of that camper. But once we got set up, we headed over to the administration office to get our tickets. The grandstand was open, so Joe checked out our seats. We are almost in the middle, only 7 rows up, so we should have a great view of everything.
Our first barn was Clydesdales (not the Budweiser ones, though). All of these horses are so beautiful, and gentle even though they are massive. We just love them. When we moved to Arizona in 1985, we stopped at the Petrified Forest, and John, who was 9, thought he had to pick up every single piece of petrified wood. I'm that way with these horses -- I think I have to pet every one of them.
We watched them unload these next ones, which I think are Shires, from a farm in Cranbrook, British Columbia.
While we watched this, there was a little girl at the barn behind us, jumping up to pet one of the horses, I would guess she was 3-4. Thumb in mouth, she kept jumping up to reach this one. Then the horse leaned his head down so she could reach it. So cute!!
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Our next encounter was with Max, this was a Finnish Clydesdale. He was getting a mani-pedi, with a palm sander. Max didn't seem to mind.
Our next group we think were white mules, but we didn't get to ask.
These two posed very nicely for me.
We saw buggies and carts scattered all around the barns. I'm sure we will see these in the events.
One of this crew was doing a little touch-up paint on this buggy, making sure everything looked the best it could.
Then Joe found his -- the dappled grays. Can't remember the breed but these were gorgeous too. Joe said his favorites have always been these dappled grays.
We went nose-to-nose.
There was also some equipment and tractors here. We don't know if they demonstrate any of this but we will see. We will get our program tomorrow so we can see the schedule.
Then I found my favorite -- Angel and her sister, also Clydesdale but I've never seen ones this color. The owner called them "pink" but I guess they are actually roan and white, but they were absolutely beautiful.
I was ready to load her up in the RV and head to Arizona.
We spent a couple hours walking the barns and meeting the horses -- great fun. We worked our way back to the camper, had lunch, took a little nap, then it started to rain. I watched a neighbor come in and try to figure out where and how to park. It was two ladies, and they made two laps around our camper, parked once, then undid everything, pulled up and turned around, and reparked. So we were not the only ones having trouble figuring out where to park.
We drove into town for dinner, it had quit raining but was quite chilly -- 58. We turned the furnace on when we got back. We are really looking forward to seeing these gorgeous animals in action tomorrow. We don't know what to expect, but we are READY.
These horse people were friendly and welcoming. They love their horses and are happy to let us love them too. Max's owner said this Grass Valley Classic is the best draft horse show west of Denver, so we are thrilled to be here. We've never gotten to be this close to draft horses like this, so we really enjoyed it. It was a good day!
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