Ratarama Was a BLAST

I had a wonderful time at the show.

Robbi the miracle packer had it all set up and I got my usual seat in the van.  (Usual in I sat there last year.  lol) 

And we were off....after circling to get to the freeway.  When we hit I-84 I relaxed and we chatted a bit.  Robbi was catching some zzzzs because for those that don't know, when you are getting ready for a show or traveling to a show, you will not get enough sleep on the days leading up to the show...period.  You are too busy cramming everything you do in a weekend at home in the days before you leave PLUS if you are showing rats you are getting them all spiffy looking.  Your grocery shopping needs changed because let's face it, a road trip isn't a road trip without some munchies.  I was shopping for munchies at 1am on Friday morning with all of the crew at Winco saying "good morning."  Too damn cheerful, even for me. LOL

So we are on 84....Robbi said we weren't stopping, but we did. :D Had to change drivers and scramble to the bathroom and fill the tank.

The drive was fun, we talked and then ran into a wall of water on 84.  Everyone was pulling over.  Lightening was touching down everywhere and the rain just dropped.  I felt as if I was in Texas.  Then it calmed down and we got going again.

We almost left Erin a few times...ok not really.  Then we started letting Michelle know how far out we were as we were to head over to the facility. 

We got to the facility and we set up tables and put on table clothes and then had some clerk training and testing.  Yeah I passed.

Then we went to the Golden Corral.  Yum!  I'm so sad they don't have one of those here.  Then it was off to Michelle's house to settle in and get some zzs.  It was funny because I sacked out on the floor with my shoes still on.

The next morning we got up and headed over to the show to finish setting up.

Heather had all of the raffle prizes looking so good!  People were setting up their tables with their cute ratties and I settled down to sell tickets and raffle tickets for a bit.

The show started and there was a lot to watch.  It was nice to see people actually sitting and watching the judging.  The pet classes and standard classes were rolling along to schedule.  Michelle dragged me over to work on the pet classes.  I have no idea what I'm doing so I pay attention to her the first time and then I think I did ok the rest of the time.  Almost had to DQ Lizzy and Robbi for campaigning within 100 feet of the polling place. ;-)

I didn't get any clerking in, but I know I'll be at the fall show so I'll definitely do it then.  And I won't do it again until the next show season, which should start in February 2011.  (I don't think I'll be clerking at my show so much, at least that is what they tell me.)

I sat at the Little Mischief Rescue table for a bit and sold some hammocks.  I hope I hit all of the vendors to purchase something.  I bought 120 raffle tickets because the prizes looked so good and it helps out the show.  I have to laugh because I don't normally win but I seemed to win quite a bit at the show!  I donated quite a bit of it to others and I didn't take the cages I won, those they re-raffled to attendees that were still at the show.

Of my winnings I donated to Tara's Exotic Rescue 6 pounds of CareFresh, 3 bags of Good Mews, several coupons for the local feed store and some for Kaytee item coupons, 2 ferret harnesses, several hammocks, 3 water bottles and several treats, and a 50 pound bag of Mazuri lab blocks.  To Little Mischief Rescue I bought hammocks and then donated the $35 gift card to Martins Cages.  (We had VERY limited room in the van we were traveling in.) LOL  It all worked out because the local rescue had just taken in a bunch of rescue rats.

As I was sitting with the LMR rats I noticed the craft table and went over and colored a ratatato.  Then I made a piñata.  I hung the piñata in the LMR cage.  They went nuts.  Paper flying everywhere.  When the treats came out, they were very happy little rats.  Those little boys are SOOOOO sweet and I can't believe they aren't adopted yet.  Maybe because people have to take 3 but oh man, they are so worth it!

I then made a piñata for the 2 rats from Joy/SITH ratteries.  They slept through most of the show. lol

Then I noticed the 2 cages of boys at the end. Each cage had 4 rattie boys in it.  And these were the Boise Humane Society rats looking for homes.  And these ratties got a lucky break.

The only downer of the show was the  Boise Humane Society's treatment of those 8 rescued boys looking for homes.  They had quarantined the boys for 3 weeks for the show.  The rats were brought in.
 
They were in cages on pine bedding with only sunflower seeds for food. >:<   I placed a piñata in each of the cages and they had a GREAT time.  When Robin heard they only had sunflower seeds in their food dish, she generously poured some of her mix in their bowls.  Food scattered everywhere as they pulled a new item of the food dish out to try it.  Poor little guys.

An hour before the show was over the shelter came in and said that the boys would be euthanized if they didn't find a home by the end of the show.   Michelle said she'd take them.  I'll keep my opinion about the situation to myself.  My fellow club members know how I feel about that.   I was mentally going over in my head where I could put boys their age in my home knowing I still had 6 incoming ratties.   In the end I just don't have room for them so was unable to bring any home.  Luckily Lynn was there and she took 6-pack home. :D The other 7 will be fostered by Michelle.   You are awesome Michelle!  If you are looking for a group of boys, contact Michelle!  They are lovely little boys that would blossom into great pets.

After we cleaned up, we went back to Michelle's house where Sharon prepared a great feast with burgers, hot dogs, veggie stuff and yummy salads.  It was nice to sit and visit with everyone.

Then we had to go to sleep because we were getting up for the long trek home.

Robbi got us all packed in, and of course we had some ratties on hitching a ride.  I was bringing home Morgan's rattie girl and we were transporting a rat to drop off in Boardman to  Candace and of course 6-Pack and some others were heading up to Lynn's house.

We stopped to get gas and as we were checking out the lady heard we had pet rats in the car.  She had to come out and see them.  She did and heard we just had a show in Boise, ID.  So hopefully we have another convert and she'll come next year.  Awesome!

Back on the road, we were doing great for time until we hit the fire on I-84.  A pick-up truck and the trailer caught on fire and then the side of the mountain caught on fire.  A nice trucker let us in front of him and we toured along at a crawl.  Eventually we passed the vehicle and WOW.  And we saw the flames on the opposite side of the mountain.  In the end, the fire burned 1000 acres, but no one was hurt.  Of course we pulled  off the highway at the next exit with the rest of humanity to go to the bathroom.  In ended up we lost just over an hour.  This sucked for our Canadian friends as they were planning on going straight home and ugh, what a grueling trip!

Eventually we made it to Gateway and John came out to get me and all my crap that I won. LOL  My peeps had more room in the car and they took off for home.  My travels were not over.

John and I drove to Brooks, Oregon to meet Morgan to get her new rattie girl to her.  We  only visited briefly and then we left to start our 3 hour quarantine.  We opted for a movie.  Because even an expensive movie date is cheaper than dinner and shopping...do the math. LOL

We saw Knight and Day and it was a great film to see at the end of a long day.  It made me laugh and  I didn't feel so bad about spending so much at the movies.

We got home about 10 or so and off to bed as I had to work on Monday.

You may ask if it was worth it.  I don't even show ratties at the shows.   And I say yes.  It is very worth it.  When you have a "hobby" where there is a limited number of people that do it and an animal that is often reviled, it is nice to be around other people that appreciate rats the way you do.  We can and do connect online, but it is nice to be able to share in person.  Many of us come from a variety of backgrounds and views and we put aside our differences to be around people that share one thing, our love of ratties.

To my traveling companions, I look forward to next year!  To Michelle, Krislyn and all of the volunteers, awesome show!  To  those that didn't make, man you missed a great time!  Hope to see you in Port Orchard!  And to those that couldn't make the show ever, well, it sucks to be you. j/k ;-)  LOL