After going to L.A. for our first HOPE AACR callout last weekend, I thought I would pass on another trip a week later for our regional meeting being held in Costa Mesa. That was until the email came out from our Regional Director asking for teams to attend the public Memorial Service for the two firefighters who died in the line of duty fighting the Station Fire that was scheduled for Saturday at Dodger Stadium. There was no way I was going to pass up another opportunity to go on another callout, especially when we were scheduled to have a meeting anyways. Plus, since I had visited the Base Camp just a week before, it would be nice to go to the service.
It turned into a fun, but very busy and rewarding weekend for us and the dogs. The drive to L.A. still stinks, especially driving through L.A. on a Friday afternoon at commute hour. We were shooting to get Mary and Mason to the L.A. County Fairgrounds in Pomona by 6pm so they could catch the last wave of the evening for a dock diving competition. Luckily, we just made it and after all that driving Mason managed to win his division with a jump of 19+ feet! Our hotel was only about 3-4 miles away and after a quick stop for dinner, it was time for bed!
Here's a picture of Hope at Splashdogs, she says she is a proud member of the non-Splashdog Club!
The next day, Saturday, the Memorial for the Firefighters killed was starting at 10am, but we were meeting the rest of the HOPE teams outside the stadium at 8:30am, so we had to get up early get to our meeting place. Not knowing the traffic patterns, we left early and got there in plenty of time which was good as some of the other teams got stuck in traffic and we had to wait for them. Lesson learned when on a callout, leave early and don't be late, you never know what the traffic will be like.
This a group picture we took at the meeting place before we drove over to the Stadium. From left to right the dogs are: Bonnie, Bailey, Hope, Shadow, Gina, Cinder, Mason, Denali, & Lexie. (Not pictured: Denmark) Bonnie and Bailey were on the callout last weekend when we went to Base Camp. Hope and I went through the certification workshop with Lexie so it was great to see her again.
The memorial at Dodger Stadium was amazing and very emotional, definitely needed lots of kleenex. The stands were filled with thousands of firefighters in their dress uniforms, it was overwhelming how many firefighters came to pay tribute to these two individuals, it is a brotherhood, that's for sure. There were lots of dignitaries in attendance, politicians from the L.A. area, but people like Senator Barbara Boxer as well. Governor Arnold Schwartznegger and Vice President Biden were also there and spoke at the service. I've never thought highly of Joe Biden as he's said some stupid things since he's been in office, but his speech was really nice...he earned back some of my respect that day.
We had 10 HOPE teams in attendance, all labs and goldens plus a couple of other HOPE members who didn't have dogs with them. One of the things that has impressed me was how we work as a team on a callout, even this day was no exception. We all met as a group, went in as a group, and walked in a single-file line to our seats. A lot of heads turned when they saw us with our dogs. The dogs wore a black ribbon with a Firefighter pin on their vests for the service as a tribute to the two firefighters.
When the service ended, we stayed near the entrance as all the uniformed firefighters and responders were the first ones who exited the stadium, part of the protocol. We stood in a single file line on the side as all the responders walked out, many of whom stopped to talk to us, and pet our dogs. Some had remembered the HOPE dogs from their work at the Base Camps, Shelters, and Memorials from the big Esperanza fire last year.
It truly was an honor to witness the service and be a part of the day. It was an experience like no other. I find it a bit ironic that the firefighters were thanking us for being there as they are truly the heroes. When they had all filed out...we exited the stadium in a single-file line again to the outside of the stadium where more people came up and talked to us and we thanked them for their service.
This was the one time where I was glad to actually have a black dog as the firefighters uniforms were mostly dark-colored, less worry about blond hair getting all over their fancy uniforms! None of them seemed to mind though.
Hope did great throughout it all. Except for the fact that she doesn't like wearing her cape, she was perfect, very calm and controlled and slept through the whole ceremony, even the helicopter fly-by which was pretty loud.
This is a little video with some clips from the service:
After the ceremony, we headed back to Pomona to try to get Mason and Mary to the fairgrounds before 2pm for the 1st wave of Splashdogs. Unfortunately, we got there just at about 2pm, so they didn't make it in time, bummer. I didn't want to hang out with Hope all that time, so I took her to a nearby park where we went hiking for a few hours and found four geocaches. It was a really HOT and STEEP hike up a huge hill, but we made it. I had to be careful to keep both Hope and myself hydrated, I went through two bottles of water in that two hours for the both of us. See my geocaching blog for a few pictures...
After hiking for a few hours, Hope and I headed back to the Fairgrounds as I wanted to watch Mason compete in the Super Vertical competition. He did great, not first place, but it was fun to watch. He competed in the last wave of the evening too. What stamina! We stopped for dinner on the way back to the hotel and it was back to bed, another long but fun day.
Yup, he's vertical alright! The "bumper" is placed 8 feet out from the edge of the dock and he got it at a height of 6 foot. Amazing dog!
Mason says, "Hey Hope, you sure you don't wanna try this? It's fun and I know you like to swim."
On Sunday morning, we were able to take it easier as the meeting in Costa Mesa was not starting until 10am, so we at least had time to stop at Starbucks for coffee and pastries. Its always fun meeting up with all the HOPE folks who we hardly see. Hope's buddy, Oz, the huge Newfoundland was there and this time she actually approached him from the front, a first for her! :-) Good girl, Hope.
The meeting actually ended early so Mary and I were able to get a jump start on the drive home and I got home around 9pm. Not too bad as normally we get home so late. There's nothing fun about that drive to L.A., but it was all worth it again!
Another tiring, but very rewarding weekend; I'm having a blast doing all this with Hope!
No comments:
Post a Comment