We have just recovered from the Devon Horse Show / Upperville Horse Show marathon experience. I reached Devon on a cold rainy day, had the heat on in the camper and we left Upperville with 100+ temps and due to power outage no air conditioning in the camper. Thankfully, one of the camper tires blew out about 8 miles from home. I say thankfully, because armed with the information from 20/20 on how to read the code on tires, I discovered that we have the original tires on the camper. About 8 years old at this point. So new tires all around and a higher load rating to boot. A blow out on the way home is inconvenient. On the way to a show, it is downright depressing....
Devon was an interesting experience. Being back in the Phila. area, I was able to eat cheesesteaks for supper and italian hoagies for breakfast. At least until Theresa came up. And I had forgotten about traffic. Here in NC we might complain about the commute. ( Though our studio is about 25 feet from our house ) I was rudely reminded Thursday morning during rush hour when the 20 minute drive turned into an hour and a half.
From the ferris wheel and cotton cany to the skyboxes in the grandstand that are handed down from generation to generation, Devon is a bit different than other horse shows we attend. Did I mention that cheesesteak and hoagies are available on almost every corner on Rt 30? We met some wonderful people, not to mention getting to see old friends again. Breakfast with the Corgis was an unique event. I think it was an excuse to bring your dog to the show and have a couple of drinks before lunch. Later, a whippet escaped from its owner and decided to chase Liza Towell Boyd and Scout around the hunter course. I missed that excitement, but was informed by Liza's Mom, Lisa when she visited our booth. Somewhere on YouTube is a video of part of the chase. After a week and a half of 7 am to 11pm days, I was looking forward to Upperville with its unlighted rings.
Upperville Colt and Horse Show had everything this year. Rain, mud and blistering heat. We arrived Sunday afternoon and proceeded to set up. Since we didn't need a tent at Devon, we left ours at home this year and rented one from VA tent rentals. I probably have my days a bit confused here, Monday was a wonderful day, Tuesday was nice and I was sitting back in the tent watching the show when a nice women said, "Steve, I think there's a bad storm coming" I jumped up, put all the paintings outside inside and closed up the tent. The rain started. Heading back to the camper, I saw the woman from CB's tack trying to load her inventory into her trailer. By the time we finished loading up, the wind was howling, the rain was coming down in a solid mass. We lost power, but thankfully the tornado missed us. No power - no ac in the camper. The horse show got a generator to operate the well so horses could be watered. So we were able to shower. The 2nd hunter ring was moved to the schooling ring. Power was out all over the area.
Then slowly day by day, it got hot. On Saturday afternoon, the power went out again. By Sunday morning, I was ready to go. Thoughts of going on to Loudon for the following week were gone. The van was already at the tent, so in it all went. Any plans of waiting until the Grand Prix started across the street before we tore down were overriden by the thought of getting out with the camper before the mess with parking began. On the road a little after noon and home by seven ( including changing the tire )
This Sunday, it starts again. We head to Roanoke for the Roanoke Valley Horse Show. We are there until Saturday. It is indoors. The arena is air conditioned. The camping area has full hookups, electricity, water and sewer. Home on Sunday and down to the beach on Thursday morning. We will be at an Art Show in Beaufort NC for the 4th and the 5th and 6th also. Just for a change of pace.
The two paintings of the Devon show are from the collection of Lee Kellog I will be posting more paintings of Devon and Upperville.
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