Golden Shears- Day one of competition

Today was a crazy roller coaster day. This blog post is mostly pictures but first a rundown of the current placings for team USA...

Alex Moser- 65th Open Shearing

Mark Hoogendoorn- 67th Open Shearing

Leanne Brimmer- 17th Open WoolHandling

Emily Chamelin- 20th Open WoolHandling

7th Intermediate shearing

Kevin Hickman- 50th Senior Shearing

Our rental car is ridiculously small. They say it has 7 seats but the jump seats allow for no leg room.

They haul sheep in these little trucks!

My first ever wool roll:)

They had a taste of Ireland food court that served all lamb! I had curry:)

It was freezing in the tent this morning!

My final score:) so proud!!!

Day 3...Gorey Ireland

Things in Ireland couldn't be better! The flights here were on time and otherwise uneventful. Arriving in Dublin we were exhausted and jet lagged but we managed to find our rental van, find our way to the hotel in heavy fog and check in. Dinner at the hotel (which is quite a swank place) was amazing. Finding out that going to bed at 9:00 (4:00 pm EST) is pretty tough and waking up at 6:00 (1:00 am EST) really sucks. But other then that we are rocking and rolling! 

The weather has been quite a roller coaster, heavy fog, heavy rain, sunshine, more rain, cool and cloudy. 

The hotel we are staying at is called the Seafield, it is quite a place. Meals are gourmet, the rooms are lavish and it's right on the beach (on the Irish Sea).  

Yesterday we explored the lovely town of Gorey. Most of the businesses in town have adopted a country team and our team business is the Coachman. We had a lovely time walking around. 

The official proceedings begin this morning with a competitors meeting and tonight is the parade and gala dinner. I'm ready to wear a dress;)

Here are some photos taken over the last few days...hope you enjoy:)

All our luggage wedged into the renal car

Warning signs in Ireland tend to be pretty graphic...

Seafood chowder...bliss:)

Irish mutton stew...so good!!!