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1999 Bouvier Specialty
Olympia Resort & Spa,
Oconomocowoc, WI
Arrival & Welcome
Well, I had a blast @ the National Specialty. That's
in great measure because Nancy Eilks & her Illinois
Club counterpart did such a wonderful job of organizing
the events so to them, I say "thank you". But it must
have been some pain in the ass given the unwelcoming
hotel we were staying at.
While the Olympia Resort & Spa was situated around a
golf course & small
lake, the hotel, itself, was a big
third rate holiday inn with small towels, thin sheets,
plastic cups, a lousy restaurant, soggy sandwiches &
lots of rules. And they had an "attitude" about dogs.
I arrived on Sunday evening, tired but happy to be
there. Truman & I walked wearily into the lobby
directly to the front desk where we were summarily told
that no dogs were allowed in the lobby.
Was it a dream? Was there no "Hi, welcome to the
Olympia Resort & Spa. How was your trip? May I have
your name? I'll be happy to check you in. Normally we don't allow
dogs in the lobby but since there was no
sign on the door & no way for you to know this, let me
check you in as it won't take but a minute."
Nope, it wasn't a dream. Instead when I asked if they
could check me in since I was already there & it
wouldn't take long, I was told "no -- no dogs are
allowed in the lobby."
I muttered, took Truman back to the car & returned to
the front desk to check in. After the normal credit
formalities, I was handed a map of where I could walk
with Truman within the hotel & asked if I wanted a
piece of plastic to put under my dog's crate. I
explained I didn't own a crate, Truman didn't travel in
a crate & I didn't have a crate with me.
I was also handed a list of 13 rules.
One of my favorites was # 13:
"Only crated dogs will be allowed in the elevators.
Stairwells are available for uncrated dogs located both
to the left of the elevators and at the end of each
hallway."
So I mused out loud:
Assuming I had a crate, I would take the dog of the
crate in the room, carry the crate to the elevator, put
the dog in the crate, take the dog out of the crate &
take the crate out of the elevator. "How about wheels
under the crate?" my check in person suggested.
Hmmmm.
"How many key cards would you like", she asked
pleasantly. "Two" I said. "One for me & one for the
dog." She smiled & I thought I had made a
breakthrough.
Wrong.
Truman & I trudged up the dirty staircase to our fourth
floor room, which I had requested so we could get a
view of the place. There we found an adequate room
with two beds, both covered with sheets (to protect the
chintzy bed covers), a desk & a chest of drawers. Oh
yes, there was a night table & TV.
I unpacked, hung my clothes on the no-steal-em hangers
that are so inconvenient to use, put a cloth on the
floor for Truman's dishes, got the gray fellow some
foul tasting water, told him not to drip on the
industrial carpet & opened the door to a small terrace.
From there I could see an outdoor swimming pool (closed
but not covered) & the small lake surrounded by condos.
By then it was early evening, Truman wasn't hungry, I
was tired so we both fell asleep. Only trouble was, I
hadn't explained Central Standard Time to my boy &
promptly @ 5:30am the next morning, I was being gently
awakened by my kissing alarm clock.
And day 1 began.
click below for
Specialty Diary - Monday
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