The morning started with the worst weather we have had so far on this trip but as the day wore on it got better and by evening our shoes had dried out and we finally thawed. First stop of the day was to the NGA kennel where Teddy had made arrangements for us to drop the dogs off in an empty kennel while we went to a couple of farms and watched some schooling. All three of them were glad to get into the turn out pen. Chevron knew he was back at a track and was acting like a puppy bouncing around with a big smile on his face. Socks was also smiling but for a different reason. She won't potty on lead and was happy to see a turn out pen. Next stop was Sholtz Farm where we met Paula and Brad. We visited broods and held pups. They are involved with most aspects of greyhound training and we learned a lot from them. They showed us their whirly gig. I have heard about whirly gigs in training but could never picture it. Now that we have learned a more about the industry we actually can ask better questions so the learning curve is higher. The Sholtz Farm is home to the ICU dogs but also many "Fuzzy" and "Grey's" dogs. Paula said, "One of our money winners retired to Montana". As she was trying to come up with which dog went where I said "Greys Freebird?" She responded "YES!! Birdie!!" We had the fun of telling her about Birdie's home with Trish. She laughed with joy as we told her we begged Trish to join us on this trip but Trish refused saying she couldn't bear to leave her dog family for that long. As we were leaving and pulled out on the main road there appeared a black truck who was trying to pass us on this little dirt road. Carol and I shared a look that said "Crazy locals!". Judy said, "He wants to talk to us". So we slowed and rolled down the window. Now I learned long ago not to talk to strangers but there were three of us and we figured we could take him if we needed to. He called to us "Are you looking for dogs? I got some for adoption!!" All of us were a little tempted but we told him, "No thanks" and went on our way. Us Montana girls driving around in a big truck with "Adopt a Greyhound" plastered on the back must look like fresh meat to these greyhound farmers. Next stop was the John Ryan Farm, this is a Cadillac farm. There weren't many dogs in the kennel we toured but all the runs were HUGE. At every farm I am always looking for good ideas and this farm was loaded with them. No doubt in part due to James, who was showing us around. I took several pictures of ideas I may steal. We had to hurry to get to the training track to watch Piper's run dogs. Unfortunately the crummy weather had caused the Pipers to cancel, but there were other people running dogs. We were able to hole up away from the wind in the club house and watch the dogs running in heated luxury. First man who welcomed us was the owner of the schooling track and lure operator. A couple of trainers joined us and we quizzed them about everything from worming programs to training procedure. We made a quick trip to the NGA office to use their bathroom and to buy a couple of books. Last stop was the Midwest Greyhound Supply. There we found everything a greyhound trainer could ever want from vetwrap to supplements. We were having so much fun that we were shocked when we looked at the time and it was already 4 PM. We gathered up our dogs and grabbed tacos at a fast food place and hit the highway. Who knew Abilene would be so hard to leave. It really is Greyhound Graceland. We drove until we were tired and got a room in the middle of no where. Almost Home for Hounds in Nunn, CO is less than 3 hours away...which is good because we are all getting road weary. The desk clerk last night wanted to meet the hounds. After we walked them we took them into the office. She started saying how much she hated greyhound racing and those awful people who made those poor dogs run. After meeting so many greyhound people and being treated well by everyone of them we were as offended as if she was insulting our own families. The greyhound people we know could probably walk up to a pen of 25 black greyhounds and call them all by name. In most cases they are devoted to their dogs from the moment they are born until they pass on. They love hearing about our greyhound pets and are eager to build bridges to help their dogs. There will always be rotten apples but that is not exclusive to the dog industry.