Book Signing - The Pacific Pt. 1

Before I get into my post about Hugh Ambrose's book signing for The Pacific, I most definitely want to tell you about how I spent the day before his appearance at the Nimitz Museum. It was one of the best days I've ever had in the 10+ years I've lived in Central Texas.

April 17, 2010 began with the Mighty Texas Dog Walk. The walk benefits Texas Service Dogs and is held every year in Central Austin. This year the goal was to beat the world record which was held by England whose event totaled 10,762 dogs. How could Austin possibly beat that number?!! I wondered myself when I registered for the event at a local Petsmart just a few days before it was going to be held. My bib number was 2003 and my friend Karen's was 4897. In addition to those low numbers, it was supposed to pour rain for most of the day so I was sure that turnout wouldn't be very high. I packed my dog Max into the car at 6:30 am and we drove the 30+ minutes to Downtown Austin to find a parking space. We were definitely one of the early birds, but there were vendors that were handing out lots of goodies for the dogs right before the starting line.

I met up with Karen and her dog Mhina and a little after 8:00 we raided the vendor tables for free dog treats, reusable shopping bags, coupons, and then started the three mile trek through downtown. Austin is very dog friendly, and it was so great to just see all the people walking with their dogs. We even saw a family walking with their eight Chihuahuas in a stroller! Eight! I couldn't believe it! As we crossed the starting line, the MC actually called out my dog and asked what he was. I proudly told him that Max was a whippet (I didn't tell him that he was a crazy whippet...which he TOTALLY IS), but I felt special for his being noticed. Max and Mhina were both really well behaved and they walked like champs. Karen and I got to visit throughout the walk which was pretty leisurely because people and dogs always want to socialize. There were volunteers in the road at water stations that gave the dogs and people water. Best of all, the weather was awesome! It was nice and overcast which kept it cool, but it didn't rain at all while we were walking. After we finished, we picked up more goodies from the tables and then walked to my car. I gave Karen and Mhina a ride to their car and right when she got into her car it started pouring rain! We really lucked out! Max was exhausted (he normally doesn't really get up until about 1:00 pm), and I drove him to my friend's apartment so she could watch him for the rest of the day while I drove to Fredericksburg for the book signing.

I didn't hear whether or not the walk broke the world record for most dogs walked, but I did read on the Texas Service Dogs May Newsletter which said that we did in fact beat the world record with a total of 11,256 dogs walked! My dog, Max is a world record holder! How exciting is that?!!

My dog Max

I didn't have a lot of time to visit with my friend or even eat lunch because I planned extremely poorly and realized that Fredericksburg was an hour and a half drive from her apartment. I panicked a little because I had been looking forward to the Hugh Ambrose signing for over a month. I had faithfully watched the first few episodes of The Pacific on HBO after having waited eight years for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to make it (they made Band of Brothers in 2001 which is one of my favorite films/series of all time). 

I didn't want to miss it or look like a total chump walking in late to a book signing (which most likely included many veterans or family members of veterans) so I hopped into my car and sped to Fredericksburg (ok police officers--I didn't really speed much because I drive a Prius) hoping that I would make it in time.


...Did I make it? Come back tomorrow to find out!


In the meantime, look at my pictures from the event and check out my friend Karen's entry about it at her blog, Arborescence.