Convention, Day 1

We did something I've never done for a large show before- we FLEW! It was wild. We flew first to Atlanta, before catching the next flight to Minnesota. Baggage Claim was a nightmare and apparently in Minnesota they don't really "do" Sky Captains, which made it rough on us to get my friend and roomie's Belgian Hares to the rental car area! Thankfully we found someone with a car to haul the bunnies around.

Unfortunately, troubles didn't end there! We realized that there was no way two large dog kennels full of large rabbits were going to fit in the Hyundai Sonata we were given as a rental car. We upgraded and finally were able to get on our way- with Whitney illegally sitting in what I can only estimate as approximately a foot of space.

One of the dog crates and the Sonata.

Thanks to Lisa, we found out that the line to check in that was stretching around the building was well over an hour wait, so we found a metered spot. I met up with Lisa to get my bunnies and we managed to sneak them inside the building, before getting caught by a security guard. Thankfully he let us continue on to the show room, but it was clear we weren't going to get Whitney's animals in the same way.

Thankfully, while we were checking in Tim happened to plop down next to Teri Reymann, who recognized my rabbitry name! She was such a sweetie and volunteered the use of her cart to us- so Tim and Whitney headed out to get the hares while I checked over my wooly babies. They all came through the trip fairly well, though several completely blew their coats and several lost a lot of condition. Since they had driven a straight 20 hours, I can't say I blamed them at all!

The woolies at check in, looking tired!

We got everyone settled in- fed, watered, ziptied, etc and then headed out. We finally made it to the hotel, where we were greeted with a "Welcome Rabbit Breeders" sign, featuring a Belgian Hare. I should have known then it was going to be a Hare kind of week! We dropped off our bags and my carriers, then headed out for a very late dinner. The three of us were nodding off over our food. It was an early night for all of us, we were completely exhausted after the worry and stress of getting the animals to Minnesota, then settled in for what was going to be a long few days!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry