Quick recap of SSHT

Duke and I did our first training level event at Spokane this weekend (which was also my first event at Spokane).
High points - for future comparison - only:
It takes 1/2 of Wednesday, all day Thursday, and all day Sunday for show stuff - it's a much bigger commitment than the other "local" shows.
Dressage:  Duke had his lowest score yet (40.0), which was too bad, because he was soft and quiet when I rode him Thursday and during his warm up.  He rode at 8 am (the first horse to go) and we had to interrupt our warm up twice - once for the anthem and once for bit check (they weren't there when we got there).  He got an 8 for his entrance but a 4.5 for a canter (he was counter cantering).  He needs to work on his transitions and lengthenings, but John has already been working with us on those, so I think we're on the right track.
When we left the arena, though, he FREAKED OUT and did his little crazy thing he did last October (?) and caused a big scene.  John thought it might be their lunge pen (which is solid, and so you just hear the noise and stuff hitting the wall).
Cross country:  Although I walked it FIVE TIMES and knew the minute markers precisely, for the first time ever I got confused about when my watch went off whether I was too fast or too slow.  We were too slow.  I thought we were too fast.  So I just kept slowing Duke down more and more until minute 4, when I finally realized that beeping early means too slow, and we sped up a bit.
Duke handled the huge benches, the double bank up, the log to a downhill drop, the huge drop, the up bank onto a hill, the hard right turns out of the water to a jump on a hill, etc. etc. like a freaking pro.  I was super nervous ahead of time (as in, text Judith to remind her what to do if I die), but he was an absolute delight to ride.  He also did not freak out even though the horse two horses before us freaked out the entire time he was in the warm up.  He charged up the hill, he had plenty of go.  He rubbed some of the fences a little, it sounded like, but was so sweet and easy to ride and bring back.
I didn't bring enough ice, so I wish I had iced his legs more (and his feet at all).  They had ice there, as it turns out, asking for a $1.50 donation.
Oh, and they had a guy working a stand with super cheap food - $2 for a grilled cheese.  $3 for a breakfast sandwich.  Free treats for dogs.
Show jumping:  Here, I walked the wrong freaking course three times, then couldn't find the map for my course, then the timing was all off because instead of going the order in the book, they went my class first (instead of last), and were a half hour earlier than I estimated, and since we were about the first to go, it was a bit of a scramble to get down there.  But, thanks to the derby I knew that I could trot him around, canter him around, go over a couple jumps and, if I had to, go do the course.
But thank god I went and walked at the modified time, I would have been a goner if I'd needed to walk it too.
There was a much bigger crowd, and he got all nervous in between warm up and going in, but once we went in he looked around and got to business.  It wasn't the prettiest round, but I rode a little more off my legs than my hands than a year ago, and he was double clear, even though I took the long way to get to the A-B-C line because I wanted to really line him up and settle him down.
But.  He freaked out again when we tried to leave, and I had to jump off and walk him around for a while.  Which was good, because it turned out we got a ribbon (9th place) even though I thought we were in 13th place (no ribbon).
On the way home we got a flat tire just before exit 93.  US Rider and the local tire folks were awesome.  The traffic heading back into Seattle was not awesome.  It was 80 and Duke was cooking in the trailer and the dogs and I were cooking in the truck.  That sucked, but it was the only part of the weekend that really sucked.
He's a delight to have around; he grazes, stands in his stall, doesn't kick, eats his dinner, doesn't make too much of a mess, doesn't chase dogs; I can read a magazine and let him hand graze (which I accomplished twice).