ONE TON OF DOG FOOD !

Sitting on Top of Gold--One Ton of Dog Food

Unloaded and stacked dogfood in the back room. Ran an 18 dog team. Great Run ! Can't wait to get my team over to the new Kennel. Busy working on putting in poles and cutting plywood for dog houses. Had dinner with Ted and Paula. Went and picked up dogs from Angie's team to add to my team. Sure had fun picking them up in the dark...trying to figure out who was who !

WE MADE IT TO ALASKA !

We made it to Alaska...thank you Forester...thank you Tyler ! We still have about a 10 hour drive ahead of us. We will be arriving to Willow in the wee hours.

THURSDAY NIGHT IN WATSON LAKE

"SLED BUGS"

The squished bug population that hitched a ride on the sled.

Hmmm....Canadian or US citizens?

Wednesday we drove from 100 Mile House to Charley Lake. We had rain storms and major construction delays. There were no available rooms anywhere. We arrived in Charley Lake at 11:30 and we pitched our tent in the dark outside an RV camp. Took only about 15 minutes. Thank goodness for earplugs ! WE were close to the highway and it was quite noisy. Slept great and we were up before the gates opened. Packed up camp and the attendant at the campground let us use the facilities. The hot water was so welcomed !

Today we drove to Watson Lake. Stopped at Liard Hotsprings and had a wonderful soak. Again, the sled atop the car is quite the conversation piece.

Big Boy along the Roadside

The scenery was so beautiful today and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.

Our plan is to be on the road by 5:30am.

We came across three small herds of caribou.

ALASKA BOUND...VIA THE ALCAN !

Oh my gosh, I thought that I would never be ready to hit the road. With a delayed departure of one day, we were on the road by 10:30 this morning. The car is packed to the brim and there is a nice space for Amber. Tied to the top of the car is a beautiful wooden Ed Moody sled, crafted by Jeff Johnson.

1:30 we stopped for a picnic lunch. It was a good thing that we stopped when we did. We found one of our totes melted from the exhaust pipe. I think that we were very lucky, as we had propane bottles in the tote and everything was really hot. After we repacked our totes, we were back on the road.

Lunch

Amber, enjoying a break.

At every stop we have made, people come up and admire the sled. Quite a conversation starter.

We are staying the night in 100 Mile House.

Evening with the Everett Mountaineers

This evening I had the opportunity to be the keynote Speaker for the Everett Mountaineers at their monthly branch meeting. It was held at the Snohomish County Administration Building in Everett.

I shared my powerpoint presentation of my last 3 winters training in Willow Alaska. It gives an overview of race and training experiences and then focusses on the 2011 Serum Run...an 800 mile journey from Nenana to Nome. I was one of the 11 dog teams to travel 22 days on the trail, commemerating the 1925 Serum Run where village dog teams relayed the serum to Nome.

It was wonderful seeing old familiar faces and many new ones. Amber, my swing dog enjoyed the attention as much as the audience enjoyed her. It was a nice turnout and many questions were asked throughout the talk.

Thank you to the Everett Mountaineers for the opportunity for me to share my dream. Also a BIG thank you those who "joined my team" and sponsored us ! Your support is so greatly appreciated. Amber, stretching it to the max !