In The Beginning.......

In January 2010, my daughter, Kim, accepted an invitation to fly to Anchorage, Alaska for a job interview.  She asked if I would like to accompany her since she would be there for four days, and, quite honestly, we would probably never get back to our forty-ninth state.  My response:  When do we leave?  I love to travel, however, only to the places where I can eat great food, take great pictures, enjoy great company, and usually get a tan. 

This trip, however, was very different. I loved the heartiness of the residents of
all of Alaska and I was enraptured with the history of how great people
adapted to and survived in such a rugged environment.  After this trip was
over, I knew it was important for me to return.  Being the dog lover that I am,
I was even more consumed with learning as much as possible about the
fascinating 'sport' of dog mushing. 





When I first saw the bronze statute on 4th Street in downtown Anchorage of Balto, one of the brave dogs who led one of the relay teams along the impossible trails to deliver the diptheria antitoxin serum to Nome, Alaska in 1928, I was smitten. 

Kim accepted the job offer and in April 2010 I accompanied her to Anchorage to find a place to live.
We spent four days there again and she settled on a place that had a yard for Shyanne, her senior lab/mix,

and Banks, the man in her life.

Kim moved to Alaska in May 2010.  I returned to Anchorage to help her settle into her new home. 

A partial view of her new living room and
 dining room looking out into the fenced back yard - with an organic garden.

A partial view of Kim's kitchen and dining area.  So compact, yet extremely efficient and homey!

I was able to do some exploring of the area and learned of the protection that was given to animals.  This attention included the protection of wild animals including black bears, grizzly bears and the ever-present moose.
 

This sign is erected at the entrance to Kim's subdivision.  The mountains in the distance are approximately one mile from this intersection, so wildlife is everywhere!

This moose was walking along the highway just south of Kim's subdivision - this was at 10:00 p.m.!



Kim's size 10 versus Ms. Moose's size???

Many of the points of interest include visits to mushers' kennels and tourist attractions to experience the history of mushing and in particular, the breeding, care and training of sled dogs.  These kennels include Jeff King's Husky Homestead, Mitch Seavey's IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours in Seward, and Martin Buser's Happy Trails Kennels.  Jeff King has won the Iditarod race four times, Mitch Seavey won in 2004, and Martin Buser set the record by completing the race in the fastest time in 2002.

Since then, I have read several books on people who run "The Last Great Race on Earth", which is officially named the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race, as well as reading about the race itself.  The first race was founded by Joe Reddington, Sr.  He is honored with a bronze memorial prominently placed on 4th Street in downtown Anchorage.

The first race was organized by veteran mushers and staged in 1973.  Today, many of the mushers are decendants and relatives of the pioneer mushers who competed in the first Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race.  For the March 2010 race, I joined the Iditarod Insider and became a member of the Iditarod Trail Committee.  I then paid the fee to track by live GPS the mushers along the race trail.  You have no idea how frustrating it was to go to work and attend to all my other mandatory obligations of life rather than just sit at the laptop and see who would be the first musher to cross the finish line.  The 2010 race was especially exciting because a very dedicated and competitive musher, Lance Mackey, was attempting to win his fourth consecutive race, which would be a record for any musher.  To keep you from suspense - he won! 

I am not a devout fan of any particular musher.  Rather, I am a fan of all the mushers and their dogs.  Each adventurous soul has his or her own reasons to run this race.  It has been gratifying to me to read some of their accounts and to attempt to conceptualize the dedication and fortitude to attempt, participate and - hopefully - to eventually finish the race. 

So, since curiosity finally got the best of me, I decided to be in Anchorage on March 5, 2011, for the ceremonial start of the race and then to drive up to Willow, Alaska on March 6th for the actual start of the 1,049-mile race to Nome; and, then on March 10th to fly to Nome and be present when the first musher crosses under the Burled Arch to become the winner of the 2011 Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race.

But this isn't about just my adventure, I coerced my sister, Jackie, who retired on December 31, 2010, to leave her running friends, her life as she knows it, and her great Florida weather to accompany me and try to stay warm as we venture far, far north and west.

This is my blog of the steps I have taken to actually be a part of the race.  So stay tuned and I hope to entertain you with my new adventure.