Happy April to all of you! I am sure you will notice that I posted Day 2 of the Iditard last week and this week I am posting Day 1 of Iditarod! Does this scatterbrain oops really surprise many of you? I bet not! On March 6, 2010 was the start of the 38th Iditarod in Anchorage. This is now considered the ceremonial start. The reason the start was then moved to Willow was because Anchorage got too big and too much traffic to have the sleds go through town. But this ceremonial start was exciting. We got to meet so many people from all over the world at this event. One lady from Wisconsin has been coming to Anchorage to volunteer for the Iditarod for 30 years. Another couple from Australia have made 10 Iditarod races, one man was brought to Anchorage for his 85th birthday to fulfill a bucket-list wish to watch the Iditarod. I had a chance to talk with several groups of teachers from the "Bush" schools in Alaska. They shared their teaching experiences and proudly showed off their Native winter clothing. We started the day at the snow sculptures (first pictures) which were melting fast since it had been in the upper 30's and sunny for two weeks. Poli and I thought the "Buddha" was a perfect backdrop. There were "fur" people everywhere and so gracious to let me take pictures of each of them. Don't you love the fox hat? As we walked down the street I noticed this tall man wearing a very long tailed fur hat. He explained that it was made from a "teenage" fox and he had a baseball hat put inside so it held the shape. Then he asked if I wanted to wear it. You bettcha! (another Alaska word) I wouldn't own one but trying one on was a blast! The tail touched the ground when I wore this enormous fox hat. Notice his wife's mukluks also made from Fox. You will notice that the streets of Anchorage's downtown were stuffed with snow. Remember I told you how warm it was in Anchorage, every night the road department would haul snow from the mountains and pile it about 3 feet deep on the streets for the sleds to ride. Another reason this Iditarod race is ceremonial is because each musher has a paid rider that will go from Anchorage start line to Campbell Air Strip (25 miles). I have started to save all my school stipends so I can bid to be an Iditarod Rider next year. It costs $7500 to be a rider with one of the top 10 mushers. I hope to raise a couple of hundred dollars and ride with a rookie or unknown. Wouldn't that be neat? Next picture is the favorite Jamaican musher and his rider, then Jeff King and his rider. You will notice that Jeff is on skis in front of his sled while being pulled by his dog team. The Scottish musher, I forgot his name, drove in his kilt and tossed out dog booties with his tartan colors and a key chain - a great souvenir. Musher #7, in red, has a seat pulled behind his sled. Think about standing on a sled for 1,050 miles in treacherous weather. I think this seat is pretty neat. I was surprised that not all the mushers have these seats. I guess when you think of them standing for 10 days on a snow trail perhaps we shouldn't complain about standing on our feet all day!
The old fashion wooden sled was in the Exxon warming tent. They provided delicious treats for breakfast, coffee, hot chocolast and delicious cookies and they handed out free posters. The city sign post is from our Tourist Center in downtown Anchorage. They put all sorts of cities on this pole. I think that they add or change an arrow depending on which company is having their conference in downtown. As you can guess, I am mezmerized with Alaska parkies or kuspuks. This little girl was barely walking and her mom was proud of how cute she looked in her kuspuk. Dee Dee's parkie had the beautiful fur collar and all pink because she is cancer survivor. Poli and I couldn't get enough of these wonderful four-legged athletes. These sled dogs were so friendly and not fat. I was under the impression they would be big and fat to get them through a 1,000 mile race. But they are not. And then you see more people dressed up in costume - Cat in the Hat. Anchorage dresses up for almost every event. I started talking to the Grandma and her granddaughter in their very unique parkys while the rest of our crew went to get reindeer dogs. Are those parkies amazing? The theme that Grandma made them was based on cards. I guess card games are a big social event in the bush. I also took a picture of a spectator wearing flip flops on this cool and very breezy day. He must have been crazy or full of a beverage to keep his feet warm. Downtown Anchorage is a bronze statue of "Balto" the original sled dog. Poli, Bruce, David and myself had such a grand time at this two day festival.
You will notice in the next picture the snow pile at the end of the street was great for spectators. Oh, look, there is Poli and Bruce taking in the mushers and sled dogs as they come down 4th street every two minutes. Then there is another picture of these wonderful dogs wearing their "Booties". Underneath these booties is the pink ointment that I helped make in February. And finally, here is Sam D. our musher from Thanksgiving. He told us at Thanksgiving he does the race to have fun and hang with the "guys" at the back of the pack. I guess he knows himslef well.
You will notice in the next picture the snow pile at the end of the street was great for spectators. Oh, look, there is Poli and Bruce taking in the mushers and sled dogs as they come down 4th street every two minutes. Then there is another picture of these wonderful dogs wearing their "Booties". Underneath these booties is the pink ointment that I helped make in February. And finally, here is Sam D. our musher from Thanksgiving. He told us at Thanksgiving he does the race to have fun and hang with the "guys" at the back of the pack. I guess he knows himslef well.
So now back to what's news in Anchorage. You will be so jealous to hear about my daylingt. The sun rises about 6:55 am and the sun sets about 9:15 p.m. Then we expereince nautical or civil twilight for another hour. We are headed towards our 24 hours of daylight and it is so energizing. David and I still talk about how weird it is that it stays light so much longer in the evening and how slowly it takes to get light in the morning. Sometimes I drive home from school (4 pm) and the sun is about 12 noon high and the moon is coming over the mountains at the same time. I think I have found a great plan for parents of teenagers who insists on sleeping the entire morning away. Move to Alaska - you can't sleep through all this bright sunshine!!! It is funny hearing kids playing outside until 9 pm because there is so much light.
And I have to let you all know I have taken on a new challenge. I am going to participate in the Gold Nuget Triathalon in May. It is swim 20 laps, bike 15 miles and run/walk a 5K. I am so psyched! Oh, did I forget to tell you - I don't know how to swim!!! I begin swim lessons next week. I did request the shallow end of the pool for the triathalon. The good news is that I will not be doing this alone. They take 1500 ladies for this athletic event. All spots were filled within 3 hours of the open post. I was so glad that my regular xc ski group also got registered. We feel this will be in place of our weekly ski time. I can tell you that I am very sore after our first week of workouts. So I hope this gets several of you psyched for the G'town marathon or the Nashville marathon. You go girls!!!
Enjoy the week. I will post again next weekend. Hugs from the North.
Sheryl the Nanuq
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