The finish of the Rondy!!

So much to tell and so little energy today!! Sunday up at the crack of 8 again – from our Motel 6 base……feed the kids and then to downtown to our parking place – a little different…..opposite side of the street but not much closer for the “dog handlers”! Dropping 2 more dogs – 10 to start and hoped they would make it without stopping on the trail – start went good – Jess and I went down to the auction for “professional” fur and horn traders – not much different from the day before –we did, however go into the lobby of the Hilton where Jess “unknowingly” set me for the picture you see below with the 2 big bear mounts! Hmmmmmmmm…..
As you probably know by now, Randy finished 18th (not in the exact middle-of-the-pack place he wanted) and with no dogs in the bag –it is amazing what people and dogs will go when more than they thought they were ready for is asked- what a great group of dogs we have!! And Sarah (Aeja’s lead dog) and Birdie are the stars!!!
Kept them all going and we knew some of them were sore from the 1st 2 days (I gave them all Algyval shoulder massages before the race) but they were troopers!!
Missed the “Running with the Reindeer” which was supposed to happen in the same street we were parked (Randy said that if Ken Chezik would do it he would!!) as we moved out of downtown further near the banquet hotel –
The banquet was very nice – full room; nice dinner and best of all….cheesecake for dessert!! You will see the pictures of Randy accepting his check ( so fun to receive more than you put into the entry!!) and by request, telling the harrowing story of his “drag to the bare bone” story from last year – as I said before…..always charming…….always entertaining!!! Had great conversations with many Alaska dog drivers and our own Ken and Laurie Chezik – several invitations to stop and visit and stay while we are in Fairbanksk- don’t know what the schedule is going to be the next 3 weeks…..stop and train and race and train…..
Monday got up in the parking lot of Motel 6 (figured we could still get hot water there for dog breakfast) and fed and went to a place to shop for Jess for his family and me for birthday grandkid presents…….very fun place……recommended by the locals……..lots of mounts including a deer from Michigan (that’s where the guy who owns “Alaska Fur Exchange” is from ….) and a Musk OX! (I don’t know if this qualifies for Randy’s list of animals he wants to see on this trip: wolf : done moose: done caribou: done musk ox ;? Eagle: not done Elk: not
Took Jess to the veryhuge FedEx terminal and said a sad goodbye (maybe not sad for him since he slept in the sleeper of the truck last nite !!!). Went back to the Tozier Track dogsled training track in downtown (found out last nite that there are 1000 “city moose” and they frequently attack dog sled teams training on the trail) and Randy ran 2 teams while I worked. Time to attach pictures and go to bed!!!- very sore and very tired!