Stayed yet today in the parking lot of the "Quality Farm and Fleet on Steroids" store - after the second drop we went shopping at said store and then Randy lubed the front bearings on the truck and lubed the axle and tightened the belt on the generator (which is no small feat - you have to take the wall out under the counter top in the trailer to get at the belt.....) and then we went to look at the race site ...... it so happened that there was a guy there with a backhoe making the parking lot for the race - he was not nearly done -So it looks like the way he was plowing that we won't have a problem parking at the race start so we will stay to do the race!  so we drove back into town to park at the same place - read for the rest of the afternoon and Randy had a nap and then after evening feed went to Mickey Dees again and had the fish McBites again  - not much variety in the schedule , ehh???!!!!!    Tomorrow after the second drop we will go back and try to get a good parking spot being the first ones there!! so will try to talk to you once more before then!!

Left the west side of Minneapolis this morning after staying the nite in the rest stop = we figured that as foggy as it was we might be safer to do that than drive another 2 hours after feeding supper - it was sunny and beautiful when we got up this am and had no trouble with the drive until we got close to Wausau and snow started - we did find the race site before dark and it looked like in the dusk that we may have a difficult time driving in to park at the race site - so we will go back tomorrow in the lite and look at it and see if it is "doable" - staying the nite in the parking lot of a "equivalent-Farm and Fleet" store and went to Mickey Dees for dinner to have wifi - the new fish bites are not bad!!!! will talk to you in the am!!!

Got up "not-so-early" again to moderate temps - fueled up and started out for "south" - our GPS wanted us to go even farther west instead of south straight out of Prince Albert........and we soon found out why!  Frost heaves or just plain bad roads......traveling on a clear hiway at only 35mph = worse road this year - reminded us of the Alcan!!!  So when there was another road to cross over to the east farther we took it......45minutes of gravel road - actually that was better than the paved road we left!  Finally got to a decent hiway and stopped to drop dogs - opened up the door from the "house" and there were loose dogs everywhere!!!! in and amongst the 2 sleds and the rest of the paraphenalia!!!  So I opened the side dog door of the trailer and let about 5 out and Randy had to untangle one at the back who was hooked into the sled and we got them all out without any problems - thank goodness they are all congenial dogs!  Usually I put s-hooks on the doors to make sure they can't open when we are traveling - but I forgot and and the "shucking" we were doing on the bad roads must have jumped the trailer so bad it popped the latches up!  Alot of times the dogs will just stay in their box even if the door is open, but not this time!!

So finally on good roads and down to the border by about 9:30 pm - went pretty smooth except he wanted to look in the dog part and people part of the trailer - his comment was "Yup, it looks like a camper...)  Made it all the way to Minot, ND and parked in the McDonalds parking lot for the nite.  Up this morning by 9 and had a gal that had just moved here from Wasilla, AK stop by to visit - she said it's much colder here!!  We now are waiting to hear back from the race organizer for a little race in Wasau, Wisconsin re-scheduled for this weekend - if they are going to still have snow we may hit it on the way back - but that looks like the "only game in town" - will let you know more when we have decided!

Woke up this morning and, even though he had a good clean run yesterday in the 10 dog, Randy decided that the dogs were to far behind and wouldn't get any better so we are heading home.....he said not to say "going home", but "heading home""   so take that for what it's worth!!

 He did finish 18th yesterday and several people commented how good the dogs look - the Garmin says it's over 1600 miles to home so we will see what the next few days brings!!!

We love you all!

After running the 6 dog team Randy decided the turn around with the whoopdiwhoops was too dangerous for me so he ran the 6 and 10 dogs - don't think the camera worked on the 10 dog for whatever reason - he came in 10th in the 6 and 20th in the 10 - had a problem with dogs in soft snow, got a half hitch around Kimmy, had to unhook tug lines, got bit in the hand and then took off again - at the time he had the problem he was running 4th............better day tomorrow???????????

Well the evening turned out to good anyhow - after we walked over to McDonald's for dinner the generator started - a big relief for Randy - he may not want to turn it off until we get home!!  Other than the "haunted" door on the bathroom and the drawer on the dresser that close themselves it was fine.  We ended up with the truck/trailer parked sideways in front of out room with the generator running - kink of seems like a waste of money, eh?  except we got to shower...........so we knew that the dogs weren't barking all nite because we would have been the ones bothered!  This morning they were a bit noisy while feeding breakfast but not really too bad - besides it was 9:30 when we got out there and most people were probably up by then!

After we drop them again here, we are going to the Gateway Dog Sled Racing Club - found the address on our Garmin..... the city is fairly big - probably like Muskegon, so hope we don't have too much trouble finding it or getting around traffic!  Don't have any idea when or where I will have wifi again, but will try to have it be soon!!

PS - I posted all the pictures last nite because I had the time and because I finally figured out the process since I upgraded my Picasa picture album!!!

I don't know if you can see it but it's a cabin lighted inside

 

The one below was a horse team pulling the float and the 2013 on the float was in flames!! This is another float

 

 

One of the floats in The Pas Trappers Festival parade - they don't have floats like this in Michigan!!

 

All past winners of The Pas that were present at the awards banquet

 

This was a headdress that we saw in the mall

This shows you the outriggers that Randy designed!

If you want to know where some more of North America's worst roads are, just take 283 west out of The Pas to Prince Albert!!!  3 hours of gravel with ice and probably only saw 10 vehicles pass - out in the middle of nowhere - made us remember the Alcan!!  We left The Pas at 12:30 and got here at 5 - stopped at a Travelodge for the nite and have had trouble ever since - no hot tub, no continental breakfast, the only non-smoking close to where we could park was a "suite" for $160 which is essentially one room for the beds and one with a couch and desk - the onliest bonus is there is a tv in both rooms!  So then when we tried to plug in the truck and trailer it blew their fuse and we were about to tell them we couldn't stay if the plug in wouldn't work and they called their handy man and then it worked and then it didn't, and then we moved the truck and took up 5 of their parking spots and now it doesn't work again - so Randy had spent the last 1/2 hour out in the parking lot trying to figure out what is going on - right now we have the 2 most important things plugged in to warm - the truck engine and the generator - will give you more info in the morning!

Much warmer this morning - didn't mind getting out of the boxes or the bed at all- thought we did sleep in until 9:30 - that cold weather training sure tires you out - this morning after the next drop off to Prince Albert !! will update when we get there!!!

Cold again this morning and all day - it was -8 F in the dog area of the trailer!!!  Even thought he had to bundle up Randy ran all the dogs on the truck but one- Snapper - he still has trouble with his shoulders - think tomorrow we will head over to Prince Albert Saskatchewan for the next race - will have to find some new wifi spots there - keep warm!!!

Very cold today - it only got up to 32 degrees F in the dog boxes with the door shut in the middle of a sunny day today!!  Out to dinner with Faye and Don Cousins - very nice conversation and just getting to know each other!  Came back to the Super 8 to use their phone to call my sister Bec for her birthday but too many other people wanting to talk to her too!!

tomorrow training and maybe even  a visit to the local museum - they are supposed to have a taxidermied dog head from a famous dog...........???????

In answer to Jess's question and maybe the question of many of you,,,,,,,,,we are not going to Alaska - we would have had to leave almost from Carman race to get there in time for the Rondy and at the time we felt the Rondy would not have enough snow to go,  and we didn't have enough training miles on the dogs - Since the Rondy is Randy's favorite race, we decided not to go to Alaska at all and instead have an "adventure" in Manitoba - so this week we will drive 3 hours from here to Prince Albert for another 10 dogs race with 15 miles and then the next week is Cross Lake - from there who knows!!!

Today was a wake up late day and Kimmy actually wasn't too noisy - so we got up at 9 fed dogs and then had a visit in our "house" from Dave Hochman and Rachel who is training and traveling and racing with him this season - they stayed for about an hour and re-hashed the last race and gave advice about the next couple and then we went to the power lines and trained 3 teams of dogs 7 miles each - just to stretch them out and make sure nobody had any injuries - everyone looked good and ready to race again!  The only bad thing was that Randy should have had a neck warmer on the first 2 runs (it was -2 today without the wind chill...) and it looks like he may have frostbitten his cheeks a bit!

Tonite we are celebrating Valentine's Day (we were a bit busy last Thursday what with racing and all....) and went out to dinner at the nicest hotel in town - very native-oriented design and all natural pine furniture in the dining room with fireplace right in front of us!!  I had fried pickeral which is something I have never had and Randy had an excellent steak!!

Don't know what tomorrow will bring but it's supposed to be -5 F so don't know if we will train again.

Happy Birthday again to Luke today and Bec tomorrow!!!  We love you!!

We did not have any trouble getting up out of the parking lot – even though we only had one chain on, which I discovered once we were out and were going to take the chains off – Randy found it later in the parking lot. The dinner was very nice and we were invited to sit at the Cook’s table by Ray and it was fun to be at the “winner’s table” – Kevin winning the 10 dog and his son Wyatt winning the 6 dog!– lots of emotion even thought this is not Kevin’s first time to win. Also lots of emotion for Don Cousins who had never run this race before and did fabulously with 3rd place – it was within seconds between him and Lars, the Streeper’s handler but he pulled it off!!! Both he and Faye his wife, were ecstatic – not to mention a little wealthier! It has been fun getting to know Don and Faye a bit better this weekend. The main course was prime rib and you can’t beat that! It all got over about 9:30 and time to drop the dogs! This morning tried to sleep in and again, Kimmy was our 8 o’clock alarm – that dog barked for an hour trying to get us up! Up in time to feed dogs and us breakfast and then walked to church, which was right next to the place we had the banquet last nite! The church was beautiful old French and their Cathedral. It looked a lot like St. Mary’s in Muskegon only about ½ the size. We talked to the priest and he said previously he was assigned to the Yukon Territory and had helped with The Quest dog sled race – he had noticed Randy’s Iditarod patch on his jacket. Over nite we got about 4 inches of snow and it is supposed to be a “Chinook” which I am not really sure what the definition of that is……… a lady at church thought it might snow today and tomorrow. At any rate, the next race is only about 3 hours away in Prince Albert so we were planning to stay here and train on trails that Randy is at least slightly familiar with. Next big decision………..where to park the truck and trailer for tonight!

Yesterday while we were eating lunch at Tim Horton’s (a Canadian-based fast food chain) and I was using wifi we had visitors stop by – first was Don Mayter (I think that’s how he said he spells his name) who is a local native (by native I mean “first nation”, Indian) and he is going to help Randy and I start the race tomorrow – it will be pretty hectic because the 10 dog mass start with about 20 teams starts first at 10 am and all the 10-dog trucks will be parked right up next to the start line – then ½ hour all the 6-dog teams go out – so that means that we will have to bring 2 6-dog teams up from the back of the parking lot and hook on somebody else’s truck to take off!! I am excited and very nervous all at the same time! So then while we were still having lunch Randy meets Dave Hochman in the bathroom! He was with a friend and fellow dog racer, Rachel who did very well racing last weekend at Thompson, Manitoba. We had a nice visit –we hadn’t seen Dave since Laconia in 2005 so there was much to catch up on!! After we ate we headed back to the parking spot. When we got back it was still mid-afternoon so we decided to try out Randy’s latest invention – the outriggers that Penlands made for him – you will see in the picture is is 6 “poles” that are attached to the truck and trailer and have a chain running through the outer end of them – then he attaches chains with snaps around the truck giving the dogs almost as much room as they have at home – some of them really liked it and moved around a lot and some were just like they are at home and pretty much stood there and watched everybody else – we can easily put 12 dogs out at a time – we had the first group out over and hour and then unhooked them and let them run around free-dropped for about 15 minutes – nobody fought and nobody ran away so that was a big success!!!! (we had been doing that when we come back from training runs this season and I guess it worked pretty good!) Then we took the second ½ of the dogs out and did the same thing – and that worked well too! So everybody was happy----the dogs cause they were out extra, and Randy because his most recent brainstorm worked!! This morning it was slightly cooler than it had been and we were disappointed (but not totally surprised because it happens all the time when you travel with dogs around other dogs….) that most everybody had watery diarrhea!! It could have been something in the food but most likely we picked something up when we trained 2 days ago. Today is registration day for the race and they do it very differently here…..much of it probably has to do with it being a mass start. We are parked at a tire barn/service business caters to even semis and trailers called Gordy’s (because Gordy owns it…) All of the teams come here and literally drive through their semi bay and register today and have the dogs chipped (for the 10-dog) or painted (for the 6-dog) – (each truck takes about ½ hour and it takes all day until 4-m )and pay their fees and get tickets for the “briefing” (which is the driver’s meeting) tonite at the Kinsman Lodge (something like Rotary but not…) and for the awards banquet on Saturday nite which is called the “wind up meeting”! They were gracious enough to come to our truck in the parking lot an come in and paint our 12 dogs for the 6 dog race – I only got neon pink paint on me in two places! As we were feeding the dogs at 3 pm the Cook family arrived and we visited with them and went into more detail about why we never made it to their race in Preeceville. We will probably see them and visit again tonite at the meeting/dinner. So now we are ready to drip again at 5p and then to go and find out where to park for the meeting (not only do we not know exactly where the meeting is downtown but we don’t know where we are going to park….and it will be very busy with a parade and all…)and maybe even watch the parade. So we left just after 5 to find a parking spot downtown and were just early enough to find a great one and then we found where we were having the meeting/dinner on foot and then we waited about ½ hour before the parade started – it was great – so may floats that reflected the true “Trapper Festival” theme!! And they threw the most candy and all kinds of things that I have ever seen thrown at a parade!! I wasn’t even trying to get any but felt bad the kids around me were giving up picking it up and I got a bowl full! Then we went to the meeting/dinner and had wonderful stew (don’t really know what meat was in it……could have been moose, caribou, elk, deer……but it was delicious and very tender – we also had bannak bread (don’t know for sure how to spell) which our son Luke would remember from a trip we took into Canada when he was in his teens and then I tried to replicate it at home on a campfire – just flour baking soda and salt and delicious! They read the rules and introduced all the mushers – 20 10-dog teams and 15 6’s - from every province in Canada, Oregon, Sweden, Alaska (The Kornmullers) and us from Michigan. The organizers were very pleased to have such varied representation! After the meeting we got water for dogs at a gas station and filled the generator for the long haul and put chains on the truck for the downhill entry to the race site – we are parked and ready to stay for the duration!! Did I tell you the race starts with a shotgun??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will try to post tomorrow by walking up to town to a wifi!! The way I feel right now at 2:30 I don’t know if I will be able to walk downtown – maybe ½ mile- to somewhere that has wifi ------------ So if you don’t want to read the most harrowing dogsled story of my life, skip this part and read ahead…………… It started out with me not being able to sleep all nite – even though I took the nitetime pills…………got up in the morning ( by the way, Happy Valentine’s Day) and it was sunny and Randy thought we only needed to get up by 8 for a 10:30 race………….so we fed breakfast and put them back in and I went through the “decisive” process of picking out what I was wearing……..by this I don’t mean a fashion statement….I mean how much long underwear, how many coats, which hat and whether glasses or goggles…….. We dropped all the dogs for the second time and then it was time for the 10 dog race – Ray Cook has asked Randy to watch his team as he took off so I interrupted harnessing the 12 we had to get ready to go watch the start of the 10 dog – I was amazed at how close the shotgun was – many team leaders shied and vaulted left or right instead of going straight – and so I saw how this was going to go……….. We got our dogs hooked up on vehicles at the start line and then started to hook them in – I could hear the announcer telling how many minutes to start time so we were “spot-on” for the start time – at the gun I released my tie to the truck and took off but wanted to follow Randy’s instructions about keeping the drag down for awhile…………..until I looked down and saw my drag was broken and hanging from only one side- in fact when I looked down I was standing on it on top of my runner! So I decide I am at a disadvantage not being able to slow them down unless using the brake but figure out I could still use the drag (it is a piece of snowmobile track that you can step on to slow them down instead of stopping them altogether with the brake) and keep them out of the fray ahead of me ( come to find out there were not only 15 teams, somehow now there are 31 teams in this race!!!!) I am trying to avoid all the clashes between dog teams that I see before me so I am holding back….then out of the blue I hear Randy’s voice……….from behind me….he should have been way farther ahead and I am amazed! (come to find out later as he was releasing his team, the gal handling her husband’s team next to us was watching her husband leave instead of what was coming up behind her…so Randy “clothesline” her and someone had to come help her get untangled from his team and that is why he left last out of the start…….) So he gave me instructions along the first 3 miles (but didn’t hear me when I shouted out to him that I had no real drag….) and it was comforting to know he was there – then he passed me and I lost site of him with me not driving as aggressively….so for a long ways – probably 4 miles I was stuck behind 2 teams that were b locking the trail with no way to pass – then we got close to the turn around loop (which I was told was supposed to be an easy large curve…….which was in actuality a hairpin……..) and all of a sudden the 28 teams ahead of me started coming back and head-on passing----------this is something I have done many times in Quebec in the first years we raced there; but this was something far more “clustered….” – I kept stopping my team because the teams in front of me wouldn’t head-on pass and pretty soon there were about 10 teams all tangled and/or trying to go back on the homegoing trail! A team came at mine and got very tangled with the leaders and the 2 dogs behind them (point dogs) and it was so bad that many (like about 10) people jumped in from where they were watching the race to help! I couldn’t put my snow hook in the puffy snow and have it hold so I had to watch (primarily Eddy Streeper) unhook, then untangle, then re-hook my front 4 so I could go ahead! While I was stopped getting untangled, I was amazed to see my favorite hero get off his sled, straighten it out, then jerked his team into the center of the melee and went through the mess – you are right…..Randy DeKuiper!!!! I did go ahead and then my leaders thought they were suppose to go left/Haw into the turn-around loop and so I ran through 2 bales of hay and tipped and dragged a few feet – and then they caught the leaders and said to just let me go through it backwards = so I did and made it through and back on the home coming trail – there were only a few teams left out with me but I managed to pass 2 of them back and pumped at the end hoping to be 3rd from last but ended up 2nd from last (30th of 31)…………. All in all, a great experience, but I am not too sure I would want to make this a “regular” thing……….. Randy lost time with the girl being run over by our team and then at the finish, Echo, our big leader, did the same thing to Randy he did to me in the North American Limited last year………..he stopped to poop ¼ mile from the finish line and so 4 teams passed him while he was “doing his business”………….so Randy ended up 20th – neither of us had a very good “showing” but showed unrelentlessness in the face of adversity!!!!!.................as always! Friday we woke to a much colder day – didn’t really know what the temp was (someone told me -21 C) and to a lot of very sore muscles – I just don’t seem to be able to drag anymore without having it hurt the next day………….Started off the same as the day before only this time a handler was in my team’s way and got clotheslined by my team – got right into the thick of things and as we were approaching the place in the trail that runs next to the hi way and I heard Randy’s voice behind me……….again today! He had stopped because his wheel dog Sioux had shied from a passing team and was tangled in Jackson’s neckline – so while he was hooked down I actually passed him not even knowing it – you would be amazed with all of those teams clumped together on the trail, some of them running the tral 3-wide all you can think of is trying to avoid crashing………..kind of like dog demolition derby in reverse…….so he followed me for maybe a mile and then told me to lift my drag up and let him pass because I was slowing him down – so I let him pass (and do you know that of all times for the camera to slip down on his driving bow on the sled it was all the time I was in front of him so you can’t see me in the movie at all………..) This day they had the turn around fixed so there wasn’t any head on passing and I made it around the loop fine – the dogs had a problem passing one team on the right so after I tried it twice I dropped them back and told the leaders to haw over and we slipped right around them – probably the most “finesse” I have ever shown driving a team – I finished at the far left of the line up of trucks at the start line and needed to be a foot ball long’s worth at the other end to be by our truck – so I waited…….and waited………and waited to have someone come and lead my team back to our truck…………and finally like 5 minutes later (which seems like and eternity when you are trying to hold 6 dogs with a brak……) Randy came and got me – it turns out that I was only 21 seconds slower than him and he had just enough time to take his dogs off the line before he came to look for me!!!! Not bad for a Grandma! So the final standings were Randy 20th and me 26th out of 31 – probably no prize money but the experience of a lifetime!!!! This morning we thought we would sleep in but the dogs didn’t have the same idea – got up and fed and then dropped after the start of the 3rd day of the 10 dog (which I might add is really bothering Randy that he could only run a 6 dog team because ours were not ready to go 35 miles………). We were very pleased to see Kevin Cook come in 1st day 1 and 2 and even more fun was to see Don Cousins come in 3rd yesterday and we hope that he hung on to 3rd again today when we see the final numbers/times. We just watched the 4 dog race leave mass start and it was every bit as exciting as the 6 and 10! This afternoon we are feeding at 3 and then dropping at 5 to be ready for the “Wind up dinner” at 6 – hope we don’t have any trouble pulling out of the parking lot – it’s a pretty steep grade up! Will publish some pictures as soon as I have time!!!

Slept good in the tire barn lot, nothing around us but woods - only a couple of semis pulled in during the nite to park trailers but our generator makes enough noise I hardly heard them ........and Randy hears nothing! Woke up to a beautiful mild day with the sun shining ( sure glad we weren't here a week ago when it was -45 and colder!!) fed and then dropped dogs and then went shopping - my one day while we are here probably - went downtown to a native store and I bought some jewelry and am now working into convincing myself I need a pair of the handmade mukluks for $250 - they are actually pretty reasonable with their goods and all is made locally - we saw Buddy and Terry and their handler from Sweden, Lars, doing laundry downtown and visited with them on the sidewalk for a bit -then we went to the mall and grocery store - the funny thing is the IGA is attached to the mall and they don't have actual shopping carts; they have these little plastic baskets with wheels and you pull them around the store like luggage at the airport!!!! pretty funny! Now we are at Tim Horton's having lunch and using their wifi! When we get back to the tire barn we might put the downriggers out that Randy had made for the dogs to be out around the truck with more freedom of movement - we may even free drop some a few at a time! Will give you an update tomorrow most likely!

Up this morning and had the free breakfast at the motel and were going to use the hot tub when it opened at 10 am but they had just drained it were just re-filling it - so that was out - so I thought I would live dangerously (couldn't talk Randy into it....) and went down the 3 story waterslide!!!!!!!!!!! the first time I went down I was careful and used my hands to slow me down till I knew what it was like.......the 2nd time I didn't hang on and I whipped around the curves so fast I couldn't stay sitting up!!! After that went to the chamber of commerce to find out about the race and met Sonny Lavalle "The Legend" who has run the race 15 years but not this year- he drove us around town in his car to show us the race site and where to train - and who should be there at the training trail, but Eddy Streeper - so he took Randy out on the trail on a snowmobile to show him the trail - then we trained 3 teams of 8 - after hearing that the trail is pretty straightforward I may be running it as well!! It's Thursday and Friday and there is a big banquet on Saturday at the finish of the 10 dog race. Tonite we are probably parking at the tire barn where they do the dog chipping for the race on Wednesday - and then Wed nite is the driver's meeting, a parade and fireworks!!! I am really looking forward to all the fun!! Talk again when we have wifi.

We made it to Carman with the truck running all the way!!! We are parked in a remote (I can see houses about ½ mile away but that’s it..) in the middle of a vast sea of snow (which in growing season is probably wheat) flatter that most pancakes! Needless to say there is not wifi here…………Randy looked at the trail says it will probably pack up good tonite but wonders about whether you would be able to hook down. While we were feeding dogs here another driver from Minnesota arrived – he says he’s been driving dogs 45 years (3 longer than Rand) – this must gonna’ be a “senior citizens” race!!! The funniest things that happened to me today were 1) cleaning up the back sleeper part of the truck after not having ridden in it in a week, I reached down to pick up some lint from the floor and there was a mouse………..dead…….but still one of my least favorite things!!!! I guess he came along for the ride from Michigan! 2) When I went to take the movie back to the Red Box in Walmart, I must have tried for 5 minutes to get it to go in the slot and then the perky greeter finally (after watching me struggle….) said “you have to press “return” on the screen” – better late help than none I always say….. Drive down to Carman came off without a hitch – the road had frost heaves in it and the scenery leaves something to be desired – vast flat fields with few homes and very little in the way of trees. Not much to look at! Got here and found the place of business for the race coordinator, Sean. He works at a family business making things out of granite! Including the ever-popular cemetery markers! He led us to the race site and wonder of wonders………..it is in a big flat field! They had a parking lot scraped out but not down to the ground so we put the chains on the tires to play it safe! Got parked without problem for the nite. Up in the morning and thought, what the heck, there aren’t any people here…until about 9 or so after we watched them put the start/finish chute in – 2 big round bales and some orange fence that kept blowing over – this is really like their first race so much of what happened for the 2 days could be attributed to that – we aren’t going to complain, because beggars can’t!!!! There were not a lot of entries in the classes (like about 5….a far cry from when I entered the 6 dog in Quebec and there were usually 60 entrants!) and the day was good for racing. There were not very many entrants but lots of spectators!!!! All day long they bought busloads of kids for every race- must have been between 50 and 100 most of the day!! – the snow was a bit granular and so I took special care putting Zeus Juice (a secret oil that we put on the dog’s feet that we heard of from Ken and Laurie Chezik) on all of their feet = the results for Friday’s race were 4 dog- 3rd, 6 dog- 3rd and 8 dog – 4th!!! And the most wonderful thing is that 1-3rd got a trophy which was a granite dog engraved by Sean the race coordinator!!! Even better; we spent $180 to enter the 2 days of the race and Randy won $210!!! The awards were given at the pick up truck in the parking lot and we got a good feel for the humor of the people here – everyone is a comedian – and funny!!! Very friendly and just happy we were here to race their race! After racing 3 classes Randy still had 6 dogs he wanted to try and see if they had recovered from injuries so we hooked up a 4th team and he went 4 miles – they all seemed to be fine. So in creating his teams for Saturday (very unusual to have a 2 day race be 2 separate races; each with its own prize money; and you can have whatever new set of dogs in your team the second day!!!) So we were very happy that we decided to come here to Carman. Before the day was out the timer said she or her husband (who has a province-renowned 8-miniature horse team that pull a show wagon) would pick us up for the free pancake breakfast in the morning (because we were in the parking lot with chains on and didn’t want to move until the races were over)– and he did and it was free and good! The day was the warmest since we left Michigan (which already seems like a century ago…..) sunshine and the snow melting so I am thinking above 32 degrees though I didn’t look at the temp as I was still busy hooking up dogs and doing feet (Randy decided after yesterday that he didn’t want me to get hurt doing the trail so he raced all 3 classes again on Saturday). A few more teams here today but Randy still did mighty respectable with 4 dog- 4th, 6-dog, 3rd and 8 dogs- 4th – that means we will get another 3rd place granite award!!!! (Randy just told me that if we are going to get 3-3rds that will equal a first!!!!!! Ha Ha!) And be still farther ahead financially! Many people stop and ask about he dogs and the rig – one guy who did not tell me his age, said he had showed cows for 50 years…he decided that dogsledding was just as much of an addiction but that we were lucky we didn’t have to “wash” the dogs to participate!!! The awards are at 5:30 with a chili supper so I will have more to report!! We had no trouble getting out of the parking lot and made our way to the community building for the chili supper and awards – the supper was free for us- an additional bonus and was very good –they even put celery and carrot sticks in a little cup with ranch dressing at the bottom – never saw that before!!! Randy did get another 3rd place trophy and did make the joke whiled accepting it that 3 thirds make a first! When he went up to get the check for the 8 dogs the little boy at the next table said “Randy again…..” After the supper and awards they had the most beautiful fireworks! At least 15 minutes and I saw some firework configurations I had never seen (maybe because they were Canadian…..???) We were able see them standing right next to our truck. We made sure not to be moving dogs around till after them – we had a bad experience in Daquaam, Quebec while they were doing fireworks. They started them while the dogs were still dropped and while I was putting one of them in an upper outside dog box she flung herself out of my arms and wasn’t found until the next morning by Lou Serre! Then while we were feeding dogs supper, a friend of a friend – Matt is a friend of our friend Dave Hochman whom we knew from racing in Frazee Minnesota = stopped by as we were feeding the dogs = lots of good dog talk because he used to be a handler for Terry Streeper. His main goals are to run the Rondy and the Iditarod – it’s no wonder it would be appealing to stop and talk more with Randy! Matt will be in the Pas along with Eddy Streeper, Terry and Buddy Streeper, Dave Hochman, Matt, and hopefully Mark Hartum – it will be like “old home week”!!! Up this morning to yet another mild temp day but lots of fog – during the nite the humidity frosted everything so it looks like a fairyland! Fed dogs breakfast and are planning to start north again if it isn’t too foggy still after we drop the dogs again. Made it to The Pas with only some freezing rain to slow us down – the generator in the trailer wouldn’t start once we got here so we decided to Motel 8-it – seems good to see tv again – will talk to you tomorrow!

The truck seems to be running fine so we are packing up and going to that small race in Carman, Manitoba about an hour or so from here. It is a sunny beautiful day so probably a good one to try out the truck!!! We did drive into town to get our 40 pound propane tank re-certified because the co-op here filled it once but said it needed to be re-certified - so we get to the place and they want $60 and 2 days to do the job!!!! So we were going to buy a new one instead and we stopped at the gas station where he got it filled first and lo and behold - Randy noticed that he might not have paid the $200 for the fuel he got a few days ago (because his card wouldn't work) so when he went in to tell them he thought he owed them $200 they were so pleased with him they offered to fill the propane tank again!! See....honesty is the best policy and it can pay off in very strange ways...... Don't know when or if I will have wifi again, so just keep us in your prayers!!!

We watched the movie last nite and even had microwave popcorn with it!!! Got up this morning and if feels much warmer at 7 degrees! More trouble that usual the last several times dropping dogs because without the truck attached we have to do "shifts" of dropping taking twice as long. This morning I had a knock on the door and it was the mechanic to get Randy cause he was done with the truck - no charge - he went over everything best he could and even let it run last nite and this morning - my "mechanical wisdom" says to me that it's because it got warmer and it only quits when it's cold - but now it's supposed to keep getting warmer so maybe it won't happen again and maybe he fixed the problem and doesn't know it!!! We have already asked the guy in the NAPA store if we could spend the nite to be sure the problem is fixed and he said it was fine! So here we are one more nite and then probably going down to that little race in Carmon, Manitoba, about and hour from here.

Another trip to Wally World today to get milk and a "Red Box video" = Randy just went into NAPA and they haven't heard anything from the mechanic - so for sure we are here one more nite - about time to feed the "kids" - it was a bit warmer today so it didn't feel like too cold -only 9 degrees right now - but it feels like a warm blast of air compared to what it has been!! Going to watch "Mission Impossible 4" tonite and stay warm as bugs in a rug!!!!!

Well I told you last nite that the truck stopped running right about an hour after we got it back....we fed dogs and I ran (well....not literally ran...) to the store to pick up some things and then we were going to drop again and then go down the road abit. While I was gone the truck stopped running independently (and and boy, is this truck independent...or possessed????) and Randy could not start it again. Right away this morning he went into the NAPA and told the guy and he called the mechanic, the mechanic came over in the 0 degree weather and looked at it, and in the process burnt up the brand new starter ($500) - so now the mechanic has come and gotten the truck - again.... (at least this time there was no earthquake-like shaking of the trailer - it pulled off nicely!) and he told Randy that it would be at least all day as he already had a truck torn apart in his garage. Can you imagine the "bigger pickle" we would have been in had we decided to take off right away last nite - we wouldn't have been able to communicate with the mechanic or have internet or any of those other really important things!! Will let you know as soon as we do!

Flash bulletin......flash bulletin! The DeKuipers are still not mobile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About 1/2 hour after I left tonite to go shopping at Walmart (thinking that I should buy most things at a cheaper price than when we get into a village..) the truck quit running again = so I guess we will be here a bit longer to find out why it would quit after running for awhile!!

Thought I had better write since Randy is back with the truck (a mere $1700...included in that was a new starter..) and we are hooked back together and he next will go in the NAPA store and get water and probably decide from them whether we will stay here tonite - if we don't there's no guaranteed that we will have internet service. I did find a race for this weekend which is south of here in Carman, Manitoba with a 4,6,and 8 dogs races - not what Randy is exactly looking for -distances are too short - but the dogs have been off for 8 days as of today and need to have some exercise. So be looking for my next report!!

It's currently -4 and also feels much colder than yesterday = we just dropped the dogs for their morning bathroom break and most of them (those that are not playing with another dog) look like they think it's pretty cold too!! The part came for the truck and they are here to tow it to the shop.........but of course not without a problem.......the wrecker driver has tried over 20 times to pull the truck ahead and it won't separate from the trailer - too cold??? I was sitting in the trailer the first time he yanked on it and I thought we were having an earthquake. So a few more tugs and hammering and "words" and it finally jerked apart! It's one thing to have all these problems but having it cold makes them worse! Will tell you the news when he gets home from the shop!!

It's been a loooooooooooong day playing on the internet (digging up websites for Shirley our niece who was having trouble finding info on Mouth Cemetery; the "haunted cemetery" in Montague, Michigan where I grew up), updating my Garmin gps, playing solotaire, reading Harry Potter.......... Randy just went in to the store to get hot water for feeding tonite and they said the part for the truck is on its way but not here yet - but it will be for sure by 7:30 tomorrow morning. At that point they will arrange for Randy to be towed over to the shop again and have the parts put on. We got an invitation today via facebook to join Ed Streeper in Thompson, Manitoba (where it was -30 this morning) for a dog sled race = guess we will decide what direction to go when the truck is fixed!!! Love you all and are thinking about you!

Happy Monday everybody!!!! Randy has been in the NAPA store already this morning and the transfer pump is in Winnipeg, won't be here till 3 and the mechanic can't work on it till tomorrow!! So that' where we are and where we will still be tomorrow!!!!

Not much going on here on Superbowl Sunday - we did mass on TV on the computer last nite and I went shopping to Walmart today for as much as I could carry back 200 yards! We did have a woman stop by that was originally from Switzerland and then lived near Vancouver and then moved here because the cost of living in Vancouver got too high for when they retired. She is one of only a handful of people to stop by and ask about the dogs when they are out - either we look too imposing or people around here are just used to seeing sled dogs on a truck!!!

Pretty uneventful Saturday - mostly just Randy communicating with the guys in the NAPA store and me washing my hair.....almost like watching paint dry!!! Nothing else new to report - the temperature this morning in the dog part of the trailer this morning was 15 degrees and Randy put a thermometer outside and said it was 8. We would let the dogs out for longer but they still act like it is pretty cold on their feet. Hope everybody is looking forward to Superbowl Sunday!!

Today Randy spent a lot of time talking to the guys in the NAPA store trying to get the transfer pump ordered – it looks like it will be here sometime Monday and then we have to have the mechanic able to install it – maybe in the next 3 days there is enough time to do some shopping at the stores surrounding us and spend some money – it sounds like the pump will be around $700 and who knows what other costs. I just did some more ‘tidying up” around the trailer today and worked on sewing my ruffs back on the jacket Cindy gave me- we sent a facebook note to the people at the race in Preeceville telling them we would not be there. Not much else to report!!

Here’s how yesterday turned out – we got to the NAPA store by limping thru a town the size of Muskegon, got a fuel filter and that wasn’t the problem. Randy unhooked the truck from the trailer and a guy pulled him to a shop where there was a mechanic. He worked on the truck for maybe 4 hours (>$200 worth) and was late for going on his vacation today and the weekend. He found a problem with the fuel transfer pump. The only place we can get one is in Brandon which I think is about 1 hour from here. The plan was to drive the truck back here, hook back up and keep the truck running all nite and hope that today would be warm enough that the fuel transfer pump could handle the trip to Brandon. Just as Randy was pulling out of the garage the power steering line blew and they had to replace that!!!! We dropped and fed dogs and sometime during the nite the truck stopped running. So Randy got up and turned of f the fans and lights at 4:30am. Then about 7am we ran out of propane and by the time it got down to 40 degrees in the trailer it was time to get up and feed dogs again. So right now I have eggs and toast ready to eat and Randy is in the NAPA store trying to figure out what we can do other than sit here until Monday. If you have to be broke down, the middle of a mall with a Walmart and wifi is not so bad!!!!! Have you heard our country theme song………….”If it weren’t for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all………..”