Home again, home again, jiggety jig............

Time for an update on the final leg of the trip ------------haven’t had much time since we left Traverse City – got home early afternoon and immediately got stuck in the driveway………..about 1.5 foot of snow and the 4 wheel drive couldn’t even handle it!!!  While Randy worked on getting unstuck I tried to get into the house: note the emphasis on “tried” – I got the key to the front door from its hiding place and it wouldn’t work – I tried the other 2 doors on the front of the house and no go….then I walked around the house in the deep snow to see if I had left any windows open (and of course I had insisted that we lock the sliding glass door up on the balcony!)

No open windows – so maybe the lock is frozen, so out to the stuck truck to get the lock de-icer (trying not to let Randy know that I can’t get into the house to start a fire and get the house warm while he is already having a bad day….) – the lock de-icer didn’t work and I was forced to admit to Randy that I couldn’t get the key to work…………so he tried it and it opened!!  By that time he had gotten the truck and trailer un-stuck and had plugged in the backhoe and started charging it to make a space to drive in the drive way and park near the kennel= got the driveway clear so he could back the truck and trailer in- next was dropping the dogs – did that and got a fire going and found out when he turned the water on that the water lines had frozen………….several trips down into the crawl space/dirt basement and still no water – un-pack the port-a-potty…………fed the dogs at the trailer and put them back in their boxes for the nite.  Still no water…………good sleep in the bed!

By morning the toilet water was filling (big deal____) and we had water in the kitchen but not the bathroom.  Fed the dogs breakfast and then started the overwhelming task of moving 27 crazy with energy dogs back into the kennel!!!  We got 9 of them out and had to take a break – then we got 5 out and had to take a break – then we got 4 and took a break – talk about slugging through the snow!!!!! Plus for every dog we had to dig out a place for them to be able to get in their house!  Finally got all of them moved about noon and then had to dig out the new pole barn door to be able to get the yellow pick-up truck out…………went to our neighbor Dee’s to take her more meat (she is caring for our 11 pups for the winter) and get more dog food bread from the truck we have parked there – then we went over to look at our training trail (that was in pristine condition when we left 3 weeks ago…) and surprisingly, they look like snowmobiles have been using them  - so tomorrow our job is to drag the trail and get it in shape for training again – hopefully put some faster miles on them and then go out to Quebec to the Daaquam race in 3 weeks!

Happy Valentines Day and will post as soon as we have news!!!!

What next???

 This is Wednesday (I think…..) and we are sitting in Traverse City on Airport Road getting the generator fixed -  you might be asking yourself how in the heck did we end up here………….

We slept in the parking lot of the Wolverine Power Systems shop Monday nite; got up so we could talk to someone right away as soon as they opened up – Randy found out that they couldn’t have someone look at the generator until Thursday, so our first inclination was to head home and then have them come to the house for $160 up front and $89 per hour– then, whiled we were driving out of town, we calculated what it would cost to drive back up to Gaylord when they could fix it; and that was even more money so we decided to head back to the shop and wait and see if someone might get to it – but first we had to find a fuse that was blown in the generator- the gal at Wolverine said we could go to the NAPA store cause they didn’t have any is stock (wouldn’t you think a GENERAC generator dealer would have the fuses in stock????).  ON the way to NAPA we stopped at an Auto Value – not the right fuse.  They sent us to Radio Shack – not the right fuse- they sent us to Wittock Electric (they also gave us the number of a relative that fixed generators in Traverse City and we called and he could work on it Wed at 8:30am)– and they said they could have the fuse tomorrow – then they sent us to Ace Hardware- they had the fuse!!!!!!!  Randy bought 6!!!!  Then we decided we may as well go to Traverse City, be part of the way home and get the generator looked at a day earlier!  So, in a very round-about fashion, that’s how we ended up spending the nite in Traverse City!

The technician is working on the generator now – I don’t know how much per hour they charge but it’s almost 11 so that’s 2.5 hours……….  They figured out that the bushings were bad and at first said they didn’t have them in stock and we would have to come back, but the guy has only worked here 4 days and someone told them they were in stock!  They just started the generator and it’s “humming along”….

And the total is……………tat a tada!!!!  $268!!!!  And I guessed $250!!!  So we are on our way to 5300 8 Mile!!!!

Randy just said that our generator was $12,000 new and that those 3 cylinder diesel generators will run forever!!

Now we will be home in about and hour and half and then have to see if we can get in the driveway or have to plow first – then start a fire and turn the water back on and see how fast I can get the home phone “off vacation” – then our next project is to get the paperwork all set for being able to pass going through the scales in Canada!!  Will write as soon as I can again!!

Made it safely to Gaylord MI!

It's 7:45 p and we are here - going to get some fuel and park in the lot of the generator "fix-it" shop for the nite -
Saw 2 foxes running on the ice as we were going over the Mackinac Bridge and one deer crossed the road but that's it for wildlife watch!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Cold and colder yet!!

Saturday started with sun and cold – but it was warmer than it has been or else we are just getting used to sub zero temps!!!  (Randy’s face is peeling everywhere except his beard area from getting frost bitten last weekend!)

We got to the driver’s meeting and talked to Doris the person we had sent the entry to – she only had Randy entered in the open and 6 dog – she didn’t look at the bottom of the page sent her with my info on it – but she graciously allowed me to enter anyway (this was my first clue that maybe I was not supposed to run in the 4 dog………….).  We got Randy out in the open with 14 dogs with Rocky and Bieka in lead and all of his other solid older dogs and 2 2-year olds (Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson) and a yearling (Drago)- he had to go heavy on the drag the whole 12 miles because Jeff wasn’t really pulling and Drago never tightened his tug line – he had one problem falling at a more-than-90 degree corner and there were lots of turn in the trail- so he came in 7^th and they pay down to 6^th…..

While we were taking his team to the line, my knee, which had not been hurting for several days got a work out – they don’t use snowmobiles or 4 wheelers to get the teams to the line – even with it being icy snow for a block to get there – they only use people power – so after he left I started limping –(another clue to not run – but I was still planning on it…..)

The 6 dog went well and he came in 10^th out of 13 teams – he said before he went out that he would know better being on most of the same trail for the 4 dog whether it would be risky for me to run it – when he came back he said definitely he didn’t want me to try it – the 3^rd clue and I was relieved!

He ran the 4 dogs team of Scar, Dee, Kimmy and Wolf – what an unlikely looking team with 3 little girls and one big boy with most other teams with 4 big bruisers!!!  They ran great and he came in 13^th out of 27 teams –

Last nite we went to the Musher’s Ball at the same log cabiny, rustic lodge that we stayed at 3 nites ago and had dinner and then they had a band – though I had to keep the movement to a minimum we did do a little bit of dancing – couldn’t resist!

Up this morning and they said it was -1 F which really doesn’t feel too bad – there’s no wind so that helps!

Well forget what I said about no wind!!!  In the time I wrote this waiting for Randy to come back it kicked up something fierce!!!!

The run did not go as well as we hoped – Isaac has been having problems with his front ankles even since training and we have been wrapping them every time he runs – well this time it didn’t work – he ran 2 miles and neck lined the rest of the way – until just a mile before the finish line Randy finally had to load him.

The 6 dog went a bit better but just before Randy left I asked him if he wanted me to switch back the leaders Oats and Snapper – and he said no – and when he got back he said I should have switched them because Oats runs better on the right – the rest all did very well, Dancer, Ghost, Donna and the only glitch was that Echo didn’t start working until about 2 miles.

In the 4 dog he gained a little bit but stayed in the same place  - all in all it was a good way to see which dogs have potential and which ones can’t make it anymore.

Up Monday morning and found out from the fireman it was -22F over nite – the generator stopped running once during the nite and it got to be 45 degrees!!!!  A little chilly – but the rest of the nite was fine – on the road by 10:42 and don’t think we will make it home today =especially if we stop at Gaylord to see if we can get the generator fixerd (the inside one)  Talk to you as soon as I can!!!

Just keeps getting better and better.....

More bad luck – yesterday the generator that is permanently installed in the trailer stopped working in the middle of the afternoon – 4 years ago we had trouble with it and stopped at a generator place in Gaylord MI  and they showed Randy how to “jump” it (bypass something  or other ) and it fixed the problem – but Randy has forgotten how he did that – that we went with plan B which is using the Honda generator that we bought 2 years ago – the only problem with it is that it will only run a maximum of 8 hours just operating the lights of the kettle korn trailer – not to mention a furnace, microwave etc. that we have in the trailer- so that means that Randy has to get up once during the nite, every nite to refill the gas so we have heat – and you wouldn’t want to be without heat as cold as it is today!!!!  Sunny but very cold and windy!  So the fact that the generator is out of commission pretty much settles that we will head home after this race- if we get it fixed in Gaylord again that may mean more options but we will have to see.

After we packed up from our luxurious accommodations yesterday we went to town (which was really only a block away) and got more fuel.  Then we drove to where the race starts and walked about ½ mile of it – just as I had feared, they were 5 turns in the 1^st ½ mile!!!  I am only running 4 tomorrow but would really rather not wipe out my first time on the sled this year!  The trail is pretty hard and wide.

The funniest thing that happened was that both Randy and I thought that it was Friday and it was only Thursday!!!  Pretty easy to do when you aren’t “in touch” with the world!  For some reason we don’t even have phone service here!

Ahhhhhhh......

Fun nite - slept good - good bed  - very quiet - good continental breakfast - very cold this morning - crunchy snow - maybe  I will go shopping in some of the cute little shops in town today!!  Randy is entered in the open and 6 dog class and I am entered in the 4 dog - first time on the sled for me this year - cross your fingers!!!!

Here we are at Land O' Lakes Wisconsin!!

Got here about 5pm and then Randy found the guy putting in the trail and looked at the trail map to see what it would be like - we made it here without any issues adn as a pre-Vanentines treat are stayihng at the Gateway Lodge which is very old (Built in 1937) and log- cabiny and mounted animals from Alaska so made us feel like we had made the trip (kind of.......) and they had a sauna, hot tub and pool that were wonderful - it was a hard sell for me thinking by the time you unload everything that you already had access to in the trailer and the re-load the next day it doesn't seem worth it but this has been really fun!!!  Plus wifi -so will talk to you in the morning!!

Wisconsin looks like a good place to race!

We left Portage La Prairie about 11 after stopping in to the McDonald’s to post and were happily going down the road almost to Winnipeg when we saw the flashing lights on the sign indicating that all trucks needed to pull into the truck scales (plus something we have never seen before, a provincial car sitting at the edge of the entrance so he could quickly take off to chase any vehicle that didn’t pull in!) – now you may remember that we have had our share of bad experiences with the Canadian truck scales personnel over the last 5 years – especially those in British Columbia – so needless to say, we were apprehensive going in…………well that apprehension proved to be warranted!  We were there an hour and surprise, surprise-  the guy found $3000 worth of stuff to fine us for!!!!  This is the list 1) no back up lites on the trailer 2) the registration on the truck was stated as being less than the sticker on the door 3) the registration on the trailer sticker lists the weight allowed as much less that what the axles are rated 4) no DOT inspection on the truck or trailer 5) no covers over the off road lites 6) no “not for hire” sign on the truck -  !!!!!!!!  he also wanted to see Randy’s medical certificate for his CDL which he doesn’t even need to have a CDL to drive this truck with hydraulic brakes!!!!!

The saving grace was that this guy was by himself (he said he had to hurry up and finish before his partner came back from lunch – implying he could not be as generous with his partner present), he had volunteered at the The Pas dog sled race several years and he was 64 years old so felt an “affinity” for Randy – the end result is that he didn’t ticket us at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In fact he asked which way we were going and mentioned that there was another scales south of Winnipeg on Rte 75 (which was the way we were planning to go until then…) – so he was a really great guy but it left Randy’s stomach tied in knots!

We took a different route around Winnipeg on a not-as-good road but didn’t  have to cross any more scales!  We ended up taking highway 59 south, a two lane that went thru the town where Dave Hochman lives, St. Malo –(we remembered it was where he lived when we drove through the town and they have a sign that tells you all the notable people that are from the area and Dave was listed) we didn’t make plans with him to stop and visit and were thinking we wanted to get farther east so we didn’t call or stop.  The road was fairly good most of the way and we made it all the way down to Grand Rapids, MN (the birth place of Judy Garland  which I saw  on a sign this morning) and stayed in the grocery store parking lot that we had stayed by on the way west  a week and half ago.  Went in and bought fried chicken for dinner after feeding dogs (since it has been so bitter cold we have started feeding the dogs in their boxes – Randy stands at the back door and fills the bowls and I put them in – they eat better probably because they are not freezing their feet off while they are eating!!) and thought we had wifi from the grocery store, but couldn’t get it to work.

Up this morning with -10 F (and crazy enough, that felt warm) at 8am and some guys that are laying pipe in the area stopped to visit.  Loaded up and got on the road and made a 10 mile detour accidentally – which luckily allowed us to go through Colraine with has a ski jump that we saw – I don’t know how tall it is but it looked like10+ stories!!!!!  That would take a lot of guts to go down!!!  I wonder if any of the people over at the olympics used that for training – there’s one in Ishpheming in the UP but I haven’t actually seen it.  So now we are back on track and closing in on Duluth where we will find another McDonald’s and post and look up to see where some Michigan and Wisconsin dog races are scheduled – Randy decided that with the problems we had at the truck scales yesterday we best not go to Quebec until we get the issues resolved.  We called Doris Lovrine in Wisconsin last nite and they have a race this weekend but we have to register by Thursday so we will see if we can do that today and hopefully find someplace to train yet this week.

Where's Waldo.....and Randy and Cris???

We left Cook’s house at about 11:30am after dropping dogs and then filling up with water – the road we came in on was still bumpy (to say the least) but at least I had duct taped the microwave oven to the counter good enough this time!

We had clear roads and weather and as we got closer to Winnipeg and heard the news and weather it was white out conditions – so we decided to park at Portage La Prairie right next to the place we were broke down for a week last year!!!!!

So we have fed dogs and are in the lot of Walmart – no internet service so don’t know when this will get posted.

No interesting animal stories…………or really any other stories……….

We talked about the decision to go back east and I guess it is really an accumulation of many things…………the dogs not fast enough right now, the dogs sick, both Randy and I have sprained knees, the trailer is probably holding 70% of the weight on the back axle even with all the moving around we did with dogs and meat and not knowing how that is really going to affect the axle and “what if” we broke down on the Alcan, not knowing until just today that the Exxon race was on, the bitter cold we have been in the last week, and sometimes you just have to trust that there is a reason not to………….

Up at the crack of 8:30 this morning – very cold – fed dogs and are on the road by 10 to 10 – Randy went over to say thanks again for the NAPA store people for last year and they had recognized the trailer and had been talking about us!

Stopped at McDonalds for wifi and on the road again….. should make it well into Minnesota and maybe even Michigan!

Decisions, decisions.....

It was “one of those days, Alice” – (anybody younger than me would not remember watching the “Honeymooners” on very very old TV…………

Got more diesel for the generator and propane for the furnace at the one and only place to get it in Preeceville, the one and only gas station!  And we were good for the nite parked down at the race site –

Didn’t feel as cold this morning without wind and it was actually above freezing in the dog area before we opened the back door – the wind did kick up and it did snow a bit during both the 10 and the 6 dog races –

Had 6 of the 10 dogs with feet treated and harnessed tied up in the back of the trailer (got a little congested with 6 of them in the aisle!!) before we let them out into the cold to race – Randy asked the guy next to us when we would know to start because it is a mass start – he told us that when the flag in the center of the mass start area was changed, it would be 10 minutes and then when the flag was changed again it would be 5 minutes ------------well that’s not how it went------I saw Cook’s hooking up dogs and told Randy we better start – but we thought we had at least 10 more minutes – so we start hooking them up and I have trouble with the snaps opening because we left the lines outside on the sled overnite  - so as I am trying to thaw them with my breath, I look up and the Cooks are taking off!!!!! (Kevin, Ray and Rhonda) and I yell to Randy “they’re leaving” and (because he had read the passage in “jesus calling” this morning”) he said “don’t be upset, it’s OK” – so not only did he leave last but he had trouble with Isaac’s neck line coming off and then he backed out of his harness, stopped the team, put in 2 snow hooks and while he was trying to get Isaac back in harness, both snow hooks came loose, as the sled went by he jumped on it and dragged behind the sled till he worked himself back upright and then one of the hooks grabbed and jerked him stopped – by then he had lost one of his mittens (not something good to lose as cold as it is…) but a snowmobiler saw the mitt and ran up and grabbed it sped up to give it to Randy. So he finished last….12 out of 12 (but still in the money!!)

In the 6 dog he left in a timely fashion and was actually in 4^th for a while – until Jackson realized he was in a mass start again and Arrow, who had never been in a mass start, started freaking – so he ended up 19^th out of 21 teams.

Tonite we went to a musher’s banquet and had roast beef, ham and cabbage rolls with all the “fixin’s” – as we were getting to the legion hall, the Cook family was leaving and they told us that they had already closed up the kitchen and shut the doors…………..we owe them for that one!!  No doors closed and lots of food!!

We are back at the race site parking lot and ready to drop dogs again at 8:30 so we can get up at 7am again tomorrow – it’s pretty tight between the 10 dog at 10am and getting done almost at 11:30 and the 6 dog starting at 12n – have to have everything ready to go and keep to the schedule – no pressure………….

Today was about the same as yesterday – cold and windy – Randy looked good leaving in the 10 dog and was in about 4^th for half the race and the Snapper started dragging in lead and then he moved him back in the team and then moved him back in ;the team again and then Donna got tired and then Isaac really lost traction and started neck lining (we think he caught Blanche’s cold) – so he came in last again today even though we had no troubles starting the race – the 6 dog team did better but still came in last – we were just discussing our racing program and isn’t  pretty –

Apparently another 2 hours and they have the 2^nd musher’s dinner (sounds like it might be the same menu…) and the awards.  So we are parked near the legion hall waiting – pretty windy and brutal outside – will probably go back to Cook’s to feed and stay the nite.

After much thought, discussion and angst, Randy has decided to go back home – it doesn’t feel like the dogs have enough speed on them after racing them over the weekend(and not sure if we could get them in shape by driving 3 more thousand miles and then not knowing what the conditions will be when we get there) and we are both tired of the cold- it’s even colder today than it has been.  So we are going to go up to the Cook house and say goodbye and head back for Michigan.  We may stop and train up by Newberry in the UP at Jim Oschalager’s (sp??) and then who knows what!!!  Talk to you soon!!