We made it!!!!

I know I have used “On the road again….” Numerous times but that’s what it feels like!  Got ourselves together Thursday morning after sitting in the hotub one last time and then draining it.  Left about 11am with 18 dogs (some old and some not wanting to run and some young – all with Dee Krise and Mark Kukal).  Good roads all across Michigan and to the border at Port Huron – it was the best border crossing we have ever had!!!!   Crossing is always anxiety provoking for both of us and we had a nice young lady who had never talked to dogsledders before and was so impressed with us she didn’t even ask the usual questions………..  so off we went into Ontario and thought the roads were good until we saw a 4 car accident on the west-bound lanes of the freeway………and then another one with 2 cars in the ditch………..and then another……….and then saw the cops (OPP) had closed off the freeway because the snow was blowing over the west bound lanes and making black ice – our side was good and we traveled without problems……..until we got to the “On Route”/rest area at Port Hope where we planned to spend the nite.  We exited into the area and I saw the sign directing trucks to the left……….well we went to where the semi trucks were supposed to park and it was full…..then I directed my quite unhappy husband to try and go backwards on the one way road to get to some open parking and found out that all of the corners were too tight to get our rig around (like more that 110 degrees)- we had to stop traffic from entering into the car parking lot and tried turning 6 times (almost going over the roadside into a very deep ditch 4 feet off the drive and over the curb…) until he saw he could back up into a drive leading into a closed park that was gated shut.  So that’s where we spent the nite!  Very cold and extremely windy – like the kind of wind that makes you stay awake during the nite thinking you might blow over in the trailer!!

Up at 7:30 am and fed dogs – too many not eating good….have tried everything we can think of to tempt them and with one the only thing he has eaten is some beef jerky.  On the road after a Burger King breakfast and made pretty good time with good roads all the way to St. Luc de Vincennes and the race site.  Just fed and it is still very cold and windy and still have about 8 dogs not eating.  The “inscription” (sign up for the race is tonite).  The parking lot is icy and the trail looks very good from here – they have been grooming with Claude Bellerive’s groomer and he told Randy they are actually going to take some snow off from the trail yet tonite.

We had a bit of a “Noah emergency” – the 3 gallon plastic water jug fell off the counter while we were traveling and the house was flooded with water…………someone, who shall be nameless (like me) forgot to take the jug off the counter and put it on the floor…………so lots of rugs and towels hanging up to dry and we are now in the market for a new water jug.

Saturday

Pretty cold and windy and very icy in the parking lot – good day for wearing those walk-on-ice things!!  Lots of people we know are here (Butler, Fran Plaisted, Guy Girard, the Saucier family, Danae and Brittany Bryar Colbath and Nova Clifford,Bellerives, and more… )and Randy goes out 3^rd today running 14 dogs.  People coming back are saying that the trail is very fast.  It was a bit too fast for poor Nova Clifford…..who wiped out when her sled caught the birm and she dragged…enough for her to pull a “Randy Trick” with her pants down around her ankles!!!  She has terrible road/ice rash on her hip and thigh!!  Randy still has a scar from when he did the same and actually, it happened here!!!  His wounds took several weeks to heal with twice a day dressing changes!

I spent another one of those anxious times waiting at the finish line…….team after team coming in that had left after Randy.  He used a dog in lead that is 1 year old and has only led in Kalkaska one day and one day in training.   Finally Emily Therrien told me she saw him load a dog in the bag when she was out watching the race on the trail.  Sure enough he came in with Quincy in the bag – she just isn’t fast enough to keep up when the team is going fast and it was a fast trail.  Randy kept his foot on the matt almost the whole trail and she still couldn’t do it.  He averaged 16.5  mph for the course and that was even carrying a dog in the bag – but he is in last place at 12^th.

Very windy again tonite – but we were so tired I slept through it.

Sunday

Up at 8 and fed breakfast to the dogs -finally Ellis is drinking and eating a bit!  It feels much colder today.  A damp cold.  Randy is going out last so no hurry with getting the dogs ready to race at 2p and then 22 minutes later – so we helped with 6 dog teams and several of the open teams.  Randy took another yearling in lead today – he had never run lead – but figured he had nothing to lose being in last – so the team was 12 with 6 of them yearlings in their second race and some old dogs and some medium aged dogs – he went out looking good and when it came time for him to finish I waited an extra (seemed like an hour) 10 minutes – the yearlings in the team had worked so hard in the first part of the race they were worn out for the finish!

It is supposed to snow 6-8 inches tonite so we decided to stay here at the race site (about and hour away from Bellerive’s) so that their snow plow service would be able to plow without us in the way by the dog barn.

I have spent the last half hour trying to make the dvd player work and am still unsuccessful……………I am tired of trying to overcome the distraction of having all sound on the tv in French- it is just not very relaxing – even when I turn  the sound off, and try to read English lips, it is just not as enjoyable.  Where are those children with their knowledge of electronics stuff when I need them????!!!

Monday – got up at our norm….8 ish and dropped dogs and then let them run around the empty parking lot – they loved it!!!  Claude said we were going to get snow and we did – there were drifts all around the truck – left to go to Bellerive’s about 10 and the roads were quite snow covered, even on the freeway with lots of snowplows out trying to get ahead – pulled into our regular parking spot about 11 – lots of people out in their driveways with snow blowers trying to clean up.  Dropped the dogs this after noon and got Ellis the sick dog to eat 4 eggs…shells and all – I think that’s the most he has eaten – might have to go buy a couple dozen eggs just for him!!

Got the tv antenna situated and wonder of wonders, I have one channel that is in English!!!  It’s the Canadian Broadcasting Channel with lots of English (as in the country….) shows on it I have never seen.  And oh yeah, we could watch Top Gun in French – just not the same to hear Tom Cruise with a different voice…