It's Friday nite.......

and we are tired.......!!!!! got up and dropped dogs and before it was time to drop again, Randy said, the Iditarod teams are here, we have to get out on the trail before they chew it up! So quickly we dropped and harnessed and did feet and he got out after about 10 teams had left here - Mark and Austin showed up just as we were hooking up (Cause Randy had told them not to come until noon or after) - so they were here in time to see: Lance Mackey, Sonny Lindner, Ken Anderson, Tim Osmar and some that I don't remember the names of = they were able to go visit with all of them with out the pressure of being downtown at the start - Sonny Lindner came over to our truck to visit saying he remembered last year when Randy helped his team get out of the crowd where they were giving out hot dogs.....His folks are still in Fremont and he spent probably 15 minutes talking with us. Quite an unexpected event having so many dog drivers her for Austin to get autographs and pictures!!

After we fed in the after noon we went to the University of Alaska at Anchorage Aviation building and had a tour by my brother's friend Paul Herrick - we saw the workshops and the simulators and Mark and Austin were able to get in a plane that holds 8 - pretty nice!!
Then we went to a very nice ITALIAN restaurant and I ordered the halibut and got it the way I love it with melted butter!! We were all stuffed!! Back here and drop dogs and now to bed!!! We love you all!!

The boys with Colleen Robertia

 

Like Austin's hat???

 

Thursday

Up at 9am and Kukal's here at 12 - dropped dogs and off to Iditarod Headquarters - tried to contact Leo Rasmussen at the front desk but he must not be registered under his name so a coordinator for the Iditarod was going to give her a note I wrote to Leo at the Iditarod banquet tonite. While we were there we saw many Iditarod dog trucks - one of them John Baker's - we saw Rick Swensson, Colleen Robertia, Aly Zirkle, Mike Santos and Pat Moon and probably more but didn't recognize them!
Then we went to the famous Gwennie's Old Alaska restaurant and had lunch - expensive ($6 for a cup of chili) but very good.
After that we drove by Lake Hood and saw all of the privately owned float planes - hundreds of them!
Then we went to a park near the ocean and saw all of the landmarks located on the sign but it was too cloudy for us to see Mt. McKinley.
Driving from there we saw a guy get out of his truck with a shotgun and come to find out he shot at the ravens that were flying around and figured out that it was because they were near the airport runway and they were trying to shoo them away!
Next we stopped at the Alaska Fur Company - they have tons of mounts of all kinds of game including a lion!!! I found a purple dyed fur ruff to put on the jacket Cindy gave me that is black with purple trim - I have been wanting it for a long time but today I noticed this one at 1/2 off for $10!!!
Now we are back at "the ranch" and waiting till 5 to feed dogs - tomorrow we see my brother Mark's friend, Paul Herrick who is an instructor at the U of Alaska in the aviation department.

Not too much going on today; yet!

Last nite we had a nice dinner at Doug and Pam's - Austin was very good playing with their 5 and 3 year olds! We brought pizza and Mark got beer - Moose Drool and Trout something......

Up this morning at 9 and still alot of dogs coughing.
Read for awhile and now it's time to drop again - we think we will go over to the Iditarod headquarters at the Millenium Hotel and look for Leo Rasmussen to see when we are supposed to help with the Iditarod mail.