What a dinner!!!

We did train on Thursday and it was pretty cold, if I do say so - and I guess I get to cause I was there!
Did a short run just to give the dogs some exercise - at this point we don't know if about half the dogs would free drop so we haven't really tried it yet - so to make sure they aren't losing muscle tone we ran them short and for fun!!  Randy is really pleased with the 16 older and unhurt dogs that ran but he will probably only run 12 or 14 (one of the little girls is in heat and not positive about 2 others and how much they are actually pulling or are they just keeping the line tight??

At 6 we were picked up by Claude and Renelle and we went to Shawinigan to dinner at the Greek restaurant that is leasing space at the "fun building" they own - it has bowling, bumper cars, lots and lots of video games, pool, and a full theatre and now...........a Chocolata franchise!!!!!!  They added on a beautiful new space with a vaulted ceiling and fire place and all kinds of sweet delights for sale.  The primary product of the franchise is a topping that you dip the ice cream into and it gets hard - plus all kinds of cheesecakes and way many calories choices!!!!!!!!!!!!  So that's where we had dessert!!!!!!!  I ordered a mini cone with caramel with sea salt.........the ordered got confused and I received a huge cone that was meant for Patrick!!!!!!  I ended up eating only a bit of it and then giving it away!!!!!

Today we have fed early and will leave for Epiphanie (1.5 hours towards Montreal) at 4 - hope finding the race site and parking goes well!!!!

 Us at the Chocolata!!!

Shows you how beautiful the space it!!

Shopping......but not really the kind I like........

Well not too much happening around here – Training Sunday and Monday even though the trail was almost, almost too icy – it was still safe for the dogs but had it been much colder it would have been very slippery.  Monday nite it snowed and Tuesday it rained – freezing rain just for fun!  So today we have not trained for 2 days but Hermel (Bellerive’s dog handler) has groomed the trail so we will probably train tomorrow – even though it’s a bit close seeing as how there is a race scheduled for this weekend at Epiphanie (About 1.5 hours from here).  It is usually a fun race for the spectators and they have a big craft fair and lots of activities – originally the weather forecast called for rain this weekend but now it is supposed to snow both days!

What we did do today was wash dishes and get ready to go buy a new generator – the one we had fit in the compartment in the front of the trailer and we bought it from Sportsman’s Guide catalogue only 3 years ago – and of course only use it on weekends during the winter when we are at a race without an electric hook-up………so………$632 later we have a new one that fits in the space and we hope it lasts longer than the old one (the mechanic at Bellerive’s business’ shop thought the armature had gone bad and it would cost as much for a new one as buying a new generator!!)  Also had to go to Walmart while we were in Shawanigin and had to go to Canadian tire to buy mucho dog treats (for the dogs that don’t love going back into their box…) and tie-downs to keep the generator on the back of the truck on the way home.

So it looks like tomorrow training, and traveling to Epiphanie on Friday!

The temperature sure is changing alot and fast....

Yesterday it was over freezing and the trail was melting down to the ground while we were helping Claude and Melanie train 4 teams  of dogs (2 6-dog and 2 16-dog) - the sun was out but it was windy so I had to dress warm - we were riding on the 4 wheeler with the winter bulldozer tracks on it and were the trail guards to block the other trails so the teams would not go off the trail onto the snowmobile trails that are all around the dog training trails.

That took until 3:30 and it was time to make doggy dinner - after that Randy went out to drag/smooth the trail twice because the temp had dropped so fast he hadn't had a chance to get too it so it started freezing in lumps.

Today Randy is working on fixing the bed of his sled where it broke into pieces at some time - it was a good thing he noticed it because it may not have held if he had to put a dog in the bag - I am sure it also makes the sled less stable steering with a big crack in it!  Then we are going to train 20 dogs as soon as he goes over the trail again to get the bumps out.  Not much else going on.......just staying warm....it is only 12 degrees today!

Training day today!!!

Went to Shawiningan yesterday for propane and food - it's nice to be familiar with the town and know our way around.......at least to Walmart!!  Then out to dinner with Bellerives at the restaurant in Charette.  It was so good to catch up on the last 9 months!!!!

Today we train all 22 dogs again - it's pretty mile temperatured at 25 degrees and a high expected of 27.  Once we are done training time to cook a turkey that got thawed since I didn't have room in the fridge!!

Here from Charette, Quebec!!!

The week is progressing nicely – no new problems and we got 3 new dogs from Bellerives – we ran them today and they did well – they had not run for 2 weeks.  Our usual dogs also looked good going only a short fun run yesterday and today – it was a bit colder today than yesterday so had to load up with another layer after the first run – we are going with the teams hooked to the snow machine so that they can get used to the trail again and build confidence.  Made pea soup today and other than training not too much accomplished.  Do still have the English speaking channel coming in on the TV so that’s a bonus!!!!