the Hensley's finally made it after 10 years of being in AK. Here are a few photos.
Went hiking the other day on the mat-su river bed. Here are a few photos.
I ventured out of town with the 3 kids and Larisa Myers and her son Jonathan. We left late Thursday night (Feb 28th) and had a great trip up. We saw 3 different shows of northern lights with movement and color (pinks and greens and blues). We also saw Caribou on the side of the road in Cantwell. Right on the side of the road.
http://newsminer.com/news/2008/mar/03/young-erhart-leads-way-junior-mushers/
As for jonathan, he had a heck of a time. He has lost a few leaders this year due to injury. He was trying different dog configurations as he is currently heading down the Alaskan highway to Yellowknife Canada for the Arctic Winter Games. We wish him luck.
The first day started with his dogs fighting as he headed out of the start gate. After moving dogs around and heading down the trail, his new $2000 sled broke. The piece that broke is a critical piece for steering the sled. The 2nd day was a little rough as well as his new dog configuration still was having a hard time heading out of the shoot and he was on a borrowed sled. However, some place in the trail he switched dogs around again and came back happy as he felt he had found a new leader.
On the 3rd day, on his sled again that was fixed wit the aide of Tom (the husband of my friend Wendy), Jonathan headed out. It took a moment to get the dogs going as his new lead dog is still very young and not quite sure how this all works. But before he hit the trees (the trail heads in to the trees), the other side of the bar that broke the first day broke. Larisa was a little nervous as it took Jonathan a long time to get back. We finally realized we he got back that he had to ride the brake a lot as he had not steering control again.
Glad this all happened in Fairbanks. We are rooting for him to have all the bugs worked out in yellowknife.
I also want to say a big thanks to my friends Wendy and Holly. Also to Wendy's daughter Jennifer and Wendy's husband Tom. Wendy cooked dinner for us on Saturday night. Holly brought the salad, wine and birthday pie for Rya. Wendy and Holly also got Rya a necklace (made by Holly's friend) that has a musher and 2 dogs. The crossbow of the sled in real gold. Rya loves it. Tom and Wendy also let us drop the dogs in their driveway after I locked the keys in Larisa's truck. This turned out to be not such a bad thing as there was a lot of wind in Fairbanks and their house seemed to be out of the wind. It was actually quite pleasant feeding the dogs in their yard while we waited for AAA.
I also want to Thank Wendy and her daughter Jennifer for coming to the races Saturday and watching Keenan so I could help with the dogs. And another Thank you to Wendy and Holly for coming Sunday to watch the races and help with Keenan again. This allowed me to help with the dogs and getting the kids to the start line.
Here are a few photos I took. There are also some professional photos that I will post once I get them.
I thought I would post a few photos of Meredith Mapes coming in after running the Jr. Iditarod. Yuta Takagi (another 4-H member) also ran the Jr. Iditarod, but we were not there to see him come in. Rya took these photos.
It has taken me a few days to write this up. Fur Rondy was not a pleasant event for us. It was very disorganized and as I brought Aila and her sled and dog to the start line (we were parked on the other side of the finish line), the race organizers let the 2nd musher go 30 seconds early. I was on course with Aila and Sparkles (her dog). This musher and his dog came straight towards me. I froze. I then tried to catch the dog as it came towards me while holding on to Sparkles. I jumped over the snow burm and then realized I was not going to be able to catch this dog. The kid on this sled jumped off and the dog then headed into the parking garage. I was then yelled at by one of the organizers and when I asked why they let the 2nd musher go 30 seconds early (I was told by the announcers at the finish line to go on. I knew I had 1 minute to get off course and take Aila the 2 blocks to the start) was told that they could not hear the announcers and obviously they were not making sure the course was clear. Like the 4-H moto says, "Learning by Doing". I can guarantee Tony will not go back to this race with me. The word of the day, chosen by Tony, "disorganized". No one won or lost this race as the announcers and timers were not able to time the race. As kids were ready (the race started earlier than we were told it would) they were sent down the road (it took place on 4th avenue in Anchorage). Since the announcers and the people starting the kids did not have a radio, the announcers were announcing the wrong kids coming down the road. But here are a few pictures from the day.
Here are some photos and video that our friend leah took today.
DAY 2
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papa tim said:
congratulations mushers: there is going to be some great competition at the ididerod in a few years read more
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maddy said:
[this is good]Great going girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brings back my memories of mushing in Chugiak at the sprinters thing for business owners. read more
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