The toughest sled dog race in the world...

...is the Yukon Quest. They say that the Iditarod is for sissies.

At the beginning of this week, I had the intentions of spending lots of time in downtown Fairbanks on Saturday watching the mushers come in from their 1,000 mile trek from White Horse, Yukon Territory all the way to the finish. I saw on the calendar of events that there would be an awards banquet on Saturday evening, so I figured that we could see some action at the finish on the Chena River downtown.

Boy, was I mistaken! I told you that I have a lot to learn. And that's what I get for assuming.
They don't all come in at one time, and they definitely don't wait til Saturday to finish. It takes days for them all to arrive.

On Tuesday evening at about 9 pm, I was checking Facebook status' when I noticed on the Yukon Quest's page that they were anticipating who this year's winner would be and they would know in a couple of hours.

I looked at the live tracker on the official website...then over to Phillip and the kids, and said "The first place guy just passed {a location near our house}!". Phillip then asked about the other mushers...We got that crazy look in our eyes (it was a school night)...threw our snowsuits on over our pajamas...and hauled booty over to {the location near our house}.

By the time we got there, there were a two other people waiting, and after some conversation, we learned that the area had been pretty busy earlier with lots of people wanting to see Mr. 1st Place (Dallas Seavey) pass by. We learned that if we waited, we'd see Mr. 3rd Place (Ken Anderson). It was about 11 pm when we finally saw a lone headlight come around the corner of the Chena, and so we went out onto the river (it's frozen solid) to cheer him on.

As we were waiting, the father of #4 had driven over to where we were. He'd just seen his son at the Two Rivers checkpoint. We had a nice conversation with him. He travels from Minnesota for about 3-4 month every year to support his son.

Mr. Anderson (#3) stopped long enough to adjust something on the dogs, and ask if we knew anything about how far behind Brent Sass was (#4). We were able to help him out with some information, and congratulate him on a good race.

My camera died just as I was trying to get a pic; I was only able to get him leaving. He had about 20+ miles to go before he finished.

We got home at about 11:30 PM (remember...school night). But hey, don't judge! It's reason's like this that we love being able to live in different places.

Next year, I'll be more prepared.

We took these pictures earlier today of a musher loading up to go home, and of the tear-down of the finish line.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Yukon Quest, then click on these links:
http://www.yukonquest.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_Quest

This is what happens...

...when you throw boiling water into the air at -42 degrees! (we shot this just a few minutes ago)

Frozen landscape.

My friend, Charlaine, took this picture this morning. She was on a nearby hill, looking toward the Alaska Range. Check out the ice fog at -43 degree temps! (Click on the picture itself to get a better view.)

You can see more of her talent by clicking on Simply Charlaine on the blog roll on the right side of this page.

For the family...

Sarah's really enjoying doing her "tricks" at gymnastics.

I gotta say that she's quite strong.

And she loves finishing with a "Ta-Da!".

A quote for today...

"Be humble for you are made of earth.
Be noble for you are made of stars."

Serbian Proverb

This morning...

I was at my kitchen window this morning, when I saw movement over the fence and in the neighbor's yard.

I got Phil's attention, and then went outside with my camera....I walked slowly up towards the fence...Phillip says sternly "That's far enough."...and then I shot this video. And then...she saw me and started walking...I didn't want to stick around to see what might happen next.

I ran outside with just a light jacket, and it was also about 8 degrees above zero.

We don't see her very often, so this morning was a real treat for us.



PS. I noticed and realized after a while, that this wasn't the moose that I thought it was. It may have been her baby. I'm not sure that the baby was a female either. I have a lot to learn.

Do you know what it means...

...to miss New Orleans?

(photo taken from the rooftop of the Omni Royal Orleans just before midnight on New Year's Eve, with my Hipstamatic for iphone app)

I think...

...that I owe Alaska an apology.

I realize that in an earlier post, I may have painted a minor dismal picture of the life out here. And for that, I apologize. Especially to those fellow military wives whose husbands have dreams of dragging them out here.

Big, FAT, snowflakes fall as I type. I look out of my window, and I see a postcard come to life before my eyes. I never get tired of the view from my windows, and it would only get better if I lived high on a hill somewhere, so I could see a snowy forest below me (which is really weird, because I'm a "city girl"). I do a daily "track check" in the snow, to see what animals have come to visit recently. And where else can you eat breakfast on a Saturday morning, and look out of your back door to see a moose standing just 15 feet away? I've seen a fox carrying off some small animal for a snack; we have a snowshoe hare living in our yard.

It is quite peaceful out here. The only sound from where I am is a near silence. I check my news apps everyday, and I'm kinda thankful that we are apart from the bad news coming from the Lower 48. Over here, there is not much need to lock your doors (though we do). I feel safe here. There is no traffic, no fuss to get somewhere.

At first, one of the things that annoyed me about moving out here was that there seemed to be no places to shop for the things that we're used to, or that there weren't any good restaurants to eat at. As I've mentioned before, Amazon.com has become a great place to find things, and there are quite a bit of unique specialty shops out here. A major problem to me was that there was nothing to do! I came from the Austin area, where if you were bored, then you had a problem. The new way of life out here has forced me to look at things from a different perspective, and to use my creativity more. As far as the restaurants, well, I can only think of one nice chain eatery here, but we tend to favor going to the local places. We have our favorites; lots of them. When it comes to choosing a Thai or Asian place to eat, we've got lots of DELICIOUS choices, and the Italian, Greek, and Mexican places are really good as well.

Still, I had to laugh this morning when I went into Gabe's room to wake him. He was talking in his sleep, and asking his school teacher where the Olive Garden was!

We do have to deal with such things as extreme cold, snow, critters in the woods, the whole day light/night time thing. Really though, a person just adapts. I'm all cozy and warm in my house right now. Driving in the snow is like driving on gravel (I've learned to pull out and stop slowly). And yes, I do worry about what will happen in the spring, when our neighborhood moose and her new baby will be out looking for food; it's a dangerous thing to come between them. But, all I can do is teach the kids to be aware, and to always make some sort of noise (as Gabe walks through the woods on his way home from school) so as not to sneak up on them. But really, it's kinda a unique thing to have to worry about. Don't ya think?

The people out here are also really wonderful people. The majority are so helpful and welcoming. I say this, because there are a few that like to keep to themselves (mostly the natives or long-timers). Everyone, I can truly say, is GENUINE. And I like that.

I can also say that I'm happy to live, and raise children, in a place that people sometimes save up for their whole lives to see. I mean, this is the Last Frontier and it certainly feels that way. Summer time is approaching, and the cruise line tour buses will soon be out (and then we'll have to fight a tourist for a space in line for a cookie from The Fudge Pot).

I've realized that I've become a bit of a different person since I've been here. The very things that depressed me and had me wanting to run South when we got here, are the same things that I'm going to miss when I leave (I didn't want to mention my negative thoughts to any of my fellow military wives, because I wanted to give it a fair chance first). Always looking for something to do, I've slowed down a bit. I can go days without feeling the need to leave the house now. I read more. I cook more. I exercise more. I've learned that I don't need my husband to teach me how to survive my first winter here; I did it all by myself.

They say it takes up to a year to see if how you really feel about Alaska (and to get over the initial culture shock); it took me 3-6 months.

Overall, I like it here. Not enough to retire here, but enough to look back on this experience with fond memories.

And to my Husband's and Brother's disbelief, I'm a little excited about the snow that will have to be shoveled (I like doing it) after we're done with this latest shower...