Alaska #4

Yesterday was a great day as we attended the physical start of the Iditarod. We used the trick of dressing with the window open, and then left the heat off in the SUV while traveling. We headed north on Alaska Rt. 1 through Wasilla to Willow. The drive going there passes through and around a range of snow-covered mountains. On the trip up, it was cloudy, but the views were still spectacular. We arrived in Willow, and were directed into a parking area that was part of the local airport. In Alaska most every small town has a local airport or floatplane depot since light planes are a major method of travel here. We drove a couple miles down the snow covered Willow airport, and parked in a large field at the end of the runway. Planes were still taking off over our heads. We got out of the car and were standing around the back of the car “gearing up”. As we completed preparations, we were commenting about how enjoyable it was to be out in the vast outdoors and cold with the right gear. We boarded a shuttle bus to take us from the parking area to the festivities. The bus dropped us off at the main entrance to the start. We hiked into the event, and realized the whole thing was happening on a big frozen lake. It was amazing. Big television trucks, all the competitors’ trucks and support equipment, thousands of people, airplanes, helicopters, snowmobiles, all out on this frozen lake. Network news coverage was there as well as The Discovery Channel. We secured a place right along the safety barrier very near the starting line. From there we could see the mushers making their final preparations and saying good bye to their loved ones. This was a much more business like atmosphere than the ceremonial start had been Saturday. The dog teams were larger with some at the max number of 16 dogs. The sleds were heavily packed and all secured. As the teams approached the st arting line, they had a dog handler on each side of each pair of dogs keeping them under control. The dogs strained forward, and as the sled reached the starting line, and whole crew of officials basically jumped on it and corralled it from forward motion while the musher put a claw like ice anchor in the trail. Then the handlers disconnected from the dog teams, and most of the mushers made a final inspection of the long dog harness. The announcer would talk about the mushers’ history and stats, and the countdown would progress toward zero. At go, the mushers swung on to the back of the sleds, and rocketed down the mile long lines of spectators lining the safety barriers. You could see them a couple miles off as they headed off the frozen lake and up into the forest trail. Only 1100 miles and 9 days through the frozen wilderness till the finish in Nome. Just watching them leave for that quest was inspiring. An interesting bit of information: When the Iditarod first started it took around 40 days to make the trip. In the 70’s the average time was around 20 days. Recently the winner set a record of like 8 and a half days. I told my friends; I am really in love with this place and the whole event. If I were physically fit enough, I'd be back here next year as a volunteer somewhere on the course. We watched the start for a couple of hours and then headed back to Anchorage. On the way back the mountain vistas were even prettier and the sun was often out highlighting the beauty. We arrived back in Anchorage, ungeared, unlaxed, and went to dinner at Henry’s Great Alaskan Restaurant. Food was good, service was great, and a good time was had by all. Of note was an appetizer that consisted of battered and deep fried strips of onions and jalapenos. It was served with a ranch type dipping sauce. We returned to the motel and started preparations for flying to Fairbanks tomorrow. We’re off in quest of the Aurora Borealis. Later…..I just heard from my sister, 08:30am her time and 04:30am mine. My dad is scheduled for surgery tomorrow to deal with the intestinal blockage. The Dr. is a surgical specialist in issues dealing with cancer and the GI tract. Mother will be going to stay in Winston till he is stable. More later.

Wes

Alaska #3

Iditarod ceremonial beginning day was today. After all the excitement getting my dad back into the hospital before dawn Alaska time, we ate breakfast and prepared to head out for the start. They surprised us this morning. Instead of the crock-pot full of oatmeal, they broke out the ubiquitous waffle machine. In fact at this establishment, they trusted you to make your own waffle. We walked in to find a fellow scraping waffle crumbs out of the machine. Apparently he didn’t see the lubricating spray provided. After his total waffle failure, the attendant came out with a brush and cleaned up the ragged mess. I then proceeded to utilize my waffle expertise (honed by many days on the road) and bang out waffles for both Jerry and me. I filled the cups slightly above the fill line knowing that this particular brand of waffle maker required a slightly fuller charge to produce perfection . When mine came out slightly deficient, I went back and touched up Jerry’s to properly charge the machine. Waffle perfection was achieved, and we snarfed down the all carb all the time breakfast in preparation for the day’s festivities. We went back to the room, and donned our cold weather garb preparing for the day. Jerry and Brenda perfected a new method of getting dressed. It’s called open the window when it’s 20 outside. Finally we all got going, and headed up to the starting line. Jerry and Brenda had made it up there ahead of us, and Jerry fearing I couldn’t make the hike was headed back to get the car and drive me. As it turned out the motel had a shuttle that ran as long as anyone wanted to go that dropped us off right near the starting line. Jerry needed more clothes anyway, and so we hopped the shuttle and were back up there in no time. It was pretty d_mn cold this morning with a wind blowing as well. It was amazing to see all the snow they trucked in for the event. Wher e the streets were bare yesterday was a couple miles of snow 4-6 inches deep today when we got there. The route to the starting line took us past many of the teams getting their dogs ready. It is a very interesting sport. Not only do you have to get yourself ready, but also you have to handle the logistics of getting at least 12 dogs ready and fed and everything else to make it all happen. We trekked up to the starting line and secured spots where we thought we could see what went on. For a moment I thought I was at a NASCAR race as a lady butchered The National Anthem but as bad as it was she really belted it out and it felt great. They had all the politicians making speeches and about 10 folks cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the 36^th Iditarod. Then the real fun started. They would bring up each team and then count them down to start. The dogs would be so excited they would be all jumping and hopping. One of them on the team would begin to bark and sing, and the other s would all join in. They were some of the prettiest happiest dogs I have ever seen. They seemed like they were just happy to be in harness and getting ready to run. When they were turned loose, they would fly down the street to big cheers from the crowd. Today, they only ran 10 miles to the outskirts of town. There they would stop and be trucked to Willow, AK. which is 2-3 hrs to the North. Reason for this is there really isn’t enough continuous snow pack this far south to allow proper mushing. The teams start one every 2 minutes, and we watched them until it was approaching lunchtime. We decided to go back to the Alaska Salmon Chowder House for lunch. We got there before the real rush and got a table right away. Today Vickie had a big bowl of clam chowder, Brenda had a big bowl of chili, Jerry had a small bowl of Manhattan style Halibut chowder and a sockeye salad sandwich, and I had authentic style chicken ramen noodles. (complete with tofu strips—my sister would be so proud). I t all was great, and restoked the system to maintain body heat. Thinking of heat, we did find that the little warmer packs that Vickie had found us prior to the trip came in really handy for our feet. Our pack boots did the job really well, but the warmer packs made the difference between being very comfortable and slightly uncomfortable in the foot department. After lunch we went back and continued watching the start. We were able to see our new acquaintance from yesterday start, and hung on to see all 96 entries pass the starting line. With the start complete, we headed back down the hill to the motel, but along the way I spotted something that advertised a movie all about the Iditarod. Turns out Brenda had met the lady who ran this venue, and promised her we’d come and check it out. It was an odd sort of adult playground, with computer games that are kind of hard to describe. But you know me, I’ll try. They had a fishing chair complete with pole, and you tried to reel in a 65-po und salmon. The game pulled like you really had a big fish on the line. Somehow it recorded a score of how you did catching the fish. Was a lot of fun. Then they had a hot air balloon ride over Prince William Sound simulation. You stood in a real balloon basket with a TV screen for the bottom. It was very beautiful and realistic. Also, there was a real life dog sled with a computer simulation projected on a screen in front of you and you felt like you were really riding a dog sled. Finally they had a 30-minute movie all about the history and workings of the Iditarod. We were fortunate to have a woman in our small movie audience that had participated in the race several times. She talked with us and gave us a real feeling of how it all worked. She said that the dogs were like athletes, and as a musher, you were like their coach. She went on, you were dealing with 12 minds, and what you had to do was get them to work as a team. At times you had to be a Vet, physiologist, mother, chee rleader, whatever it took. Also, you had to keep their spirits up to want to run. She talked about how they loved to run and unless they got older and infirm, you really couldn’t take it away from them. From watching the movie, the hardships for the mushers are unbelievable. They have to single handedly mush (drive) the sled all day, then after they stop, they have to get the dogs bedded down, inspected for injuries, and fed (again alone) then take care of themselves. They also have to camp under very primitive conditions in the cold. The physical toil plus sleep deprivation takes it’s toll on the participants. It takes a very hardy soul to even complete an Iditarod let alone win one. One girl told me the dogs burn 10,000 calories a day. I said even I could loose weight with that kind of energy expenditure. All in all this event is truly a unique symbiosis between man and dog that goes far beyond just a competitive sport. I can’t believe how much I enjoyed just being here to see an d try to understand what goes on. Tomorrow we are going to drive up to Willow to see the actual full on for real start of the race. I’m really looking forward to that. Tonight we are headed out to the Sourdough Mining Co. restaurant for dinner. Jerry and Brenda had found this place when they were here in the summer. In the meantime we’re unlaxing a little and doing our own things. My sister just called and dad has been admitted to Forsythe Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Things are looking up for dad. He has a better group of Dr’s. and they are not looking at his condition with cancer blinders on. He was comfortable last night, and sounded much better on the phone. On the way to dinner tonight, made an interesting observation. If the roads in Greensboro or Martinsville were like they are here, the city would be closed until the spring thaw. According to the motel shuttle bus driver they had a 40-degree thaw followed by teens. What it di d was coat everything in a sheet of ice similar to a frozen lake. Sidewalks, parking lots, side roads, you name it. Driving is quite a treat unless you are on one of the main highways. We had a nice dinner—food was good—portions were way to large as usual. I had a smoked brisket sandwich that was way tasty. Jerry and Vickie had baby backs, and Brenda had a smoked pork sandwich. Specialty of the house was corn fritters with honey butter. They were excellent. Back to the motel, and up this morning to head for the Willow start of the actual dog race. More later.

Wes

Alaska #2

We woke up this morning around 07:30 local time (12:30 pm EST) after finally crashing about 01:30 am. (at that point we had been up almost 24 hrs.) We went down to partake of the continental breakfast here at the Laughing Moose Comfort Inn. I have named it that because of the giant moose head hanging in the entranceway that appears to be laughing. Exactly why he is laughing when he is dead and stuffed is a mystery. Oh, and also in the front hall are a huge wolf pelt, a black bear that looks like it’s been run over by a steam roller complete with it’s tongue hanging out, and a giant stuffed brown bear. The top of the bear reaches all the way to the floor level of the second floor balcony. During breakfast we recognized the picture in the Alaska paper of a famous musher running in the Iditarod sitting at the table next to us. His name was Ken Anderson and he was very nice. This morning we put Miss Vickie on the job of negotiating a new accommodation contract. She managed to get us a discount rate for our remaing stay, and comp for the room we shared last night. They quickly had a room ready for us and we moved right across the hall and landed. We have a room now overlooking the famous Ship Creek. I think this is the one in the old saying “Up Ship Creek without a paddle”. We’re getting our collective acts together and will be heading out to explore Anchorage soon. We donned all our cold weather gear and realized we needed to be outside soon. It’s a new thing—I’m dying from the heat and I need to get out where it’s cold. We went across the street to the snow sculpture competition. It was very interesting. They took a parking lot and piled it full of snow about 8 feet deep. After it had settled down and hardened, they came back with front-end loaders and sculpted out walls and raw blocks for the competition. The blocks for the competition were about 10 feet by 10 feet by 8 feet of rock solid snow. Each team somehow chiseled out their vision. The results were quite interesting. After the snow sculpture we walked over to the Ulu Knife Factory, which is right beside our motel. We saw how they made the knives, did some shopping, boarded the Fur Rondy trolley, and headed up to the city. The trolley let us off in front of the Alaska Salmon Chowder House, which came highly recommended by our trolley driver. It was lunchtime so we decided to check out the food at the Alaska Salmon Chowder House. It was great. Among us we had the special times 3 and a bowl of chili. The special was a half a salmon salad sandwich and a bowl of the chowder of your choice. Jerry and I had the Halibut chowder and Vickie had classic clam chowder. Brenda had a bowl of chili. All of the chowder was killer good, and the chili was fine. The sandwiches were on nice crusty rolls with crisp lettuce and the salmon salad (like chicken salad) was very good. After lunch we watched the TV trucks setting up and set off exploring downt own Anchorage. I guess I never knew, but a huge earthquake largely destroyed Anchorage back in the 60’s. Also we found out the tourist business here is very seasonal. Other than now (Iditarod) winter is pretty slow with tourists. Well they have plenty of souvenir shops, right on the main streets. We visited several shops and while walking along the street heard a dog barking. We looked up and saw a sled dog standing on the roof 2 stories above us surveying the crowd, We then headed off and hiked a few blocks (via the adult beverage store) to the only official Iditarod souvenir shop. Jerry and I found the Iditarod store and got some “stuff”. We had split up earlier, and we met back up with the girls. Jerry and I decided to head back to the motel, and the girls went on to the mall that contained the Iditarod store. I was having a little trouble walking, so we decided to take the trolley back. We saw it down the street, and Jerry took off at a fast clip trying to catch it. He caught u p to it only to find it idling with no driver. A short indigenous woman with one tooth smoking a cigarette was standing next to the bus. Jerry asked her if she was the driver, and it seemed like she said yes. We figured she was on a break and sort of hung around. Upon further conversation with this lady, it seemed she was somewhat (or a whole what) tipsy. Jerry and I started wondering if we really wanted to get on the trolley with her as the driver. Just about the time we were really getting nervous, here came the real driver out of a nearby store. Seems this old Native American woman had taken the liberty of Bs’ing us for her own entertainment. Well we got on the trolley with the real driver, and set out on another adventure. Seems we had to ride the whole trolley route with him to get back to the motel. He proceeded to tell us his and Anchorage’s life story. Now well educated, Jerry and I were dropped off back at the motel. I noticed some activity at the far end of the parking lo t (right next to the giant mountain of snow) that seemed to involve sleds. We wandered down and found another of the Iditarod mushers complete with competition sled and dogs. The dogs were happily resting in straw nests inside a large white trailer, and the sled was being inspected on the trailer ramp. We had a nice discussion with the musher, and learned a lot about how the Iditarod works. Her name was Anne Capistrant, and she’s wearing bib number 88. (of 97 mushers in the race) We needed some munchies and liquid refreshments, so we got directions from the desk clerk and set off for the grocery store. We ended up at Carr’s Safeway, which was a large well-stocked store. Seems Safeway here has a curious arrangement. They can’t sell adult beverages in the grocery store, so they just build a little store on to the end of the grocery store and sell them there. It even takes Safeway customer rewards cards, which we just happened to have thanks to a very friendly checkout lady at the Saf eway grocery store part. Even while traveling, we saved over $15.00 with our Safeway card. Of interest along the way back from the grocery store was something called Falafel King, which appeared to be some kind of fast food establishment. (upon further research, it is some kind of mid-eastern sandwich of fried chickpea balls in pita bread. Says McDonalds even has one in Egypt called McFalafel). We got back to the motel, and found that in our absence the fire alarm had gone off somehow caused buy the person of questionable legality vacuuming in the hall. Seems like it must be a routine problem as he assured all the heads poking out of the doors “no problem, no problem”. (oh and he called Vickie sir, she couldn’t believe he thought she was a guy) We settled down for the evening, and dinner became what we rounded up at the grocery store interspersed with adult beverages and hearty laughter at the day’s events. Miss Vickie came up with a good one; she looked outside to see if it had “s nown”, guess that is southern for snowed. Since our clocks are all on Eastern Time, which is 4 hrs later, we soon headed off to bed. I awakened at my usual 07:00 only to find here the clock read 03:00. I got up to write, and ended up working with the Dr’s. by cell phone to get my dad back in the hospital. He is not doing well again, and his GI track is not cooperating. My sister scanned and emailed me all his test reports, and now I am really confused. The biopsy was not inconclusive it was NEGATIVE???? The only test that indicates cancer is a blood test that has to be confirmed by a biopsy. So we’ve gone full circle, and we’re back where we started 2 weeks ago. Well we’ll just have to see how it goes as he reenters the hospital. Look for us today on the TV at the Iditarod start. More later.

Wes