The Most Beautiful Sight

It just wouldn't be right to tell you about my Alaskan adventure without sharing a shot of the jaw-droppingly gorgeous mountains.



They went on forever....
Have a wonderful weekend, hope you see something beautiful!

All Dressed Up & Ready to Go

We had the opportunity to hang out in the staging area for the Scottish musher Wattie McDonald. The mushers & some of the handlers showed their Scottish pride in kilts & knee-high socks, (& nothing on their legs, brrrr!) but the dogs stole the show in their red plaid coats & black booties.

Doesn't Varmit look pleased with the make-over?



Once in your uniform, you can close your eyes & visualize the course (these are elite athletes after all).



Meet Miss Congeniality, she was so sweet & kept coming over to us for more noggin scratches.



Despite being enthralled with the dogs, I did actually manage to get in a couple of shots of the musher.



It was a cold & sunny morning, there were more than a few "eyes closed" photos. This is Wattie's fellow Scotsman & 2nd sled musher Kevin Thain in full costume, making sure his eyes were open for the photo.



That's where the photos stop for the morning, because we were invited to run the dogs up to the start - sometimes you gotta put the camera down & jump into the action!

It's All About the Doggies

After a hearty breakfast, we put our dozens of layers of sweaters & fleece back on & headed out to see the real stars of the Iditarod - the dogs! The excitement of the dogs was palpable, they really want to run. Waiting is the hardest part for them, but there are a variety of ways they get through it.

Some of them get chatty:



some are anxious, some more meditative:



some know the drill & are calm but watchful:



but when the booties are on & the sled is ready to go, they know it's almost their turn, & they just have to jump for joy!