iditarod 2010, second installment

had such a great time taking pictures of pups and thier teams. the taking pictures part of professional photography sounds like a blast...it's all the other stuff that puts a crimp in the idea. dogs are just great to take pictures of. below is jeff king. he's won the iditarod 4 times and is always innovative in the sport. he likes to re-design sleds and harnesses and training patterns. he takes great care of his dogs. i remember when i volunteered to pet the dropped dogs here in anchorage...his pups were so sweet and adorable with thier little muscle shirts. he rotates them through the house and they are all socialized wonderfully.

again, jeff king.

more dogs...i'll never remember who's all are who's, but no matter.

another team comes down to sunday lake. the bib is #5 so that is zoya denure. she used to be a model and now is a musher i guess. i think her team is all rescue dogs.

just a few pictures from the mushers pit as they prepared to start the race.

it's a flurry of activity as mushers, friends, handlers, media, dogs and whatever else get prepped for the big trip.

must be hard getting that sled all packed up with all you may need for a few weeks...of course, there are drop off's of dog food and hay, but still one must be prepared for pretty much anything out there.

a volunteer "handler" plays with a puppy. below, spare sleds.

ken, tiffany, troy, melissa and joy hang out by the fire on sunday lake.

the mid team entertainment consisted of shadow letters by melissa, tiffany and sandra...this spells joy, obviously. :-)

tiffany is ready to cheer on the teams...melissa below enjoys the sunshine and relatively warm weather.

sandra boasts her canada citizenship...and cheers on all the canadians who ran. (and one not so canadian that i convinced her would be a canadian...hehe)

off to make some dinner. just did my 30 laps (60 lengths) so all is good. should sleep fabulous tonight. 4 miles of walking and a good swim. andrea met me out there. just us and our 3 collective dogs and emma and luke intermittently. he must have figured out we were out there...eventually, gill caught up with us. rio's fans were out on sunday lake. it took me a minute to remember who they were without our dogs. i see them at the dog park on occasion and they just love rio. nice folks. i meet so many nice people out on the trails in this town. okay..i'm hungry..lo mein tonight. stir fry is always tasty.