dogs in town...

 stopped by the Lakefront Hotel...formerly Millenium Hotel...it's the Iditarod headquarters in town here.  it's where the dropped dogs come from the trails.  they get their final checks by vets, get id tags checked, fed/watered and loved.

 clear and beautiful day in Anchorage.  the front runners on the trail have made their way to the coast.  as usual this race doesn't take very long anymore for those in the front.

 This picture below is not one i took.  the water mark is on there..it was posted by Jeff Kings crew yesterday. this is Nash, the dog who was killed yesterday by the drunk snowmachine driver.  rest in peace sweet pup.

 these dogs are sweet.  it's always surprising.  they spend a lot of time with people and a variety of people often so they are super sweet and tolerant.  got to love on these guys today, then took my friends daughter back so she could love on them as well.

 we got a bite to eat at the Hotel as there was supposedly 60-80 dropped dogs on the way...we watched the sunset and then gave up.  time to get Blossom home.

 never enough sleep on my days on.  today i had to stay up to do my schedule.  hope that works out okay.  was on time i guess.  another night in the Peds icu.  same patients.

 missing the pool after taking last week off.  hope to get back to it tomorrow.

 Aily and Jeff are back on the trail, i'm sure it's a much sadder journey for both of them with what happened so fresh.

 the guy is in custody last i heard and in Fairbanks..so he shouldn't be able to terrify any more dog teams..at least not this year.  sounds like he was going 80mph on his snow machine and went right into Jeffs team.  he had one dog killed, 2 others with major injuries and i think 2 more with minor injuries.  the one dog had surgery here in Anchorage today for fractured leg and was recovering from that.  the dogs came through the same place that we were at today with the dropped dogs.

 that jerk scared the crap out of Aily.  he rode towards her at least 4 times over the course of an hour, leaving and returning again.  she had grabbed up the stakes they use to guide the teams to attempt to defend herself.  neither used their emergency buttons, which would have ended their runs.

 for Jeff, the one dog was so badly injured he knew they couldn't get there in time, it died in his arms no doubt.  the others he did first aid on and figured he'd get back to a check point quicker than they would get to him....of course, they coming would have meant more snow machines.  you have to wonder if the dogs will be traumatized and anxious around snow machines after this.

 Ellen Halverson is hoping to not get a third red lantern (the award for coming in last).  she appears to be last every time i check.  9 teams have dropped out or "scratched" as they call it.  always for the usual, "out of concern for the dogs".  i want details.  :-)

 not many wear helmets out there...not that it's not a good idea.  i  do think several are wearing helmets for certain aspects of the trail.  this guy above is Joar Ulsom of Norway.  they have several teams out there this year.  quite the cheering crew of the Norway teams on the trail.

 the front runners are getting close as i said.  Brent Sass, of Eureka, the Seavey's and Aily are the top 4.  i think Wade marrs is next.  will be cat and mouse chase...we shall see who will turn up winning. i know the Seaveys are competitive, even with each other.

 sometime Tuesday or Wednesday someone will probably be in Nome under the burled arch.

 guess the friends of the local library discovered they had a pretty rare first edition in their collection to auction off.  it's a first edition Yeats, "october blast".  good condition.  not sure what that could bring to the library fund.  kind of cool though.

 some poor woman is missing this week.  i believe her car was found, but not her.  she's had an issue with a stalker, a previous co-worker.  these cases are always so frightening.  she never dated this guy, he's actually quite a bit younger, he just become obsessed with her.

 the mushing mortician is one of those who scratched.  he actually seems to scratch fairly often. just looked...6 starts, 2 finishes.  running a team of dogs in the Iditarod is not a cheap endeavor.  not sure how some of these folks keep coming up with money to do this.

 still looking through the restart photos. long ways to go.  you will be seeing canines for awhile here...always for a while after the race is over and done with.  so fun to take pics of this event though.

 my to do list is growing.  next week i will have to really get crap done!! started doing some ACLS stuff on line at work. it's usually just too busy and too many distractions.  i'll need to sit down and do that one of these days. i'm sure it won't take that long once i'm home doing it.

 time for taxes as well.  not sure why i put it off, i usually get some money back . just cant' stand doing them though...guess we all do.

 DeeDee is an iconic Iditarod musher. she's had a rough year this year. lost her sponsership with Shell Oil and her home to a forest fire.  she has completed i think like 30 of 33 attempts at the trip to Nome.  she is not young...but she is fit.  not really a contender this year.  she had some issues with a bison on the trail this week...it wanted to poop and did not wish to be disturbed.  there was a scuffle, thankfully none of her dogs were injured.

 the other in pink is one of our Senators, Murkowski.  she was a dog handler i guess for DeeDee and then hopped on Bakers tag sled, with the Governor on the runners of that sled. i did see another of our Senators downtown. not a fan.

 the dogs often have more bling on then on the real run to Nome so fun to see what they come up with.

 it's a short run but still plenty of action out there.

 the politics and election crap rumble forward.  still shocking and disturbing.  all i can do is shake my head in disgust these days.  disgust at those running and disgust at those who seem to view them as viable candidates.

 a favorite musher, Lance Mackey, seems to be having a struggle again.  he turned back and returned to a checkpoint when his dogs were having issues. he's still in and has given some emotional interviews.  you feel badly for him but wonder if he shouldn't just find another way to be involved that isnt' so taxing on him physcially and emotionally.

 he's not had an easy life.  the dogs, mushing, are really something that holds him together.

 cruised around Lake Hood with Blossom today.  ice free walk.  always nice this time of year.  it was beautiful out.  we also did a bit of moose spotting, but only one moose was spotted.

 waiting their turn

 sled dogs are not keen on the waiting part once they are harnessed up.  they just want to book it

 a team comes down from down the street to take their turn on the streets of Anchorage.

 chatted with a few volunteers today.  so many of them come from the lower 48 and beyond.  it's always amazing.  i really should do the Iditarod volunteer thing. i think the dropped dog part would be the easiest for me to do.  i could still enjoy all the festivities and then enjoy some 1:1 dog time

 these guys are really ready to go!!

 my illusive cat made an appearance tonight for my guest. this is highly unusual.  she's usually just a blur if she appears at all.

 look at these cute mugs!!

 love these light blue booties too

 can't resist these pups...it's like a dog festival out there.  a party of dog lovers!

 this is an Iditarod finisher license plate.  pretty cool that the state does these for those who do complete the run.

 the Nenana ice classic has run since 1917.  i've never put in a guess and often say this year i will.  perhaps this is the year.  you guess the date and time of break up on the river.

 horrible dog death in  a village.  the dog was hung by it's neck over a stop sign.  we live with some very sick people on this earth.  it's terrible the horrible things some humans are capable of.

 scene on the street.

 guess it's time for me to crash for the night.  going to give my house guest a lift to UAA tomorrow morning,then it's monday walk time.

grateful for:  1.  that the injuries to Jeff and Aily and their teams weren't worse...they were certainly bad enough, but things can always be worse i guess.  2.  for our visit with the dropped dogs today. it was fun  3.  for the shortened shift last night.  11 hours instead of 12.  it's amazing how nice that feels