quick post

 returned from Fairbanks last night around 8:30 pm so haven't looked at too many of those pics yet...though there are many to look at of course.  thought i'd toss in a few from the restart again to catch you up

 DeeDee of course.  still running after all these years. did notice she's in her same outfit but put a big fabric tie die block over the old shell sign.  they dropped her as sponsers the same year her house burned down...nice, right?

 roads were pretty good.  windy a bit at times both directions.  my car is an element so it bounces a lot in the wind.  the roads on that last pass heading into Fairbanks were a bit dicey, not as bad as a few years back, but i'm sure the fact that it was at the end of my 7 hour drive north and i was tired made them a bit more sketchy for me.  coming back they seemed much better.  i suspect the return side of the road gets a bit more sunlight.

 hard to imagine anything melts in the temps we had up there.  when i woke it was -35F, but warmed up to -24F both mornings when i was out of the hotel.  by mid day those temps were soaring closer to zero i think.

 i got up early, watched the sun rise on the river.  i had gotten in too late to explore our spots for race day the night before and was anxious that we'd be without a good location so that inspired me to get out of bed in the chill and get walking.  it was a short walk to the river from the hotel.

 other than sharing the area with hundreds of school age kids it was a good spot.  i figured there was no way those kids would be out there too long.  they literally brought busloads of kids.  when the Iditarod comes to Fairbanks the wise school allows the kids to observe the teams....which is cool.  we walked a bit to get further from the hoards of kids though.

 we were there before the hoards arrived and they swarmed us.  we were all a bit disappointed in the adults who were supposed to be leading the kids. it was an opportunity to teach the kids some manners and etiquette but that did not happen at all.  we'd walk further up and then we'd be swarmed again.  eventually we found our spot and were free of the masses.

 we were all dressed warm enough for the chilly temps.  i had toe warmers and hand warmers and many layers.  we all had a great time.  always so fun to watch the teams head out.

 i really only had that one day and then i drove back to Anchorage Tuesday. i'm slated to work tonight, though i would happily take an on call.  that generally means i'll no chance at one.

 several moose on the road on the way back.  3 between Cantwell and Talkeetna spur road.  stopped for lots of pics. drove the park road in til it was closed at about mile 13.  lots of tracks, but no animals sightings.  was going to walk the horseshoe trail. started down it but the wind was really whipping and at a base of -22F the wind chill really takes it down.

 as you can see, even the Iditarod champ pics up his share of dog poop without complaining.

 we hit the Chena hot springs in the afternoon Monday so it was a long day.  in the morning i went to the Ice Sculptures before leaving Fairbanks.  slept great last night in my bed with my puppies.

 as you can imagine the pups were beyond thrilled to have me home.  it was the first time i'd left them with someone else since Blossom passed.  i think Ivy was anxious.  her incision looked a bit more puffy and red.  thought it looked a bit better this morning.  hopefully our walk today wears her out enough to not bother it.  i was thinking not walking her would be best, but maybe since she's so active wearing her out is the best way to protect the incision.

 we are over a week out now.  so we are getting there.

 Dallas booties up dogs for run through Anchorage streets.

 a handler at another truck booties up another dog team

 i thought i took loads of go pro video but i can't seem to pull any up.  not sure what happened.  at some point the battery died but i really thought i got several in. i was pushing the button and it was making the right noises.  i think those would have been super cool though.  dang.

 the teams are on the trail to nome.  always fun to follow it.  i work the next three though to i doubt i'll make too much of a dent in my pictures.

 cool truck downtown.

thankful for:  A.  safe travels B.  a distraction from the chaos in DC.  C.  that the puppies did fine with me gone . had planned on taking them but Val was available and it did make more sense to leave them since it was such a quick and crazy trip.