silence is acceptance...

 above is Mitch Seavey, he is into White Mountain.  he has a mandatory rest there and then he goes through Safety to Nome....the race is almost over and barring anything pretty drastic it's his to lose at this point. i think he's won twice so this will be a third

 his son Dallas is behind him...also in top ten are Joar, Wade, Petit, Jessie...well those are the top ones.  several big names pretty far back on this run though which seems odd.

 another dog passed but it happened after it was completed on the Iditarod. it had it's last check and had been picked up. apparently, the dog was at a handlers place in Anchorage and it escaped out the front door and was hit by a car and passed.

 these are all from Anchorage.  the race will be over before i start posting pics from Fairbanks...haha.

 will still try to get many dog pics in for all to enjoy.

 spectators with their furs always entertaining.

 today was the Monday walk.  another chill day out there.  the dogs had a great time.  found a cell phone.  i need to get that app.  find my phone app. when i plugged in the phone it had a message to push the button and call number if found as it was lost. they were home and were able to meet us at Kaladi's to pick up their phone

 they had lost it while out for a late night moon light ski.  tough to find anything out there.  nice folks, gave us all gift cards, which was super sweet and unnecessary.  they had written Good Samaritan on the card envelope.  i guess someone else had found a phone they'd lost in a cab a while back and they held the phone hostage, asking for more and more money.

 i just joked..."i guess that is the difference between trail people and cab people".

 after Kaladi's i decided to head out towards the Wildlife conservation Center.  it was a pretty day and this time of year i think we all start to get the itch to venture out more.

 the bears were out, at least a few of them so i got to enjoy them for a bit.

 i hadn't changed the time in my car yet so i was a bit surprised when the time was an hour later than i had thought it was.  still got to see the animals.

 this one is sideways...but this couple cracked me up.  maybe this is the same guy from the other fur...not sure. they look warm i guess.

 on the way back from the Wildlife Conservation Center i got lucky and caught the bore tide.  at a pullout i say a few guys suiting up to go paddle boarding out there.  made me keep my eyes peeled for the bore tide. got lucky...which is generally how i see the bore tide here.

 the start sign.

 jumping dogs...always entertaining

 doubt they are quite as exited at this stage of the race.

 always good to take a little drive and clear my head.  iitoo is stress inducing.  very annoying and even more annoying that this one person can stress out so many people with his pettiness, his lies, his greed...i could go on.

 at some point those who say or do nothing accept what is.  i mean this on both sides, really it will end up being those that support him.  always wondering what will it take before they speak out.  what will it be?  are they speaking out with the possible attack on SS or medicare or medicaid? will they speak out if he is proven to be some sort of lackey for a certain government?  what proof will be needed before they turn on him?

 i really have no idea.  there are so many trolls out there and if you are to believe these trolls there is nothing he can do to turn them from him.  it's pretty scary.

 some days i do better at keeping my stress and anxiety over it all down. other days it seems tougher.

 i think this was a fun jump shot just because all the folks around are laughing at this dog as well.

 i think i also decided that perhaps Ivy Rose is a sled dog at heart after watching all these high jumping dogs. she did her magic on the trail with a group of tourists.  they just laughed and took pictures.  thank God for tourists...

 trying to hold back the dogs.

 just a big party zone out there.

 Ivy's incision is looking better with the antibiotics on board.  she seems to have felt great through all of this.

 they eat, the food eventually disappears.  they are not really the type of dogs that devour their meals though.  Tusker still prefers to drag a bowl of food outside.

 military crew of handlers. the musher runs in support of veterans.

 many of the teams will have a cause.

 fun to see this crew out there.

 one of our Senators over on the right.  i actually didn't notice she was there until i was looking at the photo's. she isn't actually handling a dog but is instead holding a rope that is tethered to the lines.

 more furs...it was still fur rondy as well. the events overlap

 there were a few protesters out there.

 Jeff King...running slow but seeming to enjoy it. i suspect once you are out of contention you can take it all down a notch and just enjoy the ride more.  winning is not everything in this world...sometimes you do just have to enjoy the ride.

 we wandered around, changed spots.  pretty packed downtown so tough to find a good place to watch.  lots of fun spots through town to enjoy the race though.

 there is Jessie Royer.  she is still running with 16 dogs...pretty amazing feat really, most of the time they are down to 12 or less. can't remember but i think they have to have at least 6 out on the team when they come into Nome.

 another large protest sign at the parking garage.  the garage is full of spectators as well.  it's a great place to watch from.  the sign i will admit i didn't see either until i was looking through pictures.

 we'd rather be led by the dogs...haha.  true enough.

 Joar is doing well this year.  up there in top 5.

 thought this was cute of this handler out there.

 Aily below...

 not her best year but she always has a good spirit and hopefully she has a relaxing run.

thankful for:  A.  beautiful scenery to help me find my center  B. pups to keep me grounded and entertained.  C.  the surprise bore tide.