and then the clouds rolled in..

 until then it was a beautiful day today.  liked above action shot.

 above a  Sweede, Matts Peterson.25th place.  i think by the time these folks come from other nations they have already gotten a bit of mushing experience.  i think they all finished.

 Next is Randy Beals, he came in 11th..not bad, not bad.

 trying to figure non-icy places to walk the pups...so today we headed out to Lake Hood and did the loop there. a friend often bikes that loop, i've never actually walked around the whole thing.  always love the planes.  did see one land out there today despite the ice looking a bit questionable in places.  looked like the landing went fine.  saw a few out there changing their ski's to tires.  that time of year.

 Rio was pretty slow getting around there. probably not the most fun walk for the dogs, but they are happy to be out walking.  Blossom does love her tennis ball time and there was none of that today.  it just gets sketchy out this time of year...break up.  it's never easy.  it gets us to summer though.

 a better shot of Randy Beals.

 no moose sightings today.  was going to go for a swim...in the end i took an afternoon nap and then settled in and watched American Idol. it's been awhile since i had a lazy idol night.  Rio likes couch snuggle time too.

 have had a good week...like keeping records of mileage. it really does help you be more goal oriented each day...despite my skipping my swim today.  i really do like living a more active life and it's the best way to get my body a bit more in shape.  i'm better at exercising more than at eating less.  as you get older you can't avoid the eating less part of the equation.

 i find i just naturally eat less crap as i get older.  i tend to bake less so that means a lot less, cookie dough and cake batter...i'm more of a snacker than a meal eater.  i just need to select better snacks.  chips are my nemesis.  i can limit chocolate way better than chips.  the best thing for me is to just not buy bags of chips that are at home. then i allow myself a little bag of chips with a subway sandwich or some at a party (which i am rarely at, haha).

 some days you just have to take a couch day and chill.  i got slack in between shifts a bit and that i need to fix.  i like the 10,000 steps/day goal.  that will help between shifts i think as well.

 Jeff King.  a friend who volunteers doesn't seem to be a fan, i like the guy...not that i've met him.  i don't need to eat lunch with him though or socially interact with him.  he's innovative, seems to love mushing and his dogs.  he's got some cool dog gear.

 not sure where the outside funding is tentatively coming from for Round Island. is it someone i've discussed round island with?  have i made any difference at all?  i may never know. i do hope that the funding comes through.  then we can start working on next year and the year after that.  working towards finding permanent partners to keep Round Island staffed and safe.

 sounds like fish and game made a trek out there.  probably to check stuff over and start to get set up for the season.  no walrus out there yet is the report i heard.  i'll keep you posted as i hear more about potential funding.  fingers are crossed and i am having a hopeful day.

 dog team on his cool gloves...he's popular enough he gets some pretty cool gifts.

 WARIS has been a bit of a rollar coaster.  some days are great, others stressful.  am i helping?  don't think i've made anything worse yet...i still could i guess.

 nothing happens if you don't try though.  gotta be the squeaky wheel some times in life.  i love that line from this movie...can't think of the name right now... "sometimes all a woman has is being a bitch".  it's true some times. being nice doesn't always work.

 as the back yard and front yard melt i become more and more stressed out....i will have to tackle the yard work soon.  i am not as stellar at yard work as i had hoped to be.  i keep saying money needs to be spent to get  others to tackle it.  with spring coming early it may be the best year to pay for yard care, at least to get it started down the right path. a nice lawn and some general landscaping would be good.  also there are some repairs that need to be made out back.  the leaf pile is still pretty much frozen..i tackle the yard poop...i am a poop expert so that i can handle on my own.

 i have a yard, i'd like it to look nice and be a lovely place to chill in the summer.

 people are surprised at how tightly packed we are in Anchorage.  for all our wide spaces we don't have tons of buildable spaces.  i also don't want to see our recreation spaces taken over for homes.  progress...it's not always progressive.  people will keep coming and they will all want their little piece of Alaska.

 as you add all these people and build more and more, especially on questionable lands...well, we shall see one of these days when the big quake comes again.  it's so easy for everyone to forget about the quake damage potential.  they haven't been here to see the damage a big quake can bring.  to keep this a great place to live, they have to keep the wild in this city.  so say i anyway.

 it's looking like the Kincaid moose are safe for the time being. seemed a silly idea to me anyway.  the less we mess with nature and the natural order of things, the better off they are.  humans seem to have this arrogant opinion that we can and should control nature.  kill predators here, kill moose and caribou over here..we unbalance everything and then wonder why things get all screwed up.  subsistence hunts are fine, as long as everyone just takes what they need and isn't greedy.

 not sure how many from the lower 48 should be given tags...the earth will balance itself.  humans unbalance it all

 read a disturbing bit of news today.  a plane crashed in France, all aboard were killed. it originated in Germany i believe.  it's sounding like the pilot stepped out of the cockpit and then was not allowed back in.  suicide?  terrorists? we may not ever know, but how awful for all on board and their families.

 pretty sure this helicopter was carrying Iditarod photography Schultz.  he's been their lead photographer for years.  he's taken some beautiful shots over the years and has been in at least one plane wreck. seems if you fly a lot in Alaska you will find yourself in a wreck eventually..especially the smaller planes.

 there are often survivors but often times there are not.  many well known Alaskan's have passed in crashes.it's part of life in Alaska.  i've had  a few iffy flights but i have always landed safely...knock on wood.  there are some dang good pilots up here too.

 in the hospital things come in waves....some summers we have what seems like a lot of this sort of accident or that sort.  one year it may be climbing accidents, another planes, another motorcycles..or moose vs cars or bear attacks...what will this year be?

 a bit disjointed tonight.  sorry..i have these stacks of papers and some days i just find myself catching up and seeing if there is any exciting news  or stuff that i have opinions about. i often have opinions about things.

 my opinion on these dogs is that they are super cute!!

 i think this is the other cindy at the bottom of the pack.  she finished the race.

 not sure how i'd do in the -50 degree temps these guys dealt with. i can be a wimp in the cold.  you just carry on though in a thing like this...you have to.  the dogs need to be attended to.

 not sure running dogs at those low temps is as fun as running them closer to zero.

 Wade Marrs, ended up in 8th place, right behind Jeff King

 Ringling Brothers are phasing out elephants.  rights groups have for years battled the circus and it's treatment of the elephants.  they are not admitting to bending to the advocates but they are phasing out the elephants.  it can't be easy for the elephants living in close quarters, constantly on the move. for the elephants this is a good thing.

 my pups caused a stir today on the walk . a woman got out of her car with her two pit bull cross looking dogs.  they were on leash, saw my dogs and then went after each other.  she was able to break it up and it looked like she put them back in the car and headed away.  didn't sound like a usual experience for her, she seemed surprised by the behaviour.  my dogs remained totally chill...gotta love my pups. they are pretty mellow, which i love.

 there has been some training involved.  not sure these dogs know the sit-stay-come commands. they know gee and haw and other mushing commands. Rio has her own commands to help her due to her blindness.  over, under, careful, steps.  dogs are pretty smart and they know a hell of a lot more english than i know dog.

 Pogi is going after the newspapers on the ground.  all for the recycling bin.  i seem to have less and less trash.  that will change a bit once i start clearing the yard...the dreaded yard work.  haha.

 this guy has a sweet face.

 we are getting close to the end of the dogs...then i'll finish up the rest of the Fairbanks trip, drop in some Northern lights shots and then whatever i take on these little hikes.  took quite a few on the beach the other day..sure was pretty down there. there are pretty things to see even during break up.

 these next two are both rookies...one out of Kansas? and the other from Kotzebue.

 pretty dogs.  often these rookies are running with other peoples dogs.  gives bigger mushers a chance to let a young group of dogs make a slower run to Nome and get experience.  in exchange they get dog care and training at their kennels. taking care of a large number of dogs is spendy and time consuming. i have my hands full with my two pups.

 i can't imagine all those dogs and all that would entail.  let alone living with all the barking and the dog poop...OMG...the dog poop!!

 they are adorable...but that is a lot of poop!

 these dogs in the Iditarod are being studied more and more.  how do they do it?  researchers want to know. the more they learn the more it benefits the dogs as well.  it may eventually teach us more about humans as well.  dogs and humans are best buddies.

 these dogs eat 12000-25000 cal/day from what i have heard.  crazy amounts of calories. they are burning through them with all that running. now the dogs take prilosec to help prevent ulcers which are common in sled dogs.  dog deaths in the iditarod have decreased over the years.  pressure was a reason for this but i suspect attitudes about dogs have changed as well over the years.

 dogs have always been loved in general.  over the past 40-50 years they are seen more and more as part of the family, deserving of care and attention. there are still those who just ditch dogs that are inconvenient for them.  there is more social pressure in general about dogs and the care they require in all homes.  in some circumstances it gets a bit ridiculous.  people think all dogs need to be treated like pomeranians that live in little outfits and are "walked" in strollers.  different dogs are created for different reasons.  they are adapted to a variety of life styles.  a pomeranian would not survive if treated like a sled dog and a sled dog would be miserable if forced into a pom's life.

 there are bad folks in every aspect of life and there are those who still see all dogs as use and lose as needed.  social pressure is probably most effective in changing these attitudes.

 well, another good day to catch up on my reading.  it's relaxing.  i'll have to get a snack and head to bed.  back to work tomorrow.  my nights off seem to fly past with me accomplishing very little of the stuff i set in my mind to get done...life goes on though

we are like the dogs, just keep running.  eventually i will get to Nome, right?   grateful for...A.  lovely days and long walks B.  allowing myself to be lazy and letting go of guilt C.  safe flights..they are a gift.

another fine spring day...

 loved this picture above.  sometimes i just get lucky with a shot.  it's why so many of us take so many photo's...for the one or two that really make us smile!

 exercise has been going well this week.  getting my swims in and my steps in and today i went for a bike ride outside. pumped up the tires this evening and headed out. the sun isn't setting til after 8:30 already.  didn't want to wander too far from home just in case the tires flattened out on me.  they seemed to hold the air.  hopefully i can get in more bike rides over the next several months.

 the seat is never comfortable...gotta get used to that.  i used to bike ride all over when i lived in Pasadena area.  bike to school then the gym. out at the beaches.  on the weekends i did these 25-50 mile organized rides.  didn't get ribbons, but i did collect a lot of t-shirts for awhile.

 Rio joined us and we walked today Potter to Mchugh.  it was a slow walk as there were loads of roots for Rio to deal with. a few moose to deal with as well...thankfully no bears as i'd forgotten my spray.  those trails tend to be some of the first bear sightings each spring.

 gotta get my parks parking sticker for the year so i can park guilt free.

 sat out on the deck with the dogs and cats for a bit a few times.  sun was out and it felt fairly warm.  started to organize the tax stuff while i was out there....mix pleasure and pain.  just need to call and make a few appointments tomorrow for these painful things...once the appointment is made i will have to just go for it.

 good looking dog teams

 SC posted an interview of the Mackey brothers on FB so i watched that.

 i think they both always live on the edge of broke.  Lance has sponsers mostly for product, dog food and what not, but still there are many expenses involved with having a kennel of dogs like these guys do.  i suspect he'll be back on the iditarod trail.  Jason said he would, Lance was still hemming a bit on it all.

 they talked about the dog team of Jansens that Lance came across.  sounds like they were not that secure.  it also sounds like when the rescue folks picked up Jansen he wasn't with his dogs and they couldn't find them.  the Mackeys seemed to both feel that every effort should be made to get the dog teams rescued.

 i really liked what Jason Mackey said...cause it echo's what i have written  on here several times.  he's cool with the GPS tracker...the emergency button...well, that is another story

 you hate to say leave those folks out there without a button but it really changes what this race is and who can or should run it.  having an emergency button gives security to people in a situation where security can't be guaranteed.  you  have to be prepared to take care of yourself and your team in extreme conditions on this race and no expect a rescue crew to show up just because you decide you've had too much.

 if you can't be prepared for every sort of situation then you just have no place being out on the iditarod trail.  they spoke of a storm that they opted to wait out.  they saw others push through.  when they did go they had loaded their sleds up so that they had hay and enough food for themselves and their dogs for a few days at least...they joked a month.  you gauge the condition of the trail between checkpoints and then decide A.  if you should even attempt it or B.  what you should be prepared for if you do attempt it.

 the emergency help button fundamentally changes the race.  i'm not sure they can ever change it back now that they have put that out there.

 if i were to ever attempt something like this i would want to have taken some winter survival training, perhaps a coarse in how to make an igloo or other winter shelter methods.  i would want to have those essential items that we were taught as backpackers to have...it adds weight to have them but when those situations come up, you are ready and that weight was worth it.  they make them carry certain items, axes, snowshoes....things that must be in every sled every step of the way.you have to know what to do with those items.

 the dog deaths, still a mystery.  Lance said the vets found nothing and the dogs both were eating and running well.  both were healthy appearing. both brothers denied that Lances troubles early on had anything to do with those deaths. they rested more than most teams and the dogs ate well.  Jason made a point of saying that for the most part he just traveled with Lance and Lance did the bulk of his own care on his team.  he helped out when temps were really low or if Lance needed something specific done that he couldn't do with gloves on.  good interview.

 i guess the remains of the family dog was found with the remains of the family that was found this week on the Kenai. the whole family went missing last May.  hope they figure out what happened there.  so sad to see an entire family killed.

 this is a musher from France.  she has huskies.  i know the winter temperatures we have here were something she has never had to contend with before.  she got through it all.  sometimes training for the worst case scenarios is one thing, some people just have a survival instinct.  i suppose you can't always train for the worst case scenario....you train and then when you find yourself in a situation you will discover what you are capable of, what you are made of.

 each situation is different.  so far when i've been in situations i have remained calm.  scared on the inside but able to keep my head about me.

 feet from grizzly bear teeth and claws, i moved closer to the bear to scream at it and get to the horn.

 big waves coming towards me when i was in a Kayak and i was able to say, keep it straight, kayak direct into the wave.  every situation is unique though.

 this is Jan Steers, she scratched.

 and of course, this is Dallas.  the winner!

 coming...

 and going.

 this is Becca Moore, another rookie.  she finished...towards the bottom, but she crossed under the arch

 this guy below, Brian Bearass...i may have spelled that wrong.  hehe.  he scratched as well.

 i believe he was running the dogs of Hendrickson, who was hit by a truck while out training her team...still recovering.

 he looks pretty cool in this shot i'd say.

 finally got an email from Bruce Dale of Fish and Game.  he mentioned that they appear to have found some outside funding to keep Round Island funded for summer.  i'll have to check with my fish and game friends before i get too excited.  fingers crossed...we could really use some good news though...i could anyway.

 took him awhile to respond to the email....this is an older email i wrote probably early february?

 the pitter patter of little paws.

 the first group of bison have arrived safely and are in a holding pen there for a bit before being released to the wild.  they will provide hay as they learn to make it on their own.  hopeful for them to do well in their new home.  once the group gets large enough they will allow for a hunt i guess.  that would be a lot of meat.

 having not ridden my bike for sometime, my biggest worry today was whether a spider had made a home in my bike helmet or gloves.  didn't note any scary spiders though on my check, which was pretty thorough.

 stopping to shake his head.  this team stopped briefly in front of us.  sometimes the dogs get tangled and have to be sorted out.

 Rick Costello...number 52 was my travel companion on the trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks...at least for a few hours. i suspect he'd recognize my car if he saw it again.

 these dog shots came out pretty sweet as well

 always love those blue eyes and the long tongues.

 a good set of booties is always cool too.

 Monica Zappa.  i've seen these gloves on sleds more and more.  they look like the handle bar gloves i see on bikes around Anchorage all winter.  yes, people commute by bike all winter long here.  not sure i would enjoy a bike commute in sub zero temps.

 a few more scenery shots from the road trip back.

 the scenery going out was beautiful but i really didn't stop much on the way up except for gas and to pee.  wanted to get to Fairbanks before it got dark.  bad roads and darkness are a good thing to avoid so say I anyway.

 on the way back i was in less of a hurry though.  i knew once i got past Talkeetna, the drive would be easier not harder.

 pretty clouds and below was from the trip up...my first peek of the trip ahead...lots of teams headed up at the same time i was.

thankful for:  A.  another great sunny day to enjoy. fresh air and exercise.  B.  that good feeling that comes with a work out.  C.  happy dogs and happy cats!!