FUR RONDY 2012

This is on the actual trail on 4th Street.  No, they did not bring in snow...it is here natually.  All streets look like this around here.

Fur Rondy is the largest winter celebration.  Yes it is still FREEZING cold outside but hey, why not have a huge celebration.  There are so many activities going on around town for two weeks.  This celebration started from the fur traders coming together to sell thier collections.  And now it is the celebration that leads up to the start of the Iditarod.  Some of the activities include parades, big air shows, fireworks, carnivals (yes in the cold), dogsled races/rides, outhouse races (yes this is correct and not a typo), the running of the reindeer (like the running of the bulls, just reindeer) just to name a few.  I think it would be impossible to attend everything, but year after year we will hit it all.  This year we made it to the sprint dog sled races, carnival and snow sculptures.

Obviously the kids were excited about the carnival.  You all know the type of rides.  Those rickety old rides that are usually found in shopping center parking lots.  Yep, those are the ones.  The ones that we all loved as kids that cost WAY too much.  So it was thier reward if they "endured" watching the dog sled races.  We didn't make it in time for the start.  Each "sprint" takes about 1.5 hours.  They have a route that runs through the city.  However, we were at the finish line to see them come in.  We also were able to see how they transport and get their dogs ready.  Some things are just "only in Alaska".  Love it here.

              
This was as the first sleds came in from the sprint.  It was amazing.  Those dogs are loving it so much.  And I was shocked at just how fast they are going.  It was hard to get pictures before they zoomed by.  And this was with the breaks being on.  It was very old and the kids were good sports. 

People just line the streets on 4th avenue and watch as they come in.  This is the center of the celebration with things going on all over the downtown area all day everyday for 2 weeks.  People come from all over the world.  Russia, China and the lower 48 to name a few. The kids were not that excited but agreed to make us feel good about it as Dad and I were thrilled to see "real life dogsleds" in action.


These dogs totally LOVE this.  Check out those tongues.  I think I would be dead after running at full steam for 1.5 hours.

This is one of the MANY trucks that transport the dogs and sleds.  It is amazing how they do it.  They can hold up to 32 dogs in these things, that is enough to "dog" two full sleds with 16 dogs each.  That is the maximum number of dogs allowed per sled for the races. 

This is some dogs that are getting ready.  They hook them around the truck and give them some warm food.  Then it is time to strap them up and get them goings.  You can tell that the dogs are so excited.

This is just an AMAZING exhaust system.  We thought it was funny.

THE CARNIVAL PICTURES!!!!!  Stephen and Aubrey were thrilled to ride the scariest ride there called the Apollo.  It throws you in a circle and upside down like a million times.  Dad and I said "No Way" were we going to go on it.  So glad that they have each other.  So they rode it while we watched relieved that we didn't have to ride it with them.
       

Just as they finished we were lucky enough to run in to some new friends that were there too.  It was so much fun riding the rides with them.  Such an amazing family.  We feel blessed to get to know them.  They are here from Oklahoma.

What a great Day at the Carnival of Fur Rondy 2012.  All the kids fell asleep in the car on the ride home. Cheers!

This photo was one of the many "furs" walking around for the Fur Rondy.  This guy was the best.