The IDITAROD 2012 Ceremonial Start

A very Alaskan thing to do here is see the ceremonial start of the Iditarod.  In school the kids' spelling words revolve around this event....The "Iditarod" begins in "Willow" and ends in "Nome".  Passes through the "Chugach Mountains" and near the "Cook Inlet".  The dogsleds are called "mushers".  Dogs like to "nuzzle".  You get the point.  It is HUGE here.  And it should be...going across all white rugged terrain on a dogsled with 16 dogs total (if all remain healthy) in below temperatures.  These people are true competitors.  I am amazed and humbled at thier feat.  To learn more about the Iditarod. Everything you want to know can be found on this site with live feeds of what is going on.



So the Ceremonial start is in downtown Anchorage.  Then the official start is in the town of Willow that is about halfway between Wasilla and Talkeetna (on a map all the way up the Cook Inlet).  Some year we will go to that, but for now we just wanted the kids to have an intimate look at the dogs and mushers.  We decided (after spending much time on google maps following the trail map) on 24th and Lake Otis Parkway.  It was a dead end street that has a 50 yard hike to the trail.  Super easy and close for the kids.  It was PERFECT!!!  It is in the Cripple Creek Area so it was very quiet and then you could hear the calls from the mushers and the dogs barking before they came into view.  (This is more to assist my memory...gotta remember this place because it was perfect...quiet stream, quiet trail).

It was snowing very hard, but the kids loved it.  Many of the mushers would throw out dog booties to the kids with candy in them.  The kids initially thought, "Oh no, a dog lost his booty...his foot will freeze."  But that was not the case. They throw them out as fanfare.  It was a total blast.  We had to wait for Sis' teams to pass...this year there are twin girls in the race with beautiful blonde hair, Anna and Kristy. Bib #31 and 33 I believe.  So yes we stayed for over half of the racers to come through.  We saw the Seaveys, Jon Baker (who won last year), Lance Mackey (who is a bit of a celebrity in this race), several of the women and Jeff King.  It was really great.  The kids were able to high five the mushers. 
         


So looking at the pictures you are wondering...why two sleds.  They had to put more weight because the dogs were so excited about running and they like the ceremonial start to be more fanfare ish therefore, two sleds are needed to slow the dogs down.  It was amazing to hear the dogs and mushers in the distance and then see them appear.  Such a neat experience.  We loved it.

Bucket list is slowly being filled up, adventure by adventure.  Funny Side Note:  Driving home I noticed a stink in the car.  After following my nose to the source...if you guessed the dog booties, you are right.  It was the three dog booties that I stuffed into my coat pocket for safe keeping.  Peewhew!