The Last Great Race

Our move here to Alaska has been ripe with good fortune so far......great weather and cooperative kids and cats during our travels here, a mild winter to ease us in, amazing northern lights. Speaking of the northern lights, last week a severe geomagnetic storm produced what they are saying was some of the best aurora activity in the past decade.  I have no idea what a geomagnetic storm is but man, was it phenomenal!  The sky was lit up with bright green and pink lights that streaked, swirled, and danced before our eyes.  Even the boys were speechless as we watched.  It was the definition of amazing.  My neck started hurting from looking up at the sky for so long that I was tempted to lie down in the snow to watch after a while!    Tempted being the operative word.  The spectacular lights lasted for several days, but here's a few pics I took on St. Patrick's Day.  Please excuse the poor quality as I am quite the amateur aurora photographer.  Someday I'll figure it out.  As you enjoy the pictures, I'm going to take a moment to go find some wood to knock on, as I have now jinxed my family by gloating about our good fortune.

Jason and I call this "The Eagle".  Do you see it?

Sigh.  I wish you could have seen it. 

As I mentioned earlier, Alaska is having a mild winter this year.  Seems crazy to say that, being that we've had 30 and 40 below temperatures, snow, and freezing rain, but evidently the cold spells have been much shorter and more infrequent than what is typical and there have been fewer storms.  This is a good thing I suppose.....better to ease into living in Alaska with a mild winter than having a serious reality check right off the bat.  As a result of this milder winter, the snow accumulations have been lower than normal, which resulted in yet another piece of good fortune for us! (More wood knocking).  For only the second time in history, the Iditarod restart was moved to Fairbanks! Yay for us!

For those who don't know what the Iditarod is, where have you been all your life?  I'm pretty sure most everyone has heard of the Iditarod, but if you haven't, it is an annual sled dog race and the most popular sporting event in Alaska.  Normally the Iditarod has a ceremonial start in Anchorage and then a few days later restarts in Willow, which is 80 miles north of Anchorage and 309 miles from North Pole (where we live).  The restart is really the official start of the race, which takes mushers and their teams of 16 dogs over a pass of the Alaska Range, through the state's interior region, along the Bering Sea coast and finally ending in Nome, for a total of over 1100 miles.  It is known as the Last Great Race and for good reason.  The conditions these mushers and their athlete dogs have to endure on this race are treacherous to say the least.  Since there was not enough snow on portions of the usual route, race organizers moved the restart to Fairbanks.  This meant we could attend without having to travel 309 miles and we could mark another item off the bucket list!  And cooler still, the restart just happened to be on Justin's 12th birthday.  It also happened to be on a Monday, so the boys got to miss school.  They didn't mind that at all.  

What a fantastic experience!  You could immediately feel the excitement in the air as soon as you arrived.  The city had shuttle buses running from two locations to ease parking at the event, which was extremely organized and worked perfectly.  At the race itself, it was very refreshing to find no commercialization of the event; no souvenir, food or beer stands anywhere like you normally see at major sporting events.  There was one little tent where they were serving free, yes free coffee and hot chocolate.  That's it. People were not there to eat, drink and buy stuff.  They were there to cheer on the mushers and their dogs as they embarked on the race.

It began with the singing of our National Anthem

At two minute intervals, the dog teams were led into the chute by volunteer dog handlers and the mushers.  An announcer introduced each musher and gave a little background information on them while the team got set up and waited for their turn to take off.  Most of the dogs were super amped and there was a lot of barking and jumping going on, which added to the excitement. The mushers went around and stroked each dog, giving each one what I assume was a pre-race pep talk. We were all very surprised at how small the dogs were.  For some reason we expected them to be bigger, but they were actually quite small.  

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

You guys ready back there?

When the announcer yelled "GO", each team took off to cheers from the crowd.  It was very exciting!

Here's a little video clip of one anxious athlete and his team taking off.

The teams raced down the spectator lined chutes before heading out onto the frozen Chena River and the rest of the race.

Here are a couple of ninjas taking in the excitement at the starting line.

Jason

Justin

It was a little chilly, 1 degree above, so we were all bundled up.

Us

Justin, always ready with his trusty phone to get pics!

I can honestly say that experiencing the Iditarod start was everything I hoped it would be and more!  It was a great bucket list item and if it's on yours, I hope you get to see it some day.

Speaking of bucket lists, I had a little contest on my last post.  I asked you guys to leave a comment about what was on your bucket list.  And the winner is...........Barbara Leath!

So all this talk of good fortune has me wondering what good fortune you've experienced lately.  Leave a comment letting me know.........and then go knock on some wood.

On My Death Bed

Lists are beautiful things.  They keep us organized and on track with our goals, and we tend to accomplish more when working from a list that we have taken the time to create. It's as if we're making some unspoken commitment to ourselves that compels us to actually do the stuff on the list.  And as an added bonus, it's hugely satisfying to cross items off the list.  Imagine taking a long draw off a cigarette and slowly letting out the smoke in perfect little circles.  I wouldn't really know for sure since I've never smoked, but for some reason I feel like it would feel the same. Deeply satisfying.

There are people who obsessively make lists for everything and then there's people like me, who try to keep track of most everything in their heads on little digital mind lists, which used to work just fine until I had kids and is now one of my biggest failures.  And let's face it.....those of you who know me are aware that I am the opposite of organized, so for me to engage in an activity that involves organization is highly unlikely.  However.......I do make two kinds of lists: The OMG I'm So Overwhelmed List and the traditional Bucket List; the former to maintain some level of sanity so that I don't go screaming about like a mad woman and the latter to fulfill a desire that may even outweigh my desire to maintain my sanity.  Let's be real......my sanity is probably a lost cause at this point anyway.  I mean, I live in a house with three male humans and two male felines, where farting is a source of amusement, Captain Crunchberries is the preferred meal, and the seat is always left up.

Back to the lists.  The OMG list, for example, was employed for the move to Alaska.  Holy moly there was a lot to do!  Packing, passports, school records and enrollments, cat physicals, selling stuff, travel arrangements, housing issues, cleaning (ok, so maybe I didn't do that much cleaning), I could go on and on.  And that was just on the homefront.  I had a full time job to wrap up too. Have I mentioned before that I'm glad that whole moving thing is over?

So let's talk about that other desire of mine, the one I said might just outweigh my desire to keep my sanity.  Do you ever think about when your time here on this Earth will come to an end?  That moment when you're lying on your death bed, knowing you're about done and thinking back on your life?  I do.  I know not everyone gets that.....that time to reflect.  I could get hit by a wayward bush plane tomorrow and never see it coming. But I prefer to envision myself old and gray, lying in bed at home reflecting back on a life well lived.  Key word being LIVED, which for me means seeing and doing as much as I possibly can on this amazing planet that has so much to offer in the way of seeing and doing.  Enter Brandy list #2, the Bucket List.  I'm organized about the things that matter, people.  So my kitchen counter and desk might make your skin crawl if you enjoy things neat and tidy.  But my adventures in this life will be meticulously planned and documented so that when I'm lying there in my bed, preferably on high quality memory foam, I'll be like.....Hell yeah......I lived.  And I had fun doing it.

I think Alaska probably shows up on a lot of people's bucket lists.  It's raw beauty, wildlife, the northern lights, the whole last frontier thing......there is much to dream about. Because that's what bucket lists are.......our list of dreams. 

I decided Alaska needed it's own sub-list on my bucket list of life, so I started compiling it based off of things Joe had heard about while working here, but mostly from the one source everyone uses these days to find stuff and organize it......Pinterest. And then I got all crazy in PhotoShop and made it all nice and pretty on one of the photos I had taken on the ferry. Here it is:

I am technically challenged, so no judging! And please pretend that the Iditarod line is lined through, because I created this before we attended it and now cannot figure how to edit it.  As I said.....I am challenged.  I am ok with it. 

Yes, I want to see a grizzly bear and it needs to be in a river, preferably fishing for salmon. I have this picture in my mind and I want to replace it with a real one. It just seems like that scene is the epitome of Alaska. 

So far I'm off to a great start, already 6 things crossed off in just 2 1/2 months! Here's a quick run down.  I'll be doing more detailed posts about each later.

1. Northern Lights - I've already mentioned the aurora in a previous post.  I said it there and I'll say it again, if it's not on your bucket list yet, add it.  Words cannot describe it or the wonder you feel when standing beneath it as it dances and swirls over your head.
2. Fly over a glacier - For my birthday in February, we headed to Anchorage and took a flightseeing tour of the Knik Glacier.  Kind of like the Northern Lights, glaciers fascinate me. This thing is 25 miles long, 5 miles wide, thousands of years old and absolutely stunning. 

   

   Before takeoff.  I knew the plane would be small but geesh!

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. See a moose - We have a mama and baby moose who live in our neighborhood somewhere. They have come to visit us twice.  The second time we were BBQing in the evening in the backyard and when I went out on the deck I was startled by a large, dark, shadowy figure standing right next to the deck!  It was baby moose munching on some vegetation sticking up through the snow.  We got a little worried when it wandered into this small fenced dog kennel next to the house.  I imagined it not being able to find it's way out and starting to panic, thrashing it's way out.  Mama to the rescue!  She was off in the side yard and when the panic started she mosied over and must have told it to look for the door, because it did and found it's way out.  Moms are great that way.

   

   Baby by the deck. Bad pic because I was in a hurry!

   
   

   

   Don't go in there, baby!

   
   

   

   Mama in driveway

4. Take the Alaska Marine Highway ferry through the Inside Passage - Ahhhhh......beautiful scenery, great sleep.....read all about it here.  
5. Attend an Iditarod start or finish - Lucky for us the 2015 Iditarod start was moved to Fairbanks due to lack of snow on the usual route.  What an amazing experience! The dogs were spectacular and the excitement palpitable.  More on the Iditarod start to come in another post!

   

   The boys are in ninja training.

   
   
   
   

   

   Ready to run!

   
6. Attend the World Ice Art Championships - Simply amazing what a person can do with ice, chainsaws, chisels, irons and all kinds of other tools!  I'll be doing a separate post on this as well, as we still need to go back and see the multi block entries that were under construction the first time we went.  For now, all I'll say is that the artistry of ice sculpture is breathtaking.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

I have left some blank lines on my Alaska Bucket List because I expect it to grow as we discover new and exciting things to do and see here.........if I ever figure out how to edit it.


Alright people!  It's time for a........

I want to know what's on your bucket list, cause I love ya.  Leave a comment below telling me what's on your dream list or better yet, post a pic of yourself doing something from your bucket list.  A random winner will be chosen from the comments and will receive something super special from North Pole!  The winner will be chosen on Friday evening, so act now!

In the meantime......who remembers what movie this is from?  One of my favs!

"Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin'."