Last weekend

Our Last Weekend

It's 8 AM and I'm watching the most beautiful snowfall. You know the kind, big flakes slowly falling from the sky. It's 5 degrees now only 1 ½ degrees warmer than it was during the night. The air is absolutely clear and crisp, and if I were on a mountain top I would be able to see for hundreds of miles.

Although beauty surrounds me, I'm a little sad. I'm painfully aware that my trip to this majestic state soon comes to an end as this is Saturday morning and I return home Monday.

Today I will go to the Open North American Sled Dog Races. This race spans 3 days and begins and ends with this years 19 sled-dog teams running straight down 2nd Avenue in Fairbanks. The race trail then drops onto the frozen Chenna river does a loop through a wildlife ecology site, returns to the river and then back home, down 2nd Avenue. Car traffic is stopped at several locations, along the route to let the mushers pass.

This race is always so exciting for me to watch, as I'm able to get up close and personal with the dogs and the mushers along the trail. Sometimes I just sit quietly right along the trail and listen to the mushers calling to their team as they approach, and feel the wind and the rush of excitement as they pass. I really don't know which I love more, the hectic loud howling from the dogs, and the loud speakers counting down the mushers clock at the start, or the quiet whoosh of the running dog team as it passes me on the trail. Luckily, 27 miles of trail and 3 days of racing, I can enjoy a little of each.

Judi

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