Last Day - the Official

 On the drive to Willow Lake - Frozen Fog

Look we see Ally Z. Truck!!

 F

Hog Frost - Its Beautiful

 Willow Lake - The official Start of the Iditarod

Crystal Clear Day to See Denali 

With our special Teacher Passes we were able to get a back stage pass to see the mushers preparing for their long trip. Some were neater than others:)

Veteran Martin Bueser talking and relaxing before the race.

Meredith M. eating a cup of noodle soup

More Dog (Athlete) Pictures

In the airport - Look a moose!!

Pictures sent to me from Shaktoolik

Northern Lights

The winner of Iditarod 2018

Joar just waking up from his break in the village of Shaktoolik. He had no idea he would win at this point!

Running with the Reindeer

Would you run with the reindeer?

After the Ceremonial start to the Iditarod, everything is taken down quickly and the Fur Rondy banners were hung. The annual running with the Reindeer was about to begin. We had never heard of this event, but it was a great experience to watch. There was a King and Queen to Rondy for the week. They were walking around town like they owned the place. The live entertainment was Hobo Jim, he wrote the Iditarod song. It was cold, snowy and some people wore crazy costumes  to stand out as they ran with the reindeer.
The reindeer that they used were from a local farm. The owners walked the reindeer down the street to where the runners were standing. The participants started running down the road and the reindeer we let loose. People were screaming, laughing and standing in fear when the reindeer ran past them trying to get away from the craziness. When the participates were done running, another group came up ready to run. The reindeer had to be gathered and brought back down the road to do it all over again. By 3rd time the poor reindeer were VERY tired, their tongues were hanging out the side of the mouths.
What a great experience!!

Busy weekend!

Good morning everyone! You’re probably on the website looking for updates. However we’ve been extremely busy for the last few days and haven’t had a chance to post. I am going to do my best to add pictures so you can see what we’ve been up to. We will see you Tuesday.

Mrs. Seeney here -
OK... we have a 2 hour lay over in Seattle at the moment so I am trying to get this blog up for everyone to see. Mrs. Bolton is catching up on her sleepnext to me. We are in Seattle, Washington, it's 5:21 a.m and in Dover it's 8:21 a.m.
Math problem, whats the time difference???
We are going to be tired when we get home!

On Saturday we went to Downtown Anchorage and we were able to see what many people just are not able to see in their lifetime - the Ceremonial start to the Iditarod. It was a great event! Many people dressed in their best outfits and others dressed in their best furs. The feeling through the whole town was excitement!

Here is a little history about the start of the race:

The race has started in downtown Anchorage since 1983. The teams leave the start line at the corner of 4th and “D” at two minute intervals, starting at 10 a.m. There are an average of 65 teams starting the race each year. The mushers follow multi-use trails through Anchorage to Campbell Airstrip, an 11 mile run.

An IditaRider auction is held each year whereby fans can bid to be a rider in a musher’s sled from the start line for the first 11 miles. This auction opens on December 1 and closes at a specific time and date in January each year. The money raised is used to offset expenses of the race and to provide each musher who finishes the race after the top 20 (who receive cash prize winnings), with $1,049. This helps the mushers get their teams home.