It’s late Thursday night — early Friday morning, actually — as I post this, so it’s been a long day!
Bridgett, Kaz, Mickey, Doug and I turned the Kennel lights on at 6 o’clock this morning and sang the dogs their good morning song. By 7 o’clock we had 34 dogs loaded in the trucks and were on our way to Anchorage. There’s a lot to tell you about the 11 hours it took us to drive the 350 miles, but that will just have to wait until I’ve gotten a little sleep!
The bottom line for now is that we all made it here safely, just in time for the banquet and to see Allen and Aliy draw their starting numbers for Iditarod 2009. There really isn’t much of a “competitive advantage” to any particular number, because the starting intervals are all “made up” during the mandatory 24 hour rests. There are some psychological and strategic aspects, however, so it is an important part of the process. Allen and Aliy are both happy with the numbers they drew by lot, so we’re off to a good start!
Here’s a quick video to share the experience with you:
