We have been pondering the ‘Postcard dilemma’ for a solid week now. It seems that over 75% of the nearly 200 postcards mailed in Nome on March 18, 2019 reached their destination the week of August 5, 2019.
Our main concern, of course, was that perhaps the dog team that Moira used to haul the cards to the Nome post office was to blame. So, first we researched that consideration. Upon closer inspection of photographs, we believe that we misrepresented Moira’s team in the post several days ago. The photo on the right is not, in fact, her dog team.
This was her dog team:
As you can plainly see… Driver is in lead. What?!? Driver is in lead? In swing is Iron (with a very puffy tail.) In wheel position, and somewhat of a surprise, is Tig the retriever. Moira does enjoy sporting fun and exciting hats and beanies from time to time… so this could, in fact be her trying out the ‘Mounty look’. Anyhow, from the look and enthusiasm of this Mail Team, it just might have taken them a LONG time to get the postcards anywhere!
Needless to say, blaming a dog team is NEVER ACCEPTABLE so… we were lucky that our good friend and Anchorage Iditarod dog care lieutenant, Linda, flew into Nome this week. We now call her…. Detective Linda!
Linda made her way to the Nome Post Office on Front Street to inquire about ‘said postcards’. Why the almost 5 month hold up in delivering a teeny, tiny rectangular slip of cardboard paper? According to Detective ‘Boots in Nome’ Linda:
“As it turn out, the SP Kennel <We Made it to Nome> cards were placed in an Outgoing Mail box that uses a special “Iditarod Celebration” stamp to cancel the postage. This stamp went missing! Therefore they held the postcards in Nome until the special stamp was found. It sounds like they didn’t want Iditarod fans to be disappointed. The Nome post office just got the replacement stamp on August 3rd.”
Thank you Detective Linda. Hope you enjoyed Nome. Did you send me a postcard?
We have been hearing from a few folks (all over the USA) that they are only receiving their Nome Postcards this week! Now… that is SLOW.
Moira drops off the SPK postcards in Nome in 1908. You should be receiving them SOON!
Moira did in fact, hand deliver the “We Made it to Nome!” postcards to the Outgoing Mail Box at the Nome, Alaska (zip code 99762) Post Office on March 18th. That is 4 months and 3 weeks ago. We posted postcards to all dog sponsors, dog fans and many other SPK fans. Now it seems that our dog team could have delivered your postcard faster than the U.S.P.S. That’s a shame. Perhaps the Nome Post Office is just recovering now from the hype and fanfare of the Iditarod in March.
Let us know if you receive your postcard. It would be interesting to know who actually got their card and when. This postcard below was stamped “August 3rd, 2019”. Don’t you wonder what corner under what pile of rubbish it was hiding?
It’s August. And with it, the rain has come to Two Rivers. Lots and lots of puddles and wet dogs. Let’s put a positive spin on the rain:
No more smoke.
No more fire.
The temperatures are cooler.
We are closer to the beginning of Fall training.
It’s also Dog Fan Club Draw day! In the spirit of ‘keeping it upbeat’ our Fan Club prize is all about fun times in Alaska. The winner gets a pair of psychedelic socks. Plus a little Alaskan postcard humor.
Congratulations to Becky Pacas who is a fan of Nomex. Becky will be wearing a fun pair of socks and receiving a glam shot of Nomex. Plus she’ll be posted four Alaskan postcards in the next couple days. Sometimes you just need a smile and these postcards will do it! Check your mail box often Becky!
Nomex is an absolute blessing. He is a super happy boy with a shy streak. When he loves you… he LOVES you. He has a unique ‘chirp’ when he wants your attention. One of the more powerful team dogs at SPK, he showed his skills as a lead dog by crossing the Yukon Quest finish line in leading the 2nd place! Woohoo.
Nomex is one of the eleven pups of the Fire Litter from 2013. Some of them have retired, but many of them are the heart and soul of the SP Kennel racing team today. Nomex has been on all of the top teams in the past few years and will be in the thick of it again in 2020!
HERE is a fun video when we were trying to “teach” Nomex to howl!
Find out more about our athletes at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here. We are keeping the Dog Fan Club open all through summer so it is never too late to join.
These two videos were taken just after our 24 hour rest at the Iditarod Checkpoint. Both the dogs and musher are well rested and perky. It’s funny to listen to my voice and hear how ‘upbeat’ I sound. Amazing what sleep will do for a person, eh?
In Episode 9, I have Spark and Dutch in lead. We are traveling on the trail just before the village of Shageluk. It isn’t exactly mountainous, but it is hilly. Our sled load is lighter since we just left the Iditarod Checkpoint and our destination is Shageluk, with no rest stop in between. Therefore we were not carrying extra food and camping supplies for a trail rest. We were keeping a good speed along this section, even though you will see us grinding uphill. Actually, we had the fastest run time from Iditarod to Shageluk of the top 10 mushers.
In Episode 10, the only rotation to the team line up was Mismo replaced Dutch in lead. I like to give my lead dogs a little down time by moving them back a position or two. I rotated Spark, Mismo and Dutch in lead position for the second half of the race.
My main concern was the afternoon’s warm temperatures. The sun was lower on the horizon, as you can tell by the long shadows of the dogs, but it was still warmer than I desired. This section of trail crosses wide open tundra and marsh fields with no shade so we could feel the sun overhead. In year’s past the wind has blown the trail away. We were fortunate that was not the case in 2019. It is really quite pretty.
Quito was the most extraordinary dog that I will ever know. No offense to all the other dogs who have been or will be in my life. She was magnificent. I will try to write an obituary that is happy instead of sad (yea… sure as the tears begin to fall.)
I am lucky to have had several standout, strong, powerful female figures guide me and inspire me in my life. Quito was one.
Quito always enjoyed springtime mushing trips.
Quito died many months back. I have not had the heart to write about it yet. She was diagnosed with cancer, more specifically hemangiosarcoma, on September 24, 2018. This was only two days after she went mushing through downtown Anchorage for the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk. This was the last time she was part any dog team. She (and I) enjoyed it immensely.
Quito underwent a long, invasive surgery to remove the tumor which was underneath her shoulder muscles and along her rib cage. Despite great efforts, the doctors could not get clean margins for complete cancer removal. Her two week surgery recovery was some of the most pain I have witnessed in a dog.
A month after the procedure, Quito was doing well. She would run around the kennel and visit her favorite friends and relatives. She always became frisky during the cooler months, the “mushing time” of the year, and this past winter was no different. However, the tumor began growing again and it got large. We never left Quito alone this past winter. She always had a companion who stayed at the house with her. She needed to potty more often and needed her extensive medications. I just wanted her to be comfortable. A HUGE thank you to all my Quito sitters. You enabled me to continue to mush and race this past season and not worry as much about my canine friend. I know that you did it for her, not for me. But I thank you anyway.
By early March, Quito’s tumor was too large for her to continue to humanely live. We were forced to put a date on the end of her life. I am reluctant to be honest here, but I will. I couldn’t do it. I said ‘Good Bye’ and I went out on the Iditarod Trail. Allen helped me with the Iditarod ceremonial start, the restart in Willow and then he came home for Quito. Then he said his final ‘Good Bye’. Quito died on March 4th, 2019.
Many of you know Quito’s ‘glamorous life’. It is well documented for the past 10 years. Simply put, Quito was the smartest, most talented, physically tough and best put together Alaskan husky sled dog I’ll ever know. Racing was easy for her. She competed, year after year, and won, race after race, even earning the Yukon Quest Golden Harness award – twice. Here is the post when Quito won her first Yukon Quest Golden Harness Award and this post is when she was awarded the MVD in 2012.
Quito and Chica lead the team in the Yukon Quest – Photo: Julien Schroder
When Quito was only four years old, Allen and I noticed something different about her. After long training runs, when we returned to the kennel and put the team to bed, Quito would curl up for about an hour nap, then pop back up and start barking at her sleeping teammates. They were all still in bed. We had some fantastic dogs back then: ChaCha, Venus, the Candy bar litter, the Car litter, Ash, Manny, Stormy, JJ, Rose, Nutmeg. But Quito outshined them all. She never got tired. Allen and I would stand in awe and watch her bark directly at someone… taunting them to wake up. She was ready to go. There were great things ahead for SP Kennel because of Quito.
Quito, Aliy and Nacho at the Iditarod finish line
From 2010 (age 4) until 2015 (age 9) Quito was undoubtably the boss of the SPK racing teams. It was: Quito, Aliy and Allen. Who was really in charge sometimes was debatable. She remained the alpha dog of all the SP Kennel dogs until the day she died. Her priorities were different as she aged, as they are for all of us. She didn’t saunter through the yard barking at everyone as much as she used to. She would pick and choose which dogs to greet and which to ignore. But even in her final days, she would wake up on her thermarest dog bed in the living room, run outside onto the deck and overlook her domain. Sometimes she would go down into the yard, sometimes not. It varied from day to day.
Quito lived her entire life at SP Kennel, except for one week she spent at Joar Ulsom’s kennel when she was bred to Kosak. That is a story unto itself. I was very reluctant to leave her, but in reality I couldn’t stay in Willow for that long. The evening that Allen and I returned to pick her up, she saw us from a distance and started yelling at us. I believe it was something to the effect of“Get me #/!!8#! outta here!”I let her out of the pen, she immediately ran over and jumped in the open car door. So much for enjoying her time with Kosak.
Quito was the mother of some of our best and brightest. With four litters – the Latino, Golf, Golden Harness and the Olympics litters, she managed to juggle her career and motherhood with ease.
Quito with the Golf Litter
There is too much to say about this incredible soul. I am so fortunate to have known her, to have loved her and to have been able to appreciate her incredible skills as a sled dog.
The 2014 Iditarod was an adventure I will never forget. I wrote a ‘Trail Notes’ journal about that race. Here is an excerpt from when we were trying to reach the Safety Checkpoint during a violet blizzard.
“This is not where we needed to be. With darkness surrounding us, all I could think about was the ocean just to our left. So, I crawled back out to Quito, grabbed her harness and she and I inched our way north directly into the wind. We found traction on a small strip of tundra. We struggled like this until we could regroup and head to the west again.
“I could go on and on with this gruesome tale. I remember all of it like it was yesterday. But, the overall theme to this story is that my dogs and I pulled together in an amazing united effort. And, to be honest, Quito was really the main reason we made it.
“Quito trusted me with her life. And I trusted her with mine. I have no doubt that I would have been lost to the storm without her. During the worst of the white out, when I couldn’t tell if we were still in Alaska or on the Moon, Quito kept going. She always tried to find the trail and when she couldn’t, she did her best to go in the correct direction. When the cabin at Safety popped out of the white out blizzard, I was amazed. I didn’t even know we were on the trail. Quito did that.”
Quito was recently profiled in Mushers Magazine’s “Famous Feet” feature. The feature portrays very special dogs that have name recognition beyond the kennel – Quito was the perfect fit!
July was a scorcher in Two Rivers with temperatures often in the upper 80’s. The dogs were not very active in these temperatures. I even ran a sprinkler in the yard. Junior and Kodiak thought the light mist was invigorating but, McCaw thought the sky was falling. He was in quite a panic.
Although we did not report much from SP Kennel this past month, we can guarantee you that the dogs have been enjoying the summer. The Play Pen regime continues as well as evening walks with Ziptie. I usually take our new lab pup and two sled dogs (different dogs every night). Also the crew has been well furnished with beef knuckle bones from Delta Meat & Sausage, Kongs and dental chew nylabones. All this keeps our canines happy and very entertained during the hot summer months.
I thought I would share the dog wrangling that goes into my Play Pen shuffle every morning. It’s always entertaining. Here you go:
Congratulations to Jeanne Seward-Wallberg who is a fan of Scout. Jeanne wins a Pleasant Valley t-shirt plus a glam shot of Mr. Scout. Jeanne has been Scout’s fan for many, many years.
As one of the “Mature dogs” here at SP Kennel, Scout will gladly spin tall tales and tell you all about “the good ole days”. He is no longer running in harness – he hung his work belt up a couple years ago. Retirement… oh yea! Scout does keep a keen eye on the ‘youngsters’ (as he calls them) and saunters through the yard checking to make sure everyone minds their manners (except him… of course.) Scout turns 12 years old this August. He has had a full and wonderful life and the way he looks now, he has many years to come!
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An quick interview with Scout:
We decided to give away a t-shirt from Pleasant Valley Store because is the center of our small community in both summer and winter. Owners, Becky and Alex, go out of their way to support the folks of Two Rivers. And Cindy is often there behind the counter. She is one of the nicest folks around!
If you’re in the neighborhood, swing in for a cup of coffee, a hot dog, a cold drink, information about the local wildfires, a newspaper or any essentials you might need while camping out in the Chena State Rec Area: insect repellent, propane, tarps, fishing license or underwear (yup… you never know who will fall in the river!)
Find out more about our athletes at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here. We are keeping the Dog Fan Club open all through summer so it is never too late to join.
In Episode 7 we are traveling on the wind blown flats past Ophir – well before Iditarod. You can see that the clouds are still hanging low on the horizon and it’s a possibility in my mind that more snow may fall. The dogs are traveling pretty nicely despite the fresh snow.
The countryside here is enormous. Everywhere you look there is endless horizon. It’s a bit mind-blowing actually. In this area, the Iditarod trail is marked with both race lathe and large wooden tripods. I would gaze around and try to decipher the general direction of the route. Sometimes I could, other times not. When I saw a tripod or sometimes a white swath across a sea of tundra, I was pretty certain that the team found the trail.
Closer to the Iditarod Checkpoint the trail got “better” due to the fact that at least ten snow machines passed me late in the afternoon. The trail was only “better” if, in fact, the driver of the machine found the correct route and didn’t lead us off on a wild goose chase through the tussocks or tundra. Also snow machines are quite heavy, so after they pass over a snow laden trail, their track will squish down the snow and theoretically “pack” the trail. This works very well when the temperatures cool and the route freezes up. Since the temperatures never cooled on the 2019 race, the snow machine traffic was somewhat of a moot point.
I think it’s funny that I say in this short Episode 8 ” The trail has improved… at this moment.” In other words, I never got my hopes up… good thing!
Our main concern, of course, was that perhaps the dog team that Moira used to haul the cards to the Nome post office was to blame. So, first we researched that consideration. Upon closer inspection of photographs, we believe that we misrepresented Moira’s team in the post several days ago. The photo on the right is not, in fact, her dog team.
We decided to give away a t-shirt from Pleasant Valley Store because is the center of our small community in both summer and winter. Owners, Becky and Alex, go out of their way to support the folks of Two Rivers. And Cindy is often there behind the counter. She is one of the nicest folks around!