The Official Start

These are my pictures of Sunday and Nancy's team as it takes off on the Idotarod trail.
As you know, Nancy ended up scratching on Tuesday as she had endured a crash, losing a dog, and being on the ridge for hours. We marvel at Nancy's perseverance throughout her preparation, pre-races like the Klondike, and time in this race. Regret comes from not trying to reach your dreams. Nancy, you pursued your goal and we are proud of you!

The real beginning of Idotarod

And she's off!!!

Idette and I are sitting in the airport waiting to board our flight, while Stacy and Diane are planning to fly in a small airplane to one of the first checkpoints at Finger Lake tomorrow, and Nancy is somewhere under the stars with her dogs! She was calm and ready to go today and the dogs were so excited! Little did they know that their run is going to be over 1000 miles!
I packed my camera cord into my checked luggage so I will not be able to put pictures from today onto this blog until tomorrow when I'm back in North Dakota. I hope that you have enjoyed keeping up with our adventure as much as we've had fun telling you about it!
I keep thinking of all the challenges that Nancy will be facing. Nancy (and all mushers) have packed and dropped food/supplies at all the checkpoints along the trail. Today she heard that ravens had eaten the food at one of the checkpoints, so that is being sent up tomorrow.
I look forward to having Nancy safely run this race and hearing her stories. I am looking forward to seeing my family, friends, and South Middle School staff and students.

This is NOT Tina Fey!

Yes, you are looking at pictures of Sarah and Piper Palin, a moose, and our ceremonial start. Nancy was very calm and had a great Ceremonial Start. When she was interviewed by the media, she talked about how finishing the Iditorod was her goal and how emotional it was to have her son Michael riding behind her today as the Iditarod had been their goal and dream. We are so proud of Nancy!
After the start, we took a beautiful drive along Cook Inlet and saw Portage Glacier. It is a "hanging glacier" so we saw the torquise blue showing through the snow. It was awesome. We are now in Wasilla for tomorrow's real start.

Ceremonial Start & a Glacier!

Friday in Alaska

Today we drove to Wasilla to see Dream a Dream Dog Kennels where Nancy and her dogs have been training. It was a beautiful day - sunny, bright and everything had a thick cover of white snow. It was truly a winter wonderland! We had a tour of the facilities and the highlight was the dogsled ride. The dogs were so excited as they were hooked up to the sled! They definately love to run. It was a joy to watch them.
Tomorrow we will be in downtown Anchorage for the Ceremonial Start of the 37th Iditarod. Nancy will have an Iditorider with her. (That is someone who pays for the right to ride with Nancy for the 11 mile run.) Stacy and Idette will be dog handlers, while Diane and I are still trying to decide if we want to help with that or be photographers. The race begins at 10:00 and dog teams leave every 2 minutes. Nancy will leave at 10:04 since she drew #3. After everyone finishes the 11 mile run, they pack up and head to Willow for the "real start" of the 1140 mile race on Sunday. We will be packing up and heading to Willow also.
I hope that you are enjoying reading about our adventure in Alaska. We are having a once in a lifetime experience! Thanks for your support.

Friday in Alaska