July into August
Greetings from Alaska!
Here are some photos from the past few weeks, there was so much more than I have photos to show: birthday parties for staff members, all night movie fest celebrating Harry Potter’s birthday, moose sightings, live music and s’mores at the Village, celebrating my three month vaniversary, morning coffee by Riley Creek, puppies growing up at Husky Homestead going back home to their owners, chasing down escapee cats who love the forest, teaching a few more lessons in the new Endless Pool, and meeting people from all over the world. at tours, at the grocery store, in line for coffee, and walking the trails, good friends, good times.
It’s starting to wind down now. The Fireweed blooms are at the top of the stalks and almost gone. Temps are going down, and the rains are falling. It doesn’t smell like football weather here ;) but even I can tell that fall is coming.
I’ll be back to the Nebraska and the OHB pool soon.
Life is so good on the Homestead. I’m very lucky!
I went again to visit yoga classes taught by my friend, May. May is a driver and presenter at HH.
Puppy visits to the office is one of my favorite perks.
Fireweed outside my door. When the blooms reach the top, summer is almost over. I made some more improvements to the van. In addition to the cat “cage” barrier on the sliding door, I had a swivel mount installed for the passenger seat, so that it now swivels all the way around to face the cargo/living area. I got some great new bedding that zips right up, and I installed a ceiling. Virgil, an amazing photographer and all-round great guy, made some improvements to HH, too.
July was a month of fire in Alaska. The were fires all over the state. We did have some fire in the Denali Borough, but none threatened Husky Homestead directly. The smoke was everywhere, though.
I took a tour of Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake, Alaska. He has won the Iditarod four times. I found the video on this tour to be very informative and interesting. It was fun to get right up close to the dogs while they were hooked up, and Martin gave a great demonstration of driving. Martin was in an episode of “Dirty Jobs.” I found it online after the tour. Great show.
I took a trip to Anchorage to visit former BT Raiders swimmer, Emma Borys, and her family. We went to Wild Scoops for a treat - still my favorite Alaska ice cream. This week, they visited me in Denali. We had ice cream twice in two days, but it didn’t measure up to Wild Scoops. The three of us took a trail ride on a rainy day, and then warmed up at a fire table at 49th State.
More dogs… I took the Dog Gone It tour at the Wolf’s Den Kennel in Cantwell. The place was beautiful, and all of the buildings were built by the musher himself, Mike Santos. It is a family operation. Caitlin drives the bus and gives the tour, even their six year old son helps out. I learned more about living in rural Alaska. Caitlin teaches at the local school. They have thirteen total K-12 students . Dog Gone It did a great job of integrating video clips into their live presentation.
More dogs! I visited the offices of the Yukon Quest race. The Quest is a sled dog race run every February between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon. In this competition, teams follow the route of the historic 1890’s Klondike Gold Rush, mail delivery, and transportation routes. There are only about half as many checkpoints as in the Iditarod, so teams must carry much more weight in equipment and supplies, and do more camping.. They also have to cross the border, so all of the dogs and people have to have their paperwork in order. The race start alternates between Fairbanks and Whitehorse each year. I visited Whitehorse while driving to Alaska. The registration for the Yukon Quest opened yesterday.
And more puppies to snuggle.
I drove north of Fairbanks to visit Mary Shields. Mary is the first woman to finish the Iditarod. She has also run the Yukon Quest, and the Hope 91 dog sled race between Nome, Alaska and Anadyr, Russia. Her tour consists of a walk through her incredible gardens. Then a tour of the dog yard, where you get to toss a tennis ball for the dogs. They are fast retrievers - lots of fun. At the end of the dog yard portion, each dog goes to his house, stands on the roof, and waits patiently until you come throw him/her a treat. Next, there is a talk at an outdoor theater where you learn about the equipment used in dog sled racing. The highlight of the tour is being invited into Mary’s home - a thatched roof log cabin - and sitting around her kitchen table having cookies and listening to Mary tell about her adventures. She first came to Alaska to work for the Camp Fire organization, teaching swimming and water safety to children in remote villages.
No puppies here, but Mary sent me home with a lovely vase filled with flowers from her garden.