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Hello Everyone!
Oh my gosh, am I pumped now! I can hardly contain myself. Mr. Holmes and I went on a field trip to the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla today with about seventy-five other teachers. We rode in big tour buses. On the way we saw 42 moose all in one spot next to the highway. That’s more moose than I’ve seen in my entire life!
When we pulled into the parking lot of the Headquarters I could see a few dog trucks that belonged to mushers. I didn’t think we would be able to go over to visit them, but boy was I wrong! The mushers were coming to Headquarters to get a free vet examination for their dogs, which is required before the race. We walked over to the trucks, petted their dogs, talked to the vets, and talked to mushers too. Then throughout the morning more and more mushers arrived. I couldn’t believe it.
You won’t believe which mushers came while we were there. Al Hardman was there, the musher I’m riding with as an Idita-Rider! We talked for quite a while about his dogs, his truck, and the race itself. He was so friendly, as were his handlers. His truck was beautiful. The back of it even had a bed and was heated!
Al Hardman, Mrs. Holmes, and Sackett
This is Sackett and Titus, his two lead dogs.
We also saw Devan Currier, who grew up in Randolph Center, Vermont! That’s not far from Norwich. He was very friendly too. This photo is for you Jane! (Jane is his mom who still lives in Vermont). He was full of smiles!
Devan Currier
I thought this would be of interest to you. Jason Baron and Harmony Kanavle are going to be running the race together. They hope to stick together to support each other throughout the whole race. Here is a picture of them.
Jason Baron and Harmony Kanavle
We watched the dogs going through vet checks. The most interesting part of their exams was when the vets checked for microchips. Each dog has a little computer chip that was placed just beneath the skin. These are used to identify the dogs, and to make sure that the dogs a musher starts the race with are the same dogs that he or she finishes with.
As we were getting ready to leave, guess who arrived? Doug Swingley! I was shocked and speechless, but Mr. Holmes spoke right up and asked Doug to say a special hello to all of you back home on the video.
Doug Swingley
Before we left we saw some of the trophies awarded throughout the race.
Joe Redington, Sr for 1st musher into Nome
Red Lantern for last musher to Nome
When we finished at the Headquarters we moved on to the Plettner kennels. They have 300 dogs! Here we were greeted by not only the handlers, Tony and Dolores Waffen, but by Lynda Plettner and Dan Govani, the two Iditarod mushers who own the kennel! They were great fun to hear speaking. We learned about the difference between the two sleds the mushers use on the trail. I’ve always wondered how the mushers changed from one sled to another at the end of the race. Dan explained that he ships his faster sled up to Takotna to pick up when he arrives there. We also saw what he packs in his sled, and what the dogs eat along the trail. They eat beaver, salmon, herring, and horse meat.
Lynda Plettner and Dan Govoni
Dan talking about his sleds
Thee dogs eat herring, salmon, beaver, horse, plus a special blend of vitamins, dog food, and meat that is made into "cookies." These are given to the dogs immediately after they arrive at a checkpoint to give them some quick energy.
Lynda showed us the dogs she is using in this year’s Iditarod. She also showed us her movie star dog, Argie. Here is Argie. He is a very sweet dog, but a little old to still be running in the Iditarod.
The movie star, Argie
We also met Bill Borden here. He is running as a rookie in this year’s Iditarod. He explained that he runs a non-profit organization that is trying to get girl scouts and boy scouts to come up to the Iditarod. Check out his website at http://www.cooldreams.net.
Bill Borden
This was the most unusual dog at the kennel.
Piggy Wiggy
Oops, that’s not a dog! That’s Piggy Wiggy, Dan’s 850 pound pig!
One last thing I learned was that through Lynda’s "Learn to Mush Program," I could be trained in six months to mush dogs and possibly be prepared to run a team in the Iditarod too. Boy, did that get my imagination running wild!
That’s all of the news for today! Tomorrow I’ll be at another teacher’s workshop, and then at the musher’s banquet where the mushers choose their starting numbers.
Mrs. Holmes
Anchorage, - Thursday, February 28, 2002 at 04:43:41 (EST)
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Mrs. Holmes
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Webspace for Mrs. Holmes Iditarod 2002 project was provided courtesy of
ValleyNet of Norwich, Vermont.
