World Championship Sled Dog Races

We were downtown for the beginning of the sled dog races today, beginning with the parade at 10:30 -- (after 8 am yoga!) -- it was about 15 degrees but felt much colder due to the wind.  We've upped our equipment for standing around in the cold since we've been here, and Judy bought a white mink storm troopers hat today at one of the booths downtown (see picture)-- the celebration is called Fur Rondy, celebrating a tradition of fur traders coming in to town to sell their furs at the end of winter.  The week culminates in the Iditarod next Saturday, starting right downtown and the Tour of Anchorage cross-country ski race on Sunday (which Brian will be doing).  Pictures here of the dog sled races -- we stopped for hot drinks in a bakery downtown and talked to a young woman here in Anchorage for the weekend with her husband, who was one of the dog sled racers and two of her three young sons.  They fly here, fly the dogs too, as it's the only way to get here from their village of 300 people in southwest Alaska -- she only comes to Anchorage once a year.  We'll go to the fireworks right downtown in a little while - they start at 6:45 pm, when it gets dark.  The dog sled races go right down the main street of town and then onto the multi-use trails that run throughout the city, and back - about 20 miles. Some of the pictures are like "Heartbreak Hill" in the Heart Run in Utica -- it's a pretty steep hill, and you can tell by the pictures of the dogs trying to get up it on their trip back!  The final of three days of races is tomorrow and the times are totaled for the winners.  Dogs get dropped each day if they're not performing well so that they're running their fastest dogs, but they start with a team of 20 dogs in this championship series.  More skiing tomorrow - we didn't get much of that done this week, so we'll ski on part of the trails where we can see the dogs coming through on a cross - trail.