Days 10-17, Nome.

I was a bit lazy in keeping up the blog this week, because there was so much going on here. I didn't want it to be a chore, which sometimes it is on this computer. Nome doesn't have DSL yet, as far as I can tell.

Anyway, I'll attempt to be brief in wrapping up this year's trip.

I did a lot of shovelling when I first got here. I was up on my Aunt Bonnie's roof two different days. Since her roof leaks during the spring melt, I was hoping to save her some effort in bringing in buckets to catch the leaks. I think I did a pretty good job:











Lance Mackey and his team arrived on Tuesday...what a race he had! He has won 4 years in a row now. I posted some other pics and a video on my Facebook page.









I will have to fill in more later...for now it's off to the Iditarod banquet and home!

Days 8 and 9--From Homer to Nome

Alas, it was time to say goodbye to Homer. We lucked out and had a great drive from Homer back to Anchorage. We had some incredible views, all of which were suspiciously unphotographed?!

The flight gave us some good views of the Alaska Range:



After hanging out at cousin Pat and Sue's for some pizza and wine, we hit the sack late.

On Day 9, I got up to find out it was -35F last nite, but had warmed up to a balmy -17F for my morning walk (note the temp on the sign behind me!):



I did a fair amount of shovelling today on my Auntie Bonnie's deck, and just took it easy, watched the race on line at the GPS site, and caught up on the blog and e-mails. Tonight we will feast again at Pat and Sue's and catch up on gab, rumors and innuendos.

The race is heating up. Mackey has taken the race lead for the time being, but hot on his trail are 2010 Yukon Quest champ Hans Gatt, and soon to be retired 4-time champ Jeff King. We're still pulling for Martin to do well, but he is far enough back that we are all wondering what he may have up his sleeve. We'll see!