Alaska Trip, March 10-13, 2006--Days 7-10

We've been in Nome a few days now, and it has been really relaxing. I wanted to wait to post until I had enough to report, because I figured watching movies and checking the race on the Internet didn't rank up there with moose sightings and fighting shower stalls...

So, we started Day 7 in Homer by waking up at the (butt) crack of dawn and getting down to the airport for our flight to Anchorage. We left Homer at 5:15 AM, and then flew to Anchorage to change planes for our flight to Nome. The guy at the Homer terminal had told me that without my ID, the wait in security might be about 15 minutes longer. Here's what happened....nothing. I told the lady in security that my ID had been mailed to me and was waiting for me in Nome, and she let me through, no questions asked (no other probing or prodding, either).

The flight was tiring and uneventful, and when we arrived in Nome, Auntie Bonnie let us know that she had planned a sled dog ride for us in the country (out near the old family cabin in Dexter). At 3:30, we were met in town by Conner Thomas, a two-time Iditarod veteran, and we followed him out to his house in the Dexter area. He put together a team of about 12 dogs....

Marci was the first to ride. The dogs were going crazy and tugging at the harnesses from moment one. I tried to record some audio to include on here, but I didn't have the camera set up right I guess. Anyway, when Connor pulled up anchor on the dog sled, the team rocketed out of the yard at about 30-40 mph (or so it seemed). Marci must have gotten some mild whiplash at the beginning. We tried to follow on the snowmachine and sled with Connor's wife, but ended up having an equipment malfunction on the trail. Dad and I had to use bailing wire to jury rig the spark plug wire back on so that we could limp back to Connor's house. By that time, Marci had gotten a heck of a sled ride with the team, and it was my turn. We started out by going straight up a hill...I was surprised how much weight the team could pull up such an incline. They sure are powerful animals. My ride was probably only a few miles, but it was really nice...

Days 8 and 9 in Nome were pretty much lounging around, walking downtown, shopping, and watching movies from Bonnie's movie library. Dad and I took a 2 mile hike in the wind down to the Swanberg dredge and back. Last nite, we were on Safety Patrol for Nome, which involved driving around downtown for about a 3 hour shift, looking for drunks and suspect activity. Bonnie volunteers for this activity every year, and this year we actually got some pretty cool hats for helping out. We didn't get to sleep until about 3:30 AM, and then woke up really late in the AM today.

I will blog again about our scheduled helicopter trip...we get 1/2 hour air time, anywhere we want to fly...we may actually get to see some of the mushers coming into Nome! Until then...