A couple of weeks ago, we went to Anchorage to see the start of the Iditarod sleddog race, and experience “Fur Rendevouz”: more than a week of festivities with dogs, fairs, sleddog races, music, reindeer races, and lots of people. Anchorage is only a 1 h flight to the south of Fairbanks. We stayed at a cosy B&B (Anchorage downtown B&B, Raspberry Meadows), with walking distance to downtown and a beautiful walk along the shoreline. It was nice to experience some “citylife” (sorry Fairbanks J), and enjoy the multitude of nice cafees, restaurants, and Anchorage’s own brewery. At the B”&B there were three nice cats that liked to socialize with us guests. Two of them were usually quite shy, but jumped up on our laps – perhaps they could feel that we really missed having cats and dogs around?
This years Iditarod had more than 60 competitors. They had a tough trip ahead, about 1300 miles eastwards, to Nome by Berings Sea. There are no roads to Nome, so to get there you have to travel by air, boat, or the traditional way – by dogsled! A couple of weeks earlier, we saw the finish of Yukon Quest, a 1000 mile dogsled race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse in Canada. The main difference between the two races is that Yukon Quest is so early in the winter, with freezing cold and snowstorms, and passages over a couple of really challenging mountains. There are fewer teams that take on that challenge, and during this years race many scratched due to the tough conditions, and unfortunately two of the dogs died. It was a very special feeling to wait by the finish line at midnight, standing on the ice of Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, and watch as the teams finally reached the end of the race. The bond between the mushers and their dogs is so strong, and it is fascinating to see how the well-being of the dogs goes ways before that of the mushers themselves.
During this week, we are housesitters for two of my colleagues, and enjoy living in a “a real house” by Tanana River. We also have the company of one big and superfriendly Golden Retreiver, and a big and cat with a great personality. It’s great to be able to just walk down to the river and go skiing, especially now during late winter, when it’s still -30F below in the morning, and the sun is almost melting during the days. Now the freckles will soon appear again!
