The Real Iditarod Start

March is Iditarod month here in Alaska. We go to the Re-start in Willow on the free shuttle bus each year. It's about 40 minutes South of Talkeetna out on Willow lake. Here we are with some friends on the bus. The musher in the photo is 4 time (in a row, going for a record 5th win) Lance Mackey. He comes from a mushing family and is a cancer survivor. We like him, he seems like the kind of guy you could sit and enjoy a beer with, just a laid back Alaskan. I love the shot of Jax and friend Shelby walking together arm & arm. Hawken fell asleep on my shoulders watching the dog mushing action and was pulled back to the shuttle in the sled that I'm glad I brought... The teams are now on their way to Nome on the North coast of our great state. It's a long, cold, crazy trail they are following out there. We have a couple Talkeetna locals in the race as well as my old boss from Steamboat Springs who is a rookie this year. He owns the dog sled tour company I was working for when I found out I was pregnant with Jaxon. It was a fun job, for a season, and I realized pretty quick I didn't want to be a musher. My kicksled with one dog is plenty for me... To follow the race check them out on the web at http://www.iditarod.com/

A Dog Sled Ride

I took the boys out on my dog sled today. I walked with Koda on a leash while he pulled the boys. He did great, went at a slow pace and stayed right next to me, he's really gentle with kids. It was hard to get any good pictures while holding a 125lb. dogs leash though, most were blurry. These were the best 2...

Nooks & Crannies

Aahh... Winter in Alaska. Everything is white and cold, fresh and cool, clean and crisp. I love finding new trails or areas to explore up here and winter is a great time to do it. We can now walk, ride or slide over the lakes, rivers, streams and swamps that abound in this beautiful state. I call these places I come across the Nooks & Crannies of Alaska. A new view or trail can show you things and places you have never seen or known about. Of course up here you also need to be prepared, you can't just walk off into the Alaskan Wilderness alone or unknown (well you can but it's a bad idea). Most often you don't even have to share the wide open space with anyone else. Just watch for wildlife and keep your distance if you do see anything. You never know what you'll run into and we are enjoying their backyard afterall. The lakes are really fun this time of year to play on. Some people ski and some snowshoe but the trails often go around the inside perimeter of the lake, places you can't get to on foot any other time of year. Dog sledding is also big up here and I took my little one out this week, there is just about enough snow to start using it again, stay tuned for photos or video! Happy Holidays everyone, hope you all have a chance to play in the snow this winter...