On The Road - Bet

Howdy Ho everyone, your roving reporter, Bet, here!

Just wanted to let you all know that we're on the road heading to the Canadian Challenge!

Since we have about 500 BORING miles to drive (look, a tree.  look, snow.  look, a moose.  look, a tree) I thought I'd spend some time catching up on events and letting all of you know what goes into preparing for a sled dog race!

Some of you may think that mushers just pack up their dogs, drive to the event, race, then drive home.  Oh no, its much more involved than that!

First, there's the buying of all sorts of stuff, like food, flame retardant pants, booties, and things the curly tails need.

Then, there's the packing of all of the stuff you just bought or have stashed somewhere.  This requires keen supervisory skills and patience.

 Here I am telling Colleen not to grab that blue bootie, she needs to grab the red bootie.  I can't have the curly tails running a race with blue booties that will clash with the Musher's sled bag!  Come on!  The team colors are red and black, get with the program Colleen!
 

See!  This is why I'm here, that would have been a sled dog fashion NO.  How embarrassing!

 Here is Richard trying to fill one of his drop bags with something in the green bin.  But I know better, the green bin has green things in it, and green things will clash with the whole color motif, so I'm telling him to get the stuff in the red bin.

 

Here is Richard whispering sweet nothings in my ear, and... well, I can't resist Richard, so if Richard wants green things, he can have green things.  Besides, green goes with red.














 Here I am supervising the stuffing of the drop bags.  You can clearly see green things in one of the bags... don't mock my Richard!

Here I am critiquing Richard's packing technique.  He clearly put the eggs on the bottom and was about to put a gallon of milk on them.

Once the packing order was straightened away, I told Richard that I bet he couldn't fit in the bag, but I could

I was wrong, and I'm sorry that I didn't get a picture of him in the bag, but I was laughing too hard.

So, once all of the bags and stuff were packed, it was time for me to figure out my wardrobe.  Since I'm not as fluffy as the curly tails, I need something to keep me warm while I'm out supervising the handler.


Um... seriously?  This doesn't even go with my fur!  I have no idea how this got in my closet.  I'd be tripping all over it when I ran and its not even covering half of me, so this ISN'T going on the trip.
 

This is much better, nice and toasty.  Paired with some matching booties, I could even go to Musher cocktail parties in this ensemble.  Um, Colleen, remember those blue booties you found?

Now that I've got my outfit picked out, the bags are all packed, and I've had my nap

Its time for me to stake out my truck space.  I prefer the middle seat because that's where the heater blows, I can turn the radio channel to something more mellow, and the bump allows me to see through the windshield...

um wha???  Hoo, hoo, you funny Musher you, that's really funny.  Ok, photo-op, look at the famous mushing Border Collie, fine, are we done because this straw is really prickly on my delicate little feet.

Yep, this is much better.  Now its time to get the show on the road, except we seem to be missing someone.

Apparently today is THE day.  From the loud vroomy sounds on the tv, its apparently NASCAR day.  Some big race or something.  From my point of view, some person driving a car in circles for hours isn't really... exciting, but Musher Guy Mark is addicted to it, and unfortunately the day we need to leave is one of the biggest biggie huge something or other race days.

He was very good about leaving and not being able to watch the race though.

- Bet