The Ride Home and Cool Surprises - Bet

Well golly gee whiz everybodies, it's been a while since we've bloggity blogged now hasn't it!!???!!!

Whoosh, so sorry, it's been a bit hectic around here, what with getting the Musher's Iditarod stuffs and things back from the trail, and then having to drive lickity split down the highway to get home because a certain Pretty Curly Tail threatened to have pups on the side of the highway, and then...  oh wait, let me just slow down and tell you the whole story.

Anyhooooooo... there we were in Willow, Alaska at our splentastic guest home (thanks again to Jamie and Harry and Toby and Kip, and Ash, and the horsies, and the Pretty Curly Tails there and... oh wait, I think that's everybodies) and the Musher finally got her stuffs and things back from the trail.

The trail peoples were so nice that they made sure they took out all of the nice notes that the checkpoint goodie bag sponsors sent and gave them to the Musher... but they kept the goodies of course (that's the Iditarod law).

With all of the stuffs and things back, there really was no reason to stay any longer... especially because Molly Waddle Puppies On the Way was telling everyone that would listen that she really felt like giving birth at any moment.

Hey!  I'm pretty sure I'm about to squirt out some pups here!

So, rather than risk a birthing on the side of a highway, the Musher and her friend Keri threw everything and everyone into the dog truck and peeled out heading for home.

It was one continuous drive home... mile after mile, rest stop after rest stop, Starbucks after Starbucks, then Timmy's after Timmy's.  Oh the bladdermanity.

Every Pretty Curly Tail stop Molly threatened to ploop out the Molly Toddles.  We couldn't have that.  Pretty Curly Tails MUST be plooped out in the pool in the back room!!!!

Keri didn't seem that concerned... she actually FELL ASLEEP ON ME!!!

I told her that she had to worry while I took a nap, so we took turns alternating between worrying and napping, so that worked out well.

As we got closer, I got a bit more worried.

Did anyone hear that?  Is that moo'ing?  Are we there yet????

Ok, seriously, we have to be getting closer!!!!

Thankfully we got home in the nick of time, and when I say "nick of time" I mean we had like 2-3 more days before she went into labor... eeeesh, drama queen.

There were all sorts of cool surprises when we got home too!

Rocky looks great!  He was very happy to see us and was disappointed that he didn't get to go on the Iditarod where he could have dropped out and gotten a ride on a snowmachine.

Turtle spoke for the whole team when he said "so good to be home again".

The best gift of all was that Musher Mark bought me a new quad!!!  No SERIOUSLY!

My new quad

For some reason the card had the Musher's name on it and a very sweet poemy thing, but it's MINE... see!!!

It even has my very own slip proof platform shaped like a bone (apparently he couldn't get one shaped like a waffle) on the back for me to be chauffeured in style.

Very comfy!  We took it out for its maiden voyage.

FASTER!!!!!  HIT THE GAS MUSHER!!!

Musher Mark is the BESTEST!!!!

Then there was KD... sigh.

She's changed... A LOT!!!!  I suspect that those meddling cats Bait and Tic have been filling her delicate little cute head with all sorts of lies about me while I was gone.  It didn't help that I came home smelling like Toby, and stompy horses, strange Curly Tails, Kip and Ash, Starbucks, Timmy's and all sorts of exciting places and stuffs and things.  She also had been following our adventures on Facebooks and saw all of the cool stuffs and things we got to do and blamed me for ratting her out when she tried to hide in the sled bag and wouldn't let her go along.

She also grew a lot... she's HUGE.  Like a puma or something.

The Musher thought that maybe we could make amends and be friends again if we had breakfast together, so she made us waffles.

I don't know if our relationship will ever be the same, but at least she stopped threatening me every time we were alone.

Next bloggity blog I'll tell you all about the Molly Toddles!!

- Bet

Drop Bag-oramalamadingdong - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!

While we waited for my biggie big surprise, the Musher thought I needed a job to do to keep my mind off of what it could be (waffles with shrimp?  New booties?  KD ran all the way here??), so she took me out to supervise the drop bag stuffing.

Really?  This is supposed to keep me occupied?

As you can clearly see, there is a LOT of stuffs and things that go into drop bags.  Drop bags are the lifeline of the Musher and Pretty Sled Dogs.  They hold all of the tasty, tasty goodies, foods, replacement gear like gloves, and booties, and snacks, and Heet, and foods.  They couldn't possibly carry all of the things they need in the sled during the race, so just about every checkpoint has a bag.

While this may seem like a random piling of stuffs, I assure you, it's very organized

The Musher has a hugey huge spreadsheet that is broken down into each checkpoint with a list of the things they will need at the checkpoint depending on whether they are staying long, or short, or sometimes not at all depending on the trail and conditions, and how everyone is feeling.

Musher, that's not a chair, and this ensemble is a bit large on me

Jamie was nice and insisted that I wear an ensemble, but all the Musher could come up with is one of the jackets that the Pretty Curly Tails wear... yes, I'm tiny, don't judge me.

Jamie taking us back to the house

I'm pretty sure the Musher has told you... the weather is horrible here.  The whole dog yard, Jamie's yard, everything is a sheet of ice.  It's like the Sochi ice rink here.  Going down hills is worse than ski jumping because the only thing stopping you is trees.

I look a little worried here because Jamie just said "Hey, hold my coffee and watch this"

The Pretty Curly Tails know that something is up because they saw the drop bags.  This is when they start doing impressive things to prove to the Musher that they are ready to run and should be picked to go... I saw Irving bench pressing his house.

I had the Malaise, it pained me so - Bet

cough, cough, hack... sigh

Howdy Ho Everybodies.

I've been a little under the weather recently, but never fear, I'm much better now!

At the beginning of the week the Musher got up bright and early as usual, and got ready to do Pretty Curly Tails stuffs and things, and she asked if I wanted to do along and I responded...

cough, cough, hack, wheeze... can you bring me some soup?

She told me that getting out in the fresh air and getting exercise was the best way to get rid of whatever ailed me... um... seriously?

I don't think that she realized that I was really sickly until she came home from her Pretty Curly Tail training and called out asking if I wanted waffles and found me on the thin, cold, hard, really needs to be washed and doesn't go with the rest of the decore rug that I crawled painfully to because I had to pee but only made it halfway to the door.

I gave her this look.

She immediately packed me up and took me to the vet.

There was poking, prodding, manipulating, humiliating, and even things inserted where no thing should be inserted EVER

I was given a whole bunch of pills to take... um... no.

The Musher was all like "No, you have to take them".

Me: no I don't.

The Musher was like "you want to get better don't you?"

Me: Those pills are huge, I can't possibly swallow them.

The Musher was like: what if I slathered them in peanut butter?"

Me: or shrimp?

I acquiesced, but only if I couldn't see the pill.

So now I am all better, up and around, gacking only once in a while, but I have my energy back and I'm ready to resume my Pretty Curly Tail coaching...

after a nap of course

- Bet

Musher on the Radio - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!!!

The Musher was interviewed by two very nice radio guys in Iowa about her raggedy... I mean RAGBRAI bicycling thingamajig she's doing next week!

Steve and Dan from WOC 1420 in Davenport, Iowa gave the Musher a call the other day and talked to her about her plans to ride all the way across the nice state of Iowa, and how that was a bit different than mushing with the Pretty Curly Tails.

 Please note how impressed they are of me, your Roving Border Collie Reporter at the end of the interview... ahem... just sayin.

Here's the linky!!!!!  Please share it on the Facebooks and then stop by the station's Facebooks and tell them how much you enjoyed it!

Click here to listen to the Musher Interview!

Excuse me? - Bet

Peoples, peoples, peoples....

I've been around for a while, and I thought I have seen everything, but clearly I have not.

When I came to my home here at North Wapiti, I was told to expect the unexpected, and I'm fine with that, as long as nobodies touches my fashionable ensembles (that means you little miss Rocket).

I'm ok with cats that think they are Pumas, and Cricket who thinks she's a tank, and herding Pretty Curly Tails, and handlers coming and going and coming and going, and coming and going, and Musher Mark's snoring, and all of that... but this....

The Musher pronounced that she's going to ride the raggedy bra!

"Excuse me?"

"It's a bike ride across the state of Iowa and it's called the raggedy bra.  I'll have sag wagon following me", she says.

I stare at her... "seriously?"

"Yes", she says.  She even looks a bit miffed that my mouth is open and my eyes are a bit glazed. "Thousands of people do it every year, it's a big event with lots of events and parties and everyone has a great time!"

"Um, well, I guess they would have a great time with thousands of raggedy bra peoples riding across a whole state with saggy wagons following them."

"Ok", I ask her cautiously.  "Do you have one picked out?"

"One what?"  She asks impatiently.

"A raggedy bra, of course" (duh)  I fetch the one I think is most appropriate, because, seriously, if ever there was a raggedy bra, the one in her back drawer fits that bill.

"NO!!!! Not raggedy bra, it's RAGBRAI!  That stands for The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa!  The support people drive cars and their nickname is Sag Wagons!"

"Oh!  Well, that's a relief!  I guess that's not so crazy after all... never mind"

- Bet

Thank You ISDRA - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!!!!

Before we get going on the latest fun adventure, we wanted to spend a moment telling you all about the Musher's adventure to Maryland and then Pennsylvania to speak at the International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA) meeting in June 2013!

While I had some concerns about her hanging out with the Nyquil swigging Cartoonist, she assured me that she would be fine and dandy, so I let her go THIS TIME.

Here she is looking stunning at the Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport.

If you are wondering about the long name, the Musher told me that she found out that everything in Maryland has 40 bazillion names, and she actually got to drive on the Baltimore/Washington Gladys Noon Spellman Memorial 295 Parkway that is a park, but also a main road... or something, and that you can't get anywhere without driving a zillion miles, and she says that she now understands why the Cartoonist swigs all that Nyquil.

After spending the night at the house of Cartoonist and immediately putting her dysfunctional huskies on diets

It's for your own good Meeshka

They stopped at Starbucks (of course), and drove to Pennsylvania... stopping at several Starbucks along the way (of course).

Without too much trouble and only 5 near-miss accidents, they arrived at the very gracious Holiday Inn Harrisburg-East and were able to check in immediately, and then proceeded to take an elevator, make 2 turns and end up back in the lobby.  Someone took pity on them and pointed them to their rooms, which were spacious, comfy, and wonderful and had coffee makers.

Since the first event thing wasn't starting until later, they went out for hotel room supplies.

Ok, she didn't really buy that... no seriously, she didn't.  Stop that!  They have witnesses!  Adorable Rita, the Musher's charming 2012 Iditarider was at the liquor store with her wonderful mother and can vouch for them.

Later that night was the meet and greet, so the Musher met and greeted her wonderful fans

The Fabulous Barbara Sheroke and the Musher

And the Musher got to hobnob with some of her wonderful sponsors

The Musher with Bruce Stegmaier of Alpine Outfitters!

Click here to visit their site

Then they all got on school buses for a midnight cruise on the Susquehanna River on a cool paddle boat

Unfortunately due to the very long night of activities, they missed the wonderful presentation by Dr. Jerry Vanek (sorry!) but caught the "Training for Speed for both Dryland and Snow" by Jan Bootz Dittmar and Jayme Dittmar, and the fascinating "The 21st Century of Alaskan Sled Dogs: Genetic Ancestry Modeling" by Dr. Heather Huson.

Then it was time for the Musher to prepare for her presentation, so it was back to the hotel room for some Ketchup Chips (which the Cartoonist feels are a violation of all things holy to potato chips).

Then back to the wonderfully full auditorium for the Musher's "Pay Attention to the Details: Lessons Learned from Long Distance Mushing" that was sponsored by the fantabulous sponsors Eagle Pack, the official tasty foods of the Pretty Sled Dogs!

That's a horrible picture, blame the Cartoonist

According to my sources, she mentioned my contribution to the team as the official herdy herder of the Pretty Curly Tails, and that I'm very alluring, or something.

After that, there was more relaxing

Checking the 2014 Iditarod sign ups... more on that later

Then there was more meeting and greeting with her fans

Hi fans!

Then time for the big ISDRA Awards Banquet, where cool musher types got awards for mushing stuff.  Seriously peoples, if you want to get involved in mushing dogs, reach out to the fantabulous peoples of ISDRA.  You don't need a whole dog team, snow, or even a sled, there are many many different ways to be a musher and have fun with your pretty curly tails, or even non-curly tails and learn cool stuffs and things, and even maybe win awards... so reach out to the good peoples of ISDRA and tell them Bet sent you!

The Musher and her faithful Iditarider Rita!!!

Good food, good times, good company all around.

The Minions had a small meeting, and officially announced to the Facebooks world that they were officially announcing a new Minion!  How exciting.

So everybodies, say hello to Jenifer Minion!

Jenifer Minion is wearing the cloud and tiara from the centerpiece candle for her official Minion announcement.

Speaking of centerpiece candles, the ISDRA peoples created these really cool candles that they sold, and we launched ourselves at the one depicting the Musher, Richard, and Rita at the ceremonial start and we will be auctioning it off as a fundraiser very soon.

It totally looks a lot better in person, the Cartoonist is incapable of taking good pictures

They all sat in the comfy lobby for hours after talking and having fun, then stumbled off to bed.

After check out, there was a North Wapiti pre-drive home lunch at the wonderful Lancaster Brewing Company (good food, good service, Musher recommends the lobster mac and cheese), and then the long drive back to Maryland, where the Musher finally had a Maryland Crab Cake.

The next morning, the Cartoonist took her to Starbucks and then kicked her to the curb at the airport.

Last we heard, the Cartoonist and new Jenifer Minion caught summer colds, which makes me happy because I heard they had something to do with my learning how to "swim".

Anyhoooo, that was the event.

The Musher told me that she would like the following peoples and will probably mention more if I forget to add them here:

• Dan Rehak and Heather Walls Minions for their travel planning skillz, minding the North Wapiti vendor booth, and just being wonderful
• ISDRA and its Board and volunteers who managed to put on a wonderful meeting that went without a hitch (as far as the Musher knew) and for the hospitality and gift baskety goodness
• The Pennsylvania Sled Dog Club for helping put on such a wonderful shindig!
• Eagle Pack for sponsoring her Pretty Curly Tails and being wonderful and fantastic
• Alpine Outfitters for also sponsering her and being fantabulously awesome
• The Holiday Inn Harrisburg East for the fantastic room and coffee makers and room service coffee and those pillows were comfy
• Pauline Bray for hanging out and helping with stuffs and things and keeping that Cartoonist in line
• Pat Bach and Maxine Vandermark and yes, we'll post some pictures of Charge, we promise.
• Marsha Stoffa and Marian Siegel for coming and also bringing more North Wapiti merchandise for the vendor booth, we really appreciate your help and continued support!!!!
• All of the wonderful fans she met and got to chat with during her stay in Harrisburg

- Bet

Last Call for Cookbooks IMPORTANT - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies!!

It's your soon to be roving again roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!!

I just wanted to warn you that I'm getting ready for the trip to the Canadian Challenge for my reporting duties (and get some crampy toe massage), and needed to tie up some loose ends before our biggie big trip.  I hate loose ends.  Loose ends are annoying.  They start to unravel and before you know it you just have a hugey huge mess of loose ends flopping around and Border Collies just can't have that, you know....

um...

anyhoooo, we'd like to get the order out to the publisher for the 2nd printing of "When Kibble Just Won't Cut It" the fantabulous North Wapiti production cookbook that is chock full of not only human, but Pretty Curly Tail... and other curly tail... non-curly tail... dogs that was compiled by Helen (smells of cookies so it must be good) Handler.

This cookbook is a MUST have for all cooks and people who don't cook, but need to cook because if you don't cook, then you will starve, and you certainly won't starve if you have this tome of edible nomminess!!!

If you haven't pre-ordered your copy, then DO IT!  DO IT NOW!!!  Or at least do it before February 17th, because that's when we're going to stop taking pre-orders!

I don't mean to yell or anything, but feel I must: We aren't printing extras!!!  We're only printing enough to cover everybodies that have pre-ordered!!!  There will be no more extras!!!

Ok, I'll stop yelling now, I just wanted to make that very clear, it's your last chance to get it... which means if you get it, you'll have a one of a kind cookbook not available anywhere else... and there's tasty stuffs and things in there too.


How do you get it?   oh, sorry, I didn't mean to yell that... well, it's very easy, all you have to do is click this link.
You can also go to the right hand side of the blog and click on that big cookbook picture (you won't see it if you are on a mobile device)

If you are sending a check, then PUHLEEEEZE tell the musher minions!!!!!  Contact the musher minions at Musher Minions and if that link doesn't work, type in this:
 help4northwapiti@gmail.com

and tell them you sent a check. If you sent a check and haven't told the minions, then go tell the minions how many you ordered.  We want to make sure you all get your cookbooks and stuffs and things!!!

Eeesh, I didn't mean to sound all screechy, but I want to make sure everyobodies gets their cook book.

I'm actually waiting for my tasty tasty dish to get done baking, so you really need to hurry scurry and order yours today!!!!!

- Bet

Packing for the Trip - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!!!

Yes, it's your soon to be roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet, here!

It is getting close to leaving time for us to travel down to Oregon for the exciting chock full o' adventure Eagle Cap Extreme race!!!!

Now that Helen (who smells of cookies) and Simone (fell off a camel) Handlers are here, it was time to get to work and start our packing for our big trip!  It's going to be just like Thelma and Louise... and Louise... and another Louise, except we have no plans to drive off a cliff... yeah, so it won't be anything like that at all actually, so maybe it's more like Driving Miss Daisy... Gone in 60 seconds... uh, wait, we're not stealing cars... Vacation to Wally World.... nope... ok, I have no idea what it's going to be like other than oodles of fun!

Anyhoooooooo,

Work is tiring!

We started really really late in the evening... it was after 3pm!  I hadn't even had my nap yet, but stuffs and things had to get packed, and they all needed me there to supervise.

We even got Cricket up to help... Cricket is the night watchdog, so she wasn't pleased AT ALL to be there when she had a whole shift of patrol later that night.

Since I was supervising, I had the list all neatly typed up on the iPad and was guiding the Handlers on what to pack, where to pack it, how to pack it, when to pack it, and then checking everything off.

Um... Helen... the green thingies... get the green thingies and put them over in the blue thingy, under that black thingy.

Can someone PLEASE find the blue lid for this box?  Who put the lime green lid on the blue box, I can't have unmatching bins!!!!!

No Helen... BLUE thingies in the black thingy!!!!

Ok, that snack bag will last for the first hour, but what are all of you going to snack on... what do you mean for everyone for the whole trip?  We'll STARVE!

Helen, the green thingy doesn't go in the blue thingy, it goes in the red thingy over on the side here.

Simone spent most her morning ironing the Pretty Curly Tails' coats for them, and yes, one of them will be warm thanks to Tammy Taylor (thank you again Tammy).

Simone shared with us all the amazing Swedish folding technique that is simply amazing... remind me to share it with all of you sometime.

Um... Brittany (splat) Handler... you missed a spot in these soup containers.

Like a well oiled production line, the handlers were folding, putting sled bags on, sorting, packing... it was all very exhausting watching them.

Look at the well organized, color coordinated, matching bin area and that awesome dogbooties.com thingie... dogbooties.com, proud sponsor of North Wapiti Kennels and the Pretty Sled Dogs.

When we were all done, packed, list checked off... we got together for a picture for the Musher... um... Brittany (splat) those pants don't really "go" with the hat... seriously, you really need to match your ensembles carefully... have you learned NOTHING from me... anyhoo, I appreciate all of your help Handlers, you are a FABULOUS bunch to work with.

- Bet