Fifteen and Counting - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies!!!

Yes, it's MEEEEEE your Roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet!

Stuffs and things are happening really quick around here, it's like a whirlywind!

First of all, HOLYGEEWILLIKERS it's very slippery here!  The weather has not been conducive to the whole sled doggy training sport at all.

NO.SNOW.AT.ALL.

What snow there was is a glare of ice.. sheety sheety ice.  It's VERY slippery here, so if things don't get better and there's no new snow, if you are coming to the Open House (and you better, I'm expecting you... don't you dare disappoint me!) be prepared to luge yourself around here. 

If you are going to wear those big cleaty shoes, please take care not to step on a Pretty Curly Tail with them.  That would be bad, and make me frown, and you wouldn't want me to frown... would you?  I didn't think so.

How sheety is it?

Next time I'll be representing Canada in the Olympics... that's how sheety it is here.

So, if you've been following us on the Facebooks (and you better... you don't even need an account to see our page there), you saw that the Musher was promising me a very special surprise gifty thing...

The surprise gifty thing arrived!

Yep, that's my personal crampy toe massager and Musher-guy Richard all the way from over the pond.  He arrived just in the nick of time to help the Musher get more miles and more training for the Pretty Curly Tails, so I was only a small bit peeved that they immediately took off for colder climates to get their training in and left me at Jamie's. 

Of course, being the master coordinator for Team North Wapiti, it did give me plenty of opportunities to plot and plan and scheme...

We should probably have some kind of cool matching headwear for everybodies... yeah... that would be nice, and waffles

Thankfully the Musher and Richard found some great training places for the Pretty Curly Tails, and even one that matched the 2014 North Wapiti Iditarod colors!

When they got back, the Musher had to attend to the mandatory drop bag drop off!  That means we're really getting close to the start.  As of this writing, we're only 15 days away!!!  Wowzers, time flies!!!

While she was dropping off her drop bags, the Musher found out that she got one of the really cool blankets made by students!

Thanks Kathy Clement Cappa for letting us use your photo!

Isn't that FABULOUS!  It's got the Maple Leaf on it and the fabric is simply divine!  I wanted to use it as the base for one of my ensembles... but Tramp nabbed it and won't give it back... and nobody wants to go ask her for it because... well, you know... blah blah yammer, yammer, yacky yack... who needs that? 

You should go check out this bloggity blog post all about the blankets the students made from all over the US and other regions!

The Musher and Richard are now back at HQ catching up on the little administrative things and stuffs they need to do to get ready for the race.  There's a big hoopla about the weather and on Monday a decision will be made as to whether the re-start will take place in Fairbanks.  If that happens, there will be a HUGEY HUGE flurry of freaking out minions making alternate plane reservations and plotting, planning, Nyquil swigging and running around with hands flailing.  That should be fun.

In the meantime, I am doing what all good Roving Border Collie Reporters, trainers, nannies, and all around support crews do when assisting in the running of a major race.

I simply don't know what they would do without me!

- Bet

Richard's Brilliant Nome Sign 40 Race - Bet

Howdy ho everybodies!

Its so good to say that, as that means I have something to report!

Since Richard is helping the Musher pack up and get ready to leave Willow for HOME!!!!  He told me the story of his race, so I present to you, without commercial interruption:

Richard's Brilliant Nome Sign 40 Race!!!!

Ok, so the Nome Sign 40 race is 40 miles long.  That would be about all I know about the race.

The Musher was his handler, and she had co-handler Crunchie along who was responsible for driving the truck.

I told you to go before we left

Anyhoo, here is Richard posing for his pre-race "here I go" picture.

His team consisted of:

Tess

Billie

Smartie

Kelly

Topdog

Roscoe

Irving

Q

Wifi

Turtle

Rocky

Runner

So, then it was time to start,  Richard gave all of the Pretty Curly Tails a pep talk.

Remember, no snack bags on this trip!

And then they were off!!!

And... they ran....

And it was a pretty day, and nice and cold....

Did I mention it was pretty out, and cold?

Um, they ran really fast.... and... then....

THEY RAN INTO ANOTHER MOOSE!

Yeah, a moose, it was a big moose, and it was cranky... and... the only thing Richard had was a rusty can opener to defend himself and the Pretty Curly Tails from the big angry stompy moose!

But... but... he wasn't afraid and he took on that big ugly stompy moose and took care of it and saved the Pretty Curly Tails from certain stomping... and stuff... and things....

... and then he let Irving get his revenge.

... and then they ran the whole 40 miles in 4 hours, which is really fast and good.

Yeah, that's exactly what happened... or something.

- Bet

Post Moose Thing Pictures - Bet

Mooses won't keep those Pretty Curly Tails down!

Here are those brave pups out on the trail two days after the "incident".

I'm so proud of my Pretty Curly Tails, and the Musher and Richard.

This just goes to show everyone that when the Mooses come a stompin, you just get back on the trail and run toward your dreams.  Wow... I think I'll make that into a t-shirt.

- Bet

Training Begins - The Cartoonist

Now that the word is out about the 2011 schedule, and that Richard will be running in some of those races, we've been given permission to release this one photo of Richard in training.

I'm sure a lot of you are speculating, and perhaps even placing bets on which dogs Richard will be racing this year.  As a novice musher, Karen is entrusting Richard with seasoned veterans and even allowing him to use one of her finest sleds for his training to make sure he gets the most experience on the trails.

I'm sure we'll have more exciting pictures as Richard's training progresses.

- The Cartoonist -