Cloud Update - Bet

Sigh...

Howdy Ho Everybodies....

heaving sigh.

We're almost a week into cloudless North Wapiti.

There's been some updates on the new cloud front.  Not good.

The Musher thoughtfully volunteered to go to the big box store and pick me up a temporary cloud to make do until I could raise enough monies to get a new real cloud.

I thought that was very nice of her, and I waited and waited for her to get home from the big city with it...

and waited... and waited...

and then she came home, smelling all like coffee shops and retail merchandise at bulk prices and she unloaded the truck and...

SHE FORGOT THE REPLACEMENT CLOUD AT THE STORE!!!!!!

Seriously!  She got to gabbing with peoples about stuffs and things and totally left the temporary replacement cloud on the shopping cart.

How does this happen?  It's a cloud in a shopping cart?

The ONE thing she went to the big city for????

sigh.

I really do appreciate your help in securing the monies for my new clouds and all.  Just a reminder that I've got a hat auction going on here

You can also buy the "Waiting" poster here  (just a note, if you buy the poster from 30 November through 9 December, the posters won't be shipped until after 9 December because Karen E Minion has a previous engagement thingy), but I hope to have my new clouds by then and all other monies will go toward my trips to race events (and paying for the garage damage when a mechanical issue caused it to... well, it's a long story)

anyhooooooooooooo... until then my only alternative is to seek the most cushy spot in the house... the clothes hamper.

please bid and buy... it's stinky in here.

- Bet

Perryvale Bet - Bet

Every year that miserable rodent in Pennsylvania comes out of a fake tree stump, bites a handler, either sees or doesn't see its shadow and gets it wrong EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!

And yet, the media all flock there, crowds of adoring fans who would probably swerve for it if they saw that thing on the road, especially if it was wearing that RIDICULOUS top hat... who wears top hats nowadays, the furry vermin doesn't even know how to ensamblize!

Meanwhile, here in Perryvale, a more exact prognosticator of weather lives.  Never wrong in her years of taking exact scientific measurements, calculating secret formulas that only she knows, and plugging the numbers into a top secret hush-hush weather combopulator contraption...

Hmmm, the snow is very firm, and cold

I sense a bit of continental drift occurring... oh wait, we had beans last night

There is a bit of bubbly effervescent feel to the snow

Um, no, nope... beans again

Sniffing the westward wind

Ugh... no, damn those beans!

Nobody light a match... seriously

Musher, stay away from me with those flaming pants

 

Wait!  My keen Border Collie hearing senses a change in the downward flow of the stratosphere

ACK!  Bait, you scared the crap out of me.. nearly

Ok, I think I've gathered enough data to make a prediction....

It's winter, and it's cold

I don't think anyone can argue with my findings.

- Bet

The Race So Far - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies!  It's your sitting around in Canada enjoying my chair, just woke up from a nap non-roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!

Its been a very exciting race so far... ok, that probably wasn't very convincing because I just said I had a nap, so let me try that again...

Holy Moley everybodies, this is a real nail biter of a race! 

Ok, that wasn't very convincing either, so I'll have to go with: its been a very predictable and going as scheduled race... which is GREAT!  No Mooses, no plowing trails with faces, and no pants on fire (yes, I know... so disappointing on the flaming pants thing)

The Musher and Pretty Curly Tails got into the Kershner Home checkpoint at 4:08 am this morning with all 14 Pretty Curly Tails.  They had to take a mandatory 6 hour rest period.  Here are the Pretty Curly Tails curled up and resting

Here is the sled resting

I can't tell if the Musher is in the sled resting or not... nobody tells me these important things.

The Pretty Curly Tails were checked out by the vet and found to be okey dokie spiffy keen!

According to the Musher, the middle 30 miles is punchy and slow because the pups don't have their "snow legs" yet... once again, clueless.  All this time I've been studying baa baa sheepie things books and I should have purchased a "Translating Musher Talk for Dummies"

The Musher did say they were all having fun... I hope that's not code words for something else, but I'm guessing that they are all having fun, so that's good.

They left the Kershner Home checkpoint at 10:30am and plan on being back into Willow at the finish around 10pm... which is way past my bedtime, so I'll have an update in the morning.  If you are on the Facebooks, the Photographer Minion Donna will make an announcement or something and I told her to also tell the mail list peoples, but she'll be really busy helping the Musher with the pups and stuffs, so that may not come for a while.  You should definitely keep hitting refresh on the official Don Bowers 200 Web site for official updates and stuffs.

In the meantime, while you are waiting, there's an interview that has the Musher in it here.  Click the blueish looking button that has a megaphone on it directly under the words stuffs.

Meanwhile, back in Willow, Alaska

Hey?  Where did everyone go?

- Bet

Your NW Fix for 19 January 2012 - Bet

Howdy ho everybodies!  Its time for your Pretty Curly Tail Sled Dog fix for today!

Today's edition is:  Pretty Cold Curly Tail Sled Dogs!  I guess you could say they are Chilly Dogs... get it... CHILLY DOGS!!!  You know... like the hot dogs with chili on them.... ok, its not funny if I have to explain it.

Anyhoo!

First up is Tess with her ice beard.

Then we have Charge, who appears to have a nose-cicle going on

Irving looks really thrilled, and on the look out for snow spiders to howl at.

Here is the Musher handling Charge back to the truck.  Charge is helping by levitating.

Here is Beauty, Tramp, and Bingo waiting for their turn back to the truck... this picture is very rare as Tramp actually has her mouth shut.

Finally, we have Boo and Smartie

I have it on good authority that the Musher will be providing a list of who is actually in Alaska with her.  Have you figured them all out yet?

- Bet

How Cold Is It? - Bet

Howdy Ho everyobodies, its your toasty warm non-roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!

How cold is it?  Well here at North Wapiti Central, its a frigid -2F and we got some snows!  Of course, from the Border Collie Broadcasting Center, its a wonderfully warm room temperature.


Its so cold that they cancelled the Copper Basin 300 because of hard blowing snow, temperatures 50 below zero and its just too plain icky for the Curly Tails.

How cold is it at Willow, Alaska... according to the Musher, its -34F and getting colder!  EEESH, seriously? 

Its so cold that the Pretty Sled Dogs are gathering up their shedded fluff and trying to paste it back on their bodies... or so the Musher claims. 

Now you must be asking yourself... self: if the Pretty Sled Dogs have raced just fine and dandy and loving it in -50F Iditarod weather, why are they duct taping their fluffs back on themselves and being so cold, they should be loving it!

Well, your self is right, but like everybodies, they have to get use to the cold again.  The weather here at North Wapiti Central has been downright balmy the past few months.  Its been so balmy that the Pretty Sled Dogs thought it was shedding season, so they did some shedding and now they wish they didn't shed.  Its sorta like packing for the Bahamas and ending up in the Antarctica place.

So, I hope you enjoyed the video of the Pretty Curly Tails going out on their run yesterday.

Here's Bang posing in front of the sled with its snazzy Eagle Pack logo... Eagle Pack, the official sponsor of North Wapiti Kennels and maker of the ultra tasty Eagle Pack dog food... try some today!

Here's Billie and Smartie hanging out in the dog yard.  Please note that the fence behind them is five feet tall... so... dang that's a lot of snows!

Before their run yesterday, the Musher had a word with Jinx and See to let them know that the snow is very deep, so it was important they stay on the trail and stuff.

Afterwards, Runner and TopDog relaxed in their own homemade igloo

Then this morning as the sun crested the snow covered trees

The Pretty Curly Tails came out of their houses....

... and said HOLY MOLY ITS REALLY COLD OUT HERE!!!!  GIVE US STRAW WE WANT STRAW, SERIOUSLY HOW ABOUT SOME STRAW!!!!?????

So, the Musher set about distributing some straw to them

Apparently the Musher wasn't moving fast enough and Astro got a bit rambunctious.

GIMME THE STRAW I NEED THE STRAW... WAIT A MINUTE, THIS ANORAK IS VERY TOASTY, KEEP THE STRAW, GIVE ME THE ANORAK!!!!

And Astro is indeed correct, as it is a Skookum brand anorak... Skookum, proud sponsor of the Musher and North Wapiti Kennels.

Even though its very cold out, training still must be done, so after their breakfast digesting period, it was time to hook them up for a run...

... after it became apparent that their hearts really weren't into it in such cold, the Musher decided to just take the day off and let them snuggle in their houses.

- Bet

Pictures, Clarifications, and Stuffs - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies, its the up from a nap, lounging around the house, staying warm, non-roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!

Before I get into showing some really cool photos the Musher has been taking in Alaska, I need to clarify some things.

The Snack Bag Sponsors received an e-mail thank you with a confusing message.

It was suppose to say "If you DIDN'T send a personal message, please let the Minions know what message you wanted included in your snack bag".

Rest assured, if you packed a snack bag and put a nice message in the bag for the Musher, its still in there.

If you sponsored a snack bag and wrote a message to the Musher when you paid, the message will get packed in your snack bag.

If you sponsored a snack bag and didn't include a message, but want to, just send an e-mail to the Minions and we'll make sure it gets in your bag.

Seems pretty simple, right? 

Apparently simplicity eludes the Cartoonist, especially when she's swigging the Nyquil... which she apparently does all the time for no reason.  Please don't tell her you are sorry she's swigging Nyquil, there's nothing wrong with her, except maybe she needs to get off the Nyquil and start paying attention to detail.  We actually thought of holding an Intervention for her, but then realized she may not be even partially functional without it and are just leaving it alone.

So, if you get strange messages that make no sense, just assume its from the Cartoonist and she hasn't had enough coffee and started the 'Quil a bit early.

Thank you, and now on to some really PRETTY pictures of the Pretty Curly Tails in SNOW!!!!!

As you can see, they are VERY happy to have so much snow to romp in that they are howling with joy!

Such happy happy joy joy snow

And more happy

Oodles of happy

and then the traditional sugar coated Pretty Curly Tail

- Bet

You Wonderful Peoples!!! - Bet

WOWZERS everyone!

It's your very humbled and overwhelmed with generosity and helpfulness non-roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!

A mere few minutes after my plea for snack bag help, everyone just piled on and totally sold out the rest of the checkpoints, thus ensuring tasty treats for the Musher along the way to Nome! 

I am busy, busy, busy putting the names up on the blog of those who jumped at the chance to snack the Musher (please note, as far as I know the Snack Bag minion isn't going to pack frozen fishes for her), so give me some time to fill in the blanks.  I may need some extra crampy toe massage after this marathon blog updating!

I'm also pleased to announce that the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails arrived safely in Willow, Alaska at their temporary home for the Iditarod with the Photographer Musher.

The Musher is extra pleased by the amount of snow there... from the picture it looks like a little more than a dusting there.

Don't mind me, everything's fine!

Stay tuned for more updates, pictures, and ways to help the Pretty Curly Tails, along with some fun games, surprises, and prizes.

Remember... I totally love all of you for your support and help for the Pretty Curly Tails and my beloved Musher.

- Bet

Weekly Update and Good Stuffs - Bet

Howdy Ho everybodies, its your freshly peach scrubbed, snacking on tasty waffles, lounging on the cloud, warm, non-roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!

I gotta say, although I'm very sad that I'm not with the Pretty Curly Tails and Musher on this trip, the Sarah Handler respects my bed space, does a mean crampy toe massage, and my cuticles have never been better, so I guess its not all so bad not being on the road.

The tracking device shows that North Wapiti is now in the Alaskan wilderness, having finally found some winter along the way

The Musher did the happy snow dance and I'm pretty sure the Pretty Curly Tails were happy as well.  I've been keeping an eye on the snow reports since the entire state of Alaska has received all of the snow it didn't get for the past 40 years all in one lump.

Here is a picture of the Pretty Curly Tail home away from home in Alaska

Yep, I'm pretty sure the Pretty Sled Dogs are gonna like their home away from home! 

For those of you asking, here are some pictures of Rocket, who is recovering quite nicely (thankfully) and is even growing her furs back!

As you can see, she's not very excited about the amount of snow here in Canada, but I'm just fine wit it.

She wasn't especially dance motivated in this picture.  She's saving it up for the Dance, Dance, Whatever Its Called competition we'll be having as soon as the delivery arrives.

By the way Musher, you really shouldn't leave your paypal login where Bait can see it... just sayin... I refused the semi truck delivery of sardines, you can thank me later.

So, on to more important thingies, and that is a BIG OL THANK YOU to the peoples that are stuffing snack bags for the Musher at the checkpoints!  I've added your names to the sponsor part on the right hand side of the blog thing, and you'll notice that there's some checkpoints that need foods and snacks and stuffs!

Since time is running short (where does the time go... does anyone really know what time it is?), we're going to let peoples sponsor a snack bag!  No muss, no fuss, no mailing, you get to sponsor a checkpoint snack bag and our snack bag minion will stuff it, and even include a personal greeting from you in the bag for the Musher!

All you have to do is click on the snack bag picture like the one below So, see that big square at the top of the blog that looks like this:

If you click on that, it takes you to the Snack Bag Instruction page!!!  There's a handy dandy paypal button that will let you sponsor a snack bag for a specific checkpoint.  Then you'll get your name on the blog as a sponsor, and a bag will be made for you and waiting at the checkpoint for the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails!   Easy Peasey!

So sponsor your snack bag and give the grateful Musher some tasty things to eat on the trail!

I'll be posting some more later after my nap.

- Bet

Oodles of Stuffs - Bet

Howdy ho everybody!  I'm back after my week of double-secret probation from that little New Year's Eve "incident".  The Musher wouldn't allow me to touch the computer, or go talk to the Pretty Curly Tails, or leave the house (except for bathroom stuffs), and she even threatened to lock me in the outhouse at one point because apparently those flaming pants were... hers.  Sigh.

Anyhoooooooo, I'm back now, but I have a ton of stuffs to talk to you about today, so this is gonna be a long post!

Pictionary Picture

It doesn't come as much of a surprise that nobody guessed the pictionary picture thing.  One of you came kinda close, but here it is again to remind you:

 
 The answer is:  Gone With The Wind.

No, seriously, that's what she said it was.

Left arrow: they left, so they are gone
Squiggly lines blowing a leaf... wind

Yep, see what I have to put up with?




  
Musher Banquet Seating Winners

First of all, I wanted to announce the winners of the "you get to sit at the Musher table with the Musher during the banquet" contest thing sorta.  We drew the names a long time ago and told them already, but wanted to post it here to be all official and junk:

• Patricia Wall      
• Donna Morrow 
• Dinah Abood 
• LaRita Skipper  
• Polly Bray 
• Bill Bray 

Congrats and all that.  Please make sure the Musher doesn't partake in a whole lot of red wine during the banquet, and if she promises you something unrealistic, like skijoring behind a horse... don't believe her... well, actually you probably want to believe that one, so how about sky diving with a horse... yeah, not gonna happen.

Alaska Bound

I don't know if you've heard or not, but I'm not going to Alaska... sniff.

What with all of the stuffs the Musher has to do to get there, and stuffs to do while she's there, and since she and the Pretty Curly Tails will be staying at their gracious host's house and really, really busy doing stuff to get ready for the race and things, and then there's the coming and going, and races before the big race and such and things... that the Musher felt I would be more helpful here with Sarah Handler keeping the North Wapiti homefront safe and stuff, and things... and stuff.

After all, Sarah Handler needs help learning about tasty foods like waffles, peanut butter, and some vegetables when cooked properly, so she really needs me here to help with those things.

At first I was pretty upset about it, as you can see, but then I looked on the Interwebs about all of the things I would be missing in Alaska and found this picture of the snow fall they got in a place called Valdez.

Um... those are REAL cars down there.  It looks very cold.  How do the animals actually walk through that mess?  I would surely lose one of my designer booties in that... so... I'm pretty ok staying in the warm house on the cloud with Sarah Handler.  Besides, I can report just as well from the Border Collie Broadcasting Center (BCBC) and probably get you a lot more information than if I was there and stuck in a huge snow drift without the Interwebs.  Plus there's waffles here.

Speaking of Sarah Handler, I know there hasn't been much on the blog about her since her arrival.  You all got pretty familiar with Brittany Handler because of her many hi jinx with falling off of things, getting run over by Pretty Curly Tails, and general hilarity.

Sarah Handler isn't as fun... ok, she's actually very fun, its just that she's not fun in a blog material type of way... I keep trying to get the Pretty Curly Tails to run her over, or at the very least wrap her up in their rope thingies, but they are all in serious training mode, plus they don't want to blow their chance at going to the big race by getting grounded and have been behaving very nicely after the New Year's Eve pants incident.

Since Sarah Handler hasn't gotten much blog time, here is a recent picture of her as she was going out on the icy ground to feed the Pretty Curly Tails.

She didn't fall or anything... sigh. 

Ok, so in other exciting news... do you all remember me telling you the importance of a matching ensemble?  I know that some of you aren't as familiar with the latest trend in arctic fashion and how you too can look FABULOUS and STUNNING without resembling the Michelin Man thing.

Well, I have another exciting and cool announcement... but I can't tell you until that Nyquil sucking cartoonist gets off her butt and does her job, but I assure you that its really, REALLY cool and you will want to have one of your very own.

Until later

- Bet

Cramping - Bet

Just in case you were wondering, I spelled the blog title correctly.

The Musher had been talking all week about going camping, and how wonderful it was, and all of the tasty things they cook out at the camp, and how peaceful and serene it was, and how it was essential to teach the Pretty Curly Tails how to camp and relax on the trail for the big Iditarod race, and blah blah, blah wonderful, you'll really like it Bet its soooooo much fun.

PFFT!

Ok, I was initially intrigued by the part where I got to assist in packing the tasty treat stuff, but was alarmed when no peanut butter was packed.  How can one survive in the wilds without peanut butter?  I was nearly frantic when we left without the waffle iron.  How can you survive without waffles?

Since we were dining al fresco, I wanted to wear my blue coat (it brings out  my furs) and matching blue booties, but we were suppose to be "roughing" it (without peanut butter and waffles) and Brittany said we would have a roaring camp fire and would be fine... its the LAST time I'm ever listening to Brittany.

The ride out to the camp was fine, nice warm heater in the truck and all.  Of course we were late because Mark just had to hit three stars on level 2-14 of Angry Birds Rio Smuggler's Den (whatever that is), and the Pretty Curly Tails beat us there.

They weren't happy about that because we had their food, so there was that whole tude from them about doing all the work and the LEAST you could do was get here on time, blah blah... prima donnas.

I don't know what they're complaining about, because before we even got the fire going we fed them, and at least they're covered in all that fluff when here I am, without my coat and booties running around in the snow making sure they got their stuff.

Hey!  Who has the truck keys?  I can't feel my toes!

Musher Mark started getting out campsite set up, which was a huge relief because that meant there would be warmth and a fire and tasty foods and stuff.

Then he yelled at me to get the firewood.  Um... excuse me?

I don't see the firewood truck coming down the road.

Apparently whoever arranged this whole camping thing didn't get the firewood order in on time because the truck never showed up.  This meant harvesting wood from fallen trees with an ax... I mean its like we were in the medieval days or something... like nobody could have pre-ordered wood on Amazon.com???

Musher Mark chopped the wood, which is why I'm not writing about Brittany's visit to the hospital to reattach a leg, although we would have been back at civilization and warm buildings...

Pretty soon we had a roaring fire, and not a minute too soon because I'm pretty sure one of my toes fell off.

I fled to the safety of my blue chair (which would have perfectly matched my outfit if I hadn't been told we were "roughing" it), while everyone began to prepare our feast.

Can someone push my chair closer to the fire please?

Hot dogs were impaled on stick things and cooked over the fire.  It took forever... how did you people live before microwaves?  I mean seriously!

Hey, why are there only three hot dogs?

While I waited for dinner to be served, I figured I'd warm up my paws by sucking the body heat out of Musher Mark.

FINALLY the food was ready to eat.

Yes, I would like a bun, and some of the red stuff... not the yellow stuff, the red stuff

The red stuff... Brittany, the RED STUFF

Brittany, how many hot dogs are going to drop on the bench seat, those are yours, I'm not eating them.

 Finally she managed to get a dog in a bun, put the red stuff on, and ... hey.

Um, hello?  Did you forget something?

Yeah, that's better, although I would have preferred a plate, but I guess since we're "roughing" it.

As you probably guessed, by the time I got my food... it was cold.  Why bother burning it on the fire in the first place, I could have eaten hours ago!

After dinner I curled up with the Musher, who was sufficiently padded for the trail and a lot warmer than Musher Mark.

Thankfully the Pretty Curly Tails were restless and wanted to get moving again.  It helps that I bribed them with all of the hot dogs that Brittany dropped on the ground so they pretended to want to get home sooner than normal.

There was a problem with the ATV, but luckily I got to stay in the warm truck while they fixed it, and before too long I was back home and bundled in my blankets to try to raise my core temperature back to normal.

I hear there's plans for another "camping" trip soon... um, yeah, I think I'll pass on the next one, unless we can rent a camper with a microwave.

- Bet