North Wapiti Willow Update - From Richard

The musher will be spending the night out on the trail of the Willow 100 Junior competition as a race marshal.

Here she is laying down the law to the Willow 100 junior competitors.

Meanwhile, back at North Wapiti Willow headquarters:

Weekly NW update... Sigh - Bet

Howdy ho everybodies, its your stuck in Perryvale non-roving reporter Border Collie, Bet here.

You know, I thought it was such a strange coincidence that the Musher would just happen to go to an airport and bump into some other guy named Richard... you know, figure the odds of that happening and everything.  I was going to do a blog post about how sad it was that humans only have so many names to go around for all of the peoples, so its probably very common to bump into a lot of Richards... and then I saw THIS picture

Wait a minute... hold the phone.... THAT'S MY PERSONAL CRAMPY TOE MASSEUSE!!!

My Richard is in Willow, Alaska with the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails... and I'm not!

The Musher Skyped me after she posted his arrival because she knew I would be upset.  I refused to look at the screen because I didn't want her to see me crying.  Its bad enough that I'm not there helping her train, but now this.... HEAVING SIGH.

I'm trying to stay positive and all.  The Pretty Curly Tails are better off having his magic crampy toe fingers helping them train for the Iditarod and stuffs, and he's able to help the Musher train all of the Pretty Curly Tails and get them ready for the big race and all... its just hard.


So, here is the North Wapiti Week in Review from the InterWebs.

The Musher was somewhere talking with her eyes closed, but very fashionable.

The Pretty Curly Tails trained in pretty snow

More training in pretty snow

More training in pretty snow

Mooses in pretty snow

So, in a nutshell, snow, Pretty Curly Tails, talking, Mooses, blah blah I'm not there sigh.

On the brighter side of things, I managed to convince the baa baa sheepy thing herdy bunnies that Cricket was a baa baa sheepie thing.

Of course this means I can't leave the house and have to lock the door at all times. 

- Bet

You'll Never Guess....

So last night I was in Anchorage having dinner with two of my very good friends and sponsors, Alice and Lara Baker. Great company and a great pizza at the Moose Tooth!!

Afterwards I was killing some time and ended up at the Ted Stevens International Airport. While wandering around I ran into a nice British guy that sleeps in plant pots, has some experience with Curly Tails, is a fine musher, and (so I'm told) gives excellent 'crampy toe' massages.

I inquired if he was available to come up to Willow and help me get ready for Iditarod. He said he didn't have anything better to do!!! How wonderful.

(Now that is my story and I'm sticking to it - especially when a certain Border Collie hears the news!!)

Welcome to Alaska Richard!!! The Curly Tails and I are thrilled to have you up here!!! =)

Karen

Even More New Stuffs - Bet

Whoosh, howdy ho everybodies.  Its the very tired for a non-roving Border Collie Reporter getting a lot of exercise around here, Bet!

Just wanted to announce that even more cooler stuffs has been posted to the Photographer Minion auction to benefit the Musher and the Pretty Curly Tails!

There are a couple of these really cool pull-over rain jackets that the Musher gets from the wonderful sponsor of Pretty Curly Tails: Eagle Pack to give to her Iditarod handlers!  If you wear one of these around town, people will shriek with joy and want your autograph because they'll think you actually handled and touched one of the Pretty Curly Tails!   Be careful though... its SIGNED by the Musher herself!

There are also a few of these out there, its a t-shirt with the very first North Wapiti Iditarod logo on them!  Once again, if you wear one of these out in public, we can't be responsible for being surrounded by adoring Pretty Curly Tail fans and these are signed by the Musher too!

As you may (or may not... where have you been if you don't ... really?) know, the Musher has lost a lot of weight to prepare for the 2012 Iditarod, and so she's auctioning off some of her awesome clothes and stuffs.  Yes, I know... you think that the Musher just lives in parkas and carhartts and junk, but she's actually quite stylish and cleans up real nice when she and Musher Mark go out on the town.

Here is a really nice leather jacket she's putting up for auction.  Its got removable belts and hoods and a zipper and... ok, just go up to the auction and read all about it, its really comfortable (I know, I've slept on it)

There's oodles more stuffs up there since the last time I posted.  All of it is either signed or has some really cool history to it, so this is your chance to get a little piece of North Wapiti for your very own!

Another addition to the North Wapiti shop is the Memorial Page.  We've had some people's that want to help out the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails run the Iditarod, and they wanted to also do something in the memory of someone they lost in their lives.

We've put up a page for memorials just for that.  We are asking for a minimum $20 donation (or whatever more you want to donate), then follow the directions on the memorial page and the Cartoonist (if she's not in a Nyquil haze) will promptly put up your memorial for everyone to see.  The memory of your loved one will go with the Musher and Pretty Curly tails on the Iditarod trail in March 2012.

Go the top right hand side of the blog and look for this button thingie:

Click it and follow the directions.  Easy Peasy.

That's about it for now... keep watching the auction page, there may be more items added that are small, fluffy, and apparently have some issues with figuring out that baa baa sheepie things DON'T HAVE BLACK FURS AND WEAR A PURPLE COLLAR!

- Bet

Herdy Bunnie Things - Bet

Make them stop!!!!!

- Bet

Exciting Stuffs... and Things... - Bet

Howdy ho everybodies, its me... Bet... sigh.

First off, I'm sorry it took me so long to post the exciting stuffs and things like I said I would... I had some problems to take care of.

Secondly... the Musher is going to be pretty mad at me, but I'll explain that at the end of my post...

The really fun and exciting thing is the new E-Bay ™ auction that the photographer minion is running for the Musher to help with Iditarod monies and stuffs!  EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!

These are really cool, and personal items that the Musher has been dragging around like a hoarder... I mean been saving and cherishing... yeah that part... for a while and she is now ready to part with them to make someone happy!

You won't find these cool items anywhere... well, you may find them other places, but NONE OF THEM came from the Musher herself and most are autographed... so there!

Check this out!!!

This is "Fire lit musher" SIGNED by the famed Alaskan artist Jon Van Zyl... yes THE Jon Van Zyle!!!!  It could be yours... if the price is right.

AND THIS!!!

This is Musher mail!!!  This got carried by the Musher and the Pretty Sled Dogs back in 2005... ok, so that was a horrible Iditarod, so it got warm and squishy on the trail and the Pretty Curly Tails got all overheated and sickly and it just sucked and everything, but ... but... THIS WAS CARRIED ON THE IDITAROD TRAIL AND STUFF!  It was probably all sweated on by the Musher and the Pretty Curly Tails and stuff!  Its signed!

Ok, how about this one... you won't be able to resist this one:

Its the Musher's mittens!!!!  SERIOUSLY!!!  Look at all of the Pretty Curly Tail fluff all over those bad boys!  I drooled on them too!  There's some serious Border Collie drool all over those things, and that alone is worth a gazillion bucks!

Just go check out all of the cool things going on in that auction, think of the history of these items... or something...

Ok, the second other thing we're getting ready for is a Memorial Page thingie.  We've had some peoples that wanted to sponsor a Pretty Curly Tail, but they all got snatched up quickly... we've had others want to help the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails in memory of a loved one... which is really nice and it made me all verklempt and stuffs.  So I'm trying to get the lazy cartoonist to get moving on the Memorial page... it'll be really nice and all and a place for peoples to post a picture and write a little something about a loved one.  I'll post more about it when the cartoonist wakes up from her Nyquil coma and gets coding.

Now... about that other thing that I mentioned earlier and I was hoping all of you had forgotten, but I'm pretty sure if I didn't mention it, some peoples would be asking... so... ok, this is just between all of you and me... don't tell the Musher, but we've had an issue with the baa baa sheepy thing herdy bunnies.

I have like a whole month to figure out something, so just don't tell the Musher... ok?

ugh

- Bet

Your February 2012 NW Update and stuffs - Bet

Golly Gee Willikers everybodies, time certainly does fly and before we know it... it'll be Iditarod time!

Its your stuck at North Wapiti non-roving Border Collie Reporter, Bet here!

We've got a lot of stuffs to catch you up on, hand picked from the various Interwebs and things, so strap on your seat belt and hold on!

First off, apparently its gone from -35 degrees to +35 degrees at Camp Willow NW, and the Musher is (of course) complaining of the heat.  For the record, its 28 degrees here, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

Here's a picture of the Pretty Curly Tails out training.  The Musher said they were a bit flat after the race, and what with the warmer temps and all, but that was to be expected.  They look pretty fluffy to me in the picture.

Here's a picture of the team on the race trail

PRETTY!

Anyhoo, we also learned that Billie really, REALLY, REALLLLLLY wanted to go with the team on the Don Bowers Memorial 200 race.  She wanted to go so badly that when the Musher and handlers were loading the Pretty Curly Tails, she figured out how to flick her chain over the post, jumped the fence, ran to the truck and loaded herself.

You aren't going to leave me out of the fun!

Here is a picture that Handler Brittany took at the race... yes, THAT Brittany, and you will be surprised (and somewhat disappointed) to learn that she was not run over by the team at the start of the race.  By the by, the guy in the totally awesome North Wapiti hat (for sale in our shop, along with awesome matching mittens and vests) is NOT Musher Mark!  That is Peter Duncan, who I'm told has a really neat Scottish accent.

In case all of you wanted to know what its like on the back of the sled, here is a picture of the view the Musher has during her sled time.

That's moving pretty fast and there's not a whole lot to stand on!

She also told us that the Iditarod peoples have found a detour around the Happy River Steps this year, so no the Pretty Curly Tails won't have to deal with that.

Here is a picture of the team navigating through some of the steeper climbs of the Iditarod Trail

Now that the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails are back to practicing for the big race, the Musher has some spare time (obviously) and sent me this video for some reason.

Yes, yes, I'm sorry about the music and how it'll rattle around in your head for days and days, but don't blame me.

Anyhoo, I'm guessing that the Musher thought it would be a good idea for North Wapiti to have some bunny things to herd the sheepie things we don't have... so I promptly got on the interwebs...

I'd like to introduce to you the latest North Wapiti residents:  Cheeseypoof and Snackiecakes

I have been assured that they are 100% trained baa baa sheepie thing herdy bunnies.

That's it for now, but hang around on the Interwebs for a bit, because I have some very very VERY cool exciting cool things to announce on how YOU, yes YOU can get some really cool one of a kind stuffs for your very own that you can own and show to peoples AND help the PRETTY CURLY TAILS...

So, check back later today (after my nap) for the HUGEY HUGE announcement stuffs.

- Bet