We got the snowmachine back yesterday! Then a couple friends invited me to ride down to a village called Tuntutuliak. We rode about 120 miles today. It took about three hours down and three hours back. It was a great day for riding. Nice and warm (about 20 degrees ABOVE zero). I'm so sore I can hardly move now...I can only imagine how sore I'm going to be tomorrow!
Number 10 on the birthday list is complete. I started an indoor herb garden a few days after we got back from Christmas vacation. I dont know if the little ones are going to be able to grow well with how little light we are getting right now, but they're trying. If it doesnt work, I'll buy some seeds and try again over the summer when there's more light.
We finally got Avery's school pictures in the mail the other day. There was a problem with the picture company. They came and took pictures in early September and then the disk that had all the pictures on it was damaged/corrupt. So they had to come out and take all the pictures again in November. They assured us that they would put a rush on the pics so that people could have them before Christmas. Most of the pictures came, but there were many kids who didnt get theirs, including Avery. I called the company and they had absolutely no record of Avery whatsoever, even though they had cashed my check way back in October. I explained this to the customer service rep that I was talking to and she was completely understanding and easy to work with. She sent me their biggest package of pictures including magnets and a disk, even though I had originally ordered only one of the small packages. She even threw in retouching and his name and date on the picture. All in all, it worked out well for us. Although, the only reason I got his pics is because I called the company to track them down. I know there will be many parents who paid for pictures and never got them, but wont call or remember to track them down. The school is working on figuring out how they want to go about getting this cleared up with the company and parents.
This is Avery sitting on the edge of the ice where the river meets the beach(the fog in the picture is from my breath). I'm not sure why the ice gets pushed up like that. It wasnt like that last year or the year before. I think it may have something to do with the tides. the Kuskokwim river is a tidal river, at least this section of it is. so, my understanding of the ice is this...the river freezes, then the tide goes out. when the tide comes back in it pushes the ice up and out. This happens over and over until you get a huge layer of ice rising up from the beach. Anybody reading know if this explanation is true or if it is something else? 
This is the last batch of pictures that I want to post about the K300. It is over. I went to the mushers banquet and awards ceremony tonight. It was long, but fun. The mushers always have funny stories to tell about things that went down out on the trail. The picture above shows the start of the k300 from a distance. All the vehicles parked out on the ice always amazes me.
Here is the start of a couple of the teams. The teams start in pairs every two minutes and their times are adjusted accordingly later down the trail when they take their layovers. They are required to stop and rest twice through the race. A mandatory 6 hour layover on the way there and a mandatory 4 hour layover on the way home. Aside from that, they can stop whenever they like to rest either in a village or just out on the trail.
Here is what the trail looked like as I was waiting to check in the last Bogus Creek 150 musher on Saturday. You can see that there is hardly any snow at all on the river and the ice is showing through in big patches. The mushers told stories of how this was one of the worst year's for trail conditions that they've ever seen. There just is NO SNOW out there. Many of them told stories about sand blowing in their faces.
Here is the finish line from the opposite angle. With the setting sun in the background, it was very pretty. And since I was just about the only person out there at that time, it was very quiet and serene.
The dogs that came through the finish line all looked really good. For the most part, the mushers said that they had relatively few problems with their dogs. It was mostly the wind and ice that caused the problems.
You can see how the frost from their breath accumulates on their snouts. Most sled dogs are fairly small, not like the big, bulky, furry huskies that you see on TV. The kids and the people in the crowd enjoyed greeting the dogs back in the finish line.
Here are the dogs all loaded in the truck for the ride home after their long race. They get bedded down with straw for warmth.
Here is me working my shift at the K300 headquarters. The K300 definitely kept me busy this year. I went down friday night for the start of the race and the fireworks. Then I checked in a Bogus Creek 150 musher at the finish line. Checking in a racer at the finish line means you have to get their time. The clock stops as soon as the first dogs nose crosses the finish line. Then you have to give them a bottle of water and collect their bib number. You have to count their dogs. They have to have at least 5 dogs in harness at the end of the race. Then you have to check to make sure they have their ax and sleeping bag. Those are the only two pieces of gear they are required to take with them.
Then on saturday night, I worked the headquarters from 10pm to 3am. It was pretty dull at that time for the most part except for some guy that came in and stole a jacket from the merchandise table and we had to call the police. Most of what you do at headquarters is just answer the phone and try to answer peoples questions. As each musher goes through the checkpoints in the villages, the checkers there call in to give you their times. You also have to update the leader board and input new information about the mushers into the website.
John Baker won the 2010 K300 tonight at about 6:30 with 10 dogs in his harness (which is a good number, usually mushers have to drop more dogs than that before making it to the finish. He started the race with 14). His total race time was just under 48 hours. Can you imagine 48 hours out on a frozen river in temps anywhere from -30 to -70 with a howling wind coming straight from the north trying to get a bunch of dogs to follow a tiny trail in the middle of a huge, white, barren land?
It just continues to get colder and colder outside. Right now it is -14 with wind at 28mph. That's well within the dark blue get-frostbite-in-less-than-10-minutes range according to the windchill chart. This is definitely a cold weekend to be standing out on the frozen river watching dog sled races....but that's what I'm doing just the same. So, how do I dress to go brave the harsh elements? I'll show you...
The next layer is another pair of really super duper thick socks, fleece pj pants, a long sleeved K300 shirt, and a face mask.
See my face mask...it's one of those with the holes that direct the breath out and down so as to fog up your googles or helmet or whatever as little as possible. I love it!
Next layer is jeans and a hoodie.
Then a scarf (GB Packers, of course), some wool mittens, an extra pair of thick protective mittens in my pocket just in case, my snowpants, and my -40 rated boots.
Then comes the big thick coat with the insulated hood and another pair of gloves.
Yes, this will pretty much be my outfit for most of the weekend while I'm out watching and helping with the races. And you know what? I stood outside for about 1.5 hours tonight watching the K300 and then the fireworks afterward and was not one bit cold. My camera would not take a pictures and my cell phone battery died because it was so cold, but I was fine. Next time I'll put those things in an inside pocket to keep them warm so that I can get some pics (I was able to snap a few tonight before my camera froze up and I'll post those soon). | Wind Chill Advisory | |
| Statement as of 3:57 PM AKST on January 15, 2010 ... Wind Chill Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to noon akst Sunday... The National Weather Service in Anchorage has issued a Wind Chill Advisory... which is in effect from 6 PM this evening to noon akst Sunday. A cold airmass and north winds of 20 to 35 mph will produce wind chills as cold as 40 to 50 below through Sunday afternoon. The coldest windchills are expected overnight as temperatures fall to a minimum and will recover above advisory criteria tomorrow afternoon. Similar conditions are expected again tomorrow evening and through Sunday. Precautionary/preparedness actions... A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frostbite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. | ||
 | -10 °F Partly Cloudy |
| Windchill: | -38 °F |
| Humidity: | |
| Dew Point: | -20 °F |
| Wind: | 25 mph from the NNE  |
| Wind Gust: | 32 mph |
There's alot going on with the race this weekend and I'm happy to be here. Last year I missed the race because I was in Anchorage with my robotics team. I will be helping a local team with their dog handling at the start line for the K300 tonight. I will also be the checker at the finish line for the winners of the Akiak dash. AND I will be working at headquarters from 10pm-2am on Saturday night. It should be fun! Although it is really cold outside and I will have to put on about 50 pounds of clothes and gear in order to stay warm out on the river tonight. Right now it is -7ambient and -33 with windchill. Brrrrrr!
This is the windchill chart that is used by the school (by whoever at the school district makes the decision) to decide if school will be cancelled based on cold. My understanding of the way that it works (which may or may not be completely accurate), is that if it falls within the dark blue area or lower then school may potentially be cancelled. I'm fairly certain that some of it also has to do with whether or not it is a sustained wind or if it is just gusty. But basically the idea is that if a kid can get frostbite in 10 minutes or less, then that puts them at risk when traveling to school.
Before I left Texas, I was telling my cousin that I thought I probably gained 10 pounds while I was there and unfortunately I was spot on. When I stepped on the Wii the day after we got back, I had gained 10.1 pounds. Blah. I knew it would happen. I basically ate whenever and whatever I wanted the whole time we were there. Fast food, sweets, late night snacks...everything. Add that in with the 5 that I had gained back over Thanksgiving and that means that I've gained back 15 of the 30 pounds that I had lost.
Sunday
Monday
| Wind Chill Advisory | |
| Statement as of 4:31 AM AKST on January 11, 2010 ... Wind Chill Advisory now in effect until 11 am akst Tuesday... Northeast wind 25 to 40 mph and the combination of decreasing temperatures are resulting in wind chills of 40 to 50 below in some areas through Tuesday morning. Precautionary/preparedness actions... A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frostbite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. | ||
While Avery and I were at the 6 Flags amusement park in Texas, we got these photos done. I've always wanted to get one of these done. I figured what better place than Texas. And since we got into the park for free, I used the extra cash I had to get these pics done. 
I am going to try to make a boarder/mat for the bottom pic that says something like...Brother and sister duel. Fun!
I found out something new about myself over this holiday season. I like mustard. I never used to like mustard very much, but I think that is because I had never really tried the different kinds of good mustards. I was stuck in a yellow mustard rut. I still needed to experience all of the opportunities the mustard world had to offer. I had to broaden my mustard horizons. 
We are stuck at the Anchorage Airport. Our afternoon flight to Bethel was cancelled due to mechanical issues. We have been here in this airport since 2am...it is now 2pm. Our new flight is scheduled to leave at 6pm. Ugh!
I need a shower so bad, I could scream. There is a good chance that our flight tonight could be cancelled as well because there is a big storm coming in to Bethel as I type this. They are supposed to get freezing rain. If we get stuck in Anchorage, then we will both miss the first day back to school tomorrow. I dont know how that works for me. I've never missed school because of a cancelled flight. I think I would have to take a personal day. Hopefully I wont find out how it works. I want to be home sooooooo bad.
A friend of mine from one of the villages is staying at my place tonight because he is stuck in Bethel because all of the village flights are cancelled as well. So, he is there, warming the place back up and getting my truck plugged in. 
Looking on the bright side, at least the Anchorage airport has a great view. And as I was walking around a part of the airport that I've never been in before, I made a great discovery....a martini bar! Who knew?
On a funnier note, I woke up in the middle of the night last night at about 5am and in my deliriousness, walked right into the men's bathroom instead of the women's. Thankfully, no one was in there.
The only thing I can think of is that Arlington must be an in between stop for the migration of these birds from the north to the south.
They were everywhere on this one corner. They would fly as a group from one side of the road to the other whenever they got startled.
It was like a big black cloud. It was pretty freaky.
You can click on the pictures to make them bigger if you want to see how many there are.
Number 20 on my birthday list in complete. Avery and I went to Six Flags Over Texas today. We rode many roller coasters, but this one was my favorite. It was the tallest and the smoothest that we rode. We had a great time and could have spent several more hours riding and walking around. Our day started out pretty good when we were given free tickets to get in! I was standing in line for tickets and this lady comes up to me and gives me two tickets. She said that they had bought group tickets and that two people in their group could not make it, so she gave them to me. Awesome! I do things like that all the time...give people extra tickets or discount coupons if I cant use them.
I dont know how many of you remember, but I have a collection of photos of (animal) crossing signs. I have ducks, Spanish bulls, snowmachine, tractor, moose, mule, etc. And now I have a Texas bull crossing sign. It's fun to have this weird little hobby.
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