Freezing Run

Saturday was a beautiful day. There was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and the sun was shining. But.... IT WAS COLD!! The standing temperature was about 8 degrees. That didn't include the wind chill. After morning dog chores, and a good breakfast, I headed back to the cabin to plan my outfit. That's right, plan my outfit. A warm, and dry outfit is important, and takes planning :) It was great opportunity to try out my new boots. And it turned out that I wasn't disappointed! This time for our run, Mark was going to run the Varsity team, Rob the C team, and me the B team. We would take a slightly different route than the usual lunch loop, and would follow Mark most of the way. I was a little relieved that we would be able to follow along, after my fiasco on Friday. It was a good chance to regain my confidence a bit. So after we were layered and geared up, we hooked up the dogs, and headed out. The wind wasn't too bad for most of the trip. The dogs looked great, and listened well. I know that most of that has to do with the following situation, but I'll take it. When we got to "The Burn", the wind became a factor. It was blowing through there, bringing with it an icy edge. My favorite part of the lunch loop is right after "The Burn", and before the actual loop part. It's got hills and long flat parts that run through tall grasses. It's quiet, and not windy. Saturday was particularly nice too, with the sunshine. When the wind would blow up a light layer of snow, it would shimmer in the sun like glitter. It made for a gorgeous run. On the way back home, we passed another local musher, Neil. We waved and the sun must of been in his eyes, because he didn't wave back. So, "Hi Neil, I'm Mel, He's Rob, and we are the Black's handlers this winter, nice to meet you, and look forward to waving at you again!"
Despite the chill of the wind, it was a great run! After we got the dogs taken care off, we changed out every one's straw. It's important that they all have dry straw, and lots of it, when the temperature is dropping. It's always fun giving them new straw. They love it! And sometimes you find little goodies in there. Not always goodies you like to find. But in Noodles house, I found a huge moose bone tucked under all his straw! Little Olga was so excited about her new straw, she jumped in through the open roof. After straw, we got water and ate dinner. Mary made something new (for us anyhow, one of their favorites), and we weren't disappointed! After dinner it was back to our house to watch a movie and go to bed. Being in that cold weather all day, took a lot out of me :) I'm burning up all my fat stores. Oh no! Ma, send more treats! Haha