They're home!!

I was so excited to keep the blog up all weekend. And of course, we had the slowest internet of ALL time. It was painfully slow. That put the kabash on yesterdays post. So here we go....

Saturday, our running plans changed. Instead of Rob and I running dogs at the same time, we took a team out one at a time. I took Olive and Hutch, Michelob and Bud, and Kila and Ranger out. Rob followed, and led me on the snowmobile. With only one of us on a sled at a time, there was little room for error. After we got back, Rob took Hercules and Olga, Caribou and Mac, and Valor and Blue. The runs went smooth, and it was a perfect day. Even though the Moose Loop (the loop we took the dogs on) is just a short loop, it's great practice for Rob and I.

Sunday was another really nice day. It wasn't very cold at all this whole weekend, and the sun was shining everyday. Rob took the younger dogs for a run around the Moose Loop while I did dishes. When he came back, he told me he had seen Neil, our neighbor musher. Both of their teams had met at the Beaver Pond intersection. Just then I saw Neil and his dogs run by the front drive way, and stop. I walked down the drive way, just to make sure things were okay, and he waved me over. He introduced himself and his dog team. It was great to meet him! I was glad he stopped. He was running 7 of his 14 dogs for a 65 mile trip. I was really looking forward to meeting one of his dogs in particular. A dark dog with blue eyes, that I always notice while we are passing. Unfortunately he was not in the group. Neil told me he would be running the dark dog tomorrow (Monday) and would stop by and say hello again.

Sunday evening we let Murphy and Monz, the brother puppies run free. They loved it! Monz is a bit of a bully though, and managed to take a couple of tufts of fur out of Murphy's hind end. During the puppy outing, Michelob suddenly appeared prancing through the yard, chain and all. One of the links in her chain links had worn through. She looked so excited! We got her a new chain link, and she was back in her yard, much to her dismay.

Today Mark, Mary and the rest of the dogs came home. We did our normal dog chores this morning, got water and made breakfast. Then we waited to hear from Mary so that we could head down and meet them at the red gate. I was watching the time, hoping I would be able to catch Neil and meet the other half of his dogs. Sorry I missed ya Neil, maybe next time :). We met Mark, Mary and our missing dogs and headed back to camp. It was awesome to see them all. I was sad to hear that Indi was one of the dogs that had to be dropped off of Marks team. Oh crap, I forgot to tell you how they did! Haha. Mary finished 6th, and Mark finished 15th.

Indi had a shoulder injury and needed to be rested. Oh my poor Indi Pie! (that was more for me, than for any of you).

Anyhow, we got all the dogs back to the dog yard and in their nice, warm, freshly strawed houses. Mary stayed in town to get ready for work tomorrow. Not fun! Mark is resting and enjoying a well deserved whiskey coke. Hannah, and I are enjoying a hot cocoa, and Rob just headed out to start night dog chores. Back to the usual again.