On the road again.....

Well, as mentioned before, this was a busy weekend....

Friday Mark and Rob brought 20 dogs back down to the dog truck and off to Gunflint Pines for Winter Tracks they went. Mark and the dogs, not Rob. Not yet. Rob and I stayed at the kennel on Friday to take care of the dogs that didn't go to the Pines. We ran the short Moose Loop with some of the dogs that haven't been our running in while.

We also played trivia! We had a blast. This weekend WTIP was running a pledge drive to keep the station up and running. It's a public run station, so it relies on money donations to function. The trivia, called "Small Change", ran an extra hour because of the drive. They would stop the game every half hour or so and ask/shake down the listeners to donate money. Rob and I had made a couple of calls and were on a roll with a few right answers. Every time they stopped to collect pledges, we would get totally bummed. The hosts, Cathy and Stacey would hold the show up until they had gotten a certain number of pledge callers. After a while instead of bummed, we were annoyed, haha. Stacey and Cathy's stall method worked on us. We called in and pledged money just to keep the show going! It was the most fun we've had playing trivia. Now we're officially WTIP members. Add that to my new Co-Op membership, and I'm practically a local. haha.

Yesterday morning we fed the dogs their chicken soup, and then hopped on the sled to head to our own truck. We made a quick stop in Grand Marais at the Java Moose for my cinnamon brown sugar latte and an iced coffee for Rob, then it was up the Gunflint Trail. I was excited to drive up the trail. The farthest up the trail I've ever been is Trail Center, and it's been about 8 years since then. The sun was out and the drive was nice. Everything looks so pretty in the winter. Covered in snow. Once we got to Gunflint Pines we were reminded that even though it was sunny, it was FREEZING! The wind coming off Gunflint Lake was frigid! The dogs and Mark and Mary were set up right on the lake. Across it you could see Canada.

We got a chance to meet the Baker's, owners of Gunflint Pines, and good friends of Mark and Mary's. Mark took a group of everyone's kids out for a run, and then another friend of theirs. Then it was time to close up shop. We helped put the dogs in their boxes, and clean up gear. After a quick pow wow with Mark and Mary, we were back on the road. That was actually the first time we'd seen Mary in a week and a half. We won't see her again until this weekend. Geez.

On the way down Rob was day dreaming about all the lake accesses for canoe trips. I was imagining warm weather, haha. A little dazed from being out in the cold and then sitting in a warm car, we stopped for a quick slice of pizza at Sven and Ole's before finishing our journey back to the Red Gate and the snowmobile.

Once we were home, and the dogs fed, it wasn't long before we were in our p.j.'s and ready for bed. Although we spent most of the day driving, we were beat.

Today Mark will arrive back with the 20 dogs. Rob will meet him down at the gate with a snowmobile, and they'll run the same drill they did earlier this week:) Like Mary says "ahhh, the joys of living in the bush".