Off the rails!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're here in Fairbanks Alaska. Wow, doesn't that sound fancy?

What else happened this morning? Mmmmmmmm, let me see.

After the Breakfast Fiasco, not to be confused with a Breakfast Fiesta, we headed in many different directions. Some to the shops........ yes, to the shops. I can't keep them away.

12noonish, most of us were on the bus heading to see the Jeff King Husky Homestead. Jeff is the guy that has won the Iditarod Sled Race four times. He came second this year, but just one hour. You may have read about it.

Anyhow, we got to hold cute little husky pups. I had my neck laundered by one of them No accidents though. Then we were educated about the breed, their habits and the mysteries of huskies. These dogs were all lean machines, much like heading eye dogs. Not the fluffy big beasts we tend to imagine. Currently they have 90 dogs, including the pups. All well housed and tethered. They have a food bowl on one side of their house and a water bucket on the other.

Five of the dogs were teamed up with a quad bike and off they went for a training run, this is not a just for show thing, they were heading out on a regular training run. What a racket while all the other dogs pleaded to be able to go too. Soon as the team were out of sight the barking stopped and they all sat or laid down again.

Then we had the opportunity to meet with Jeff King. Much smaller in stature than I had imagined. In my mind he was 6' 4", grizzly bear build. Wrong! He's a regular guy about 5' 8".

What a pleasure to listen to someone so passionate about his way of life and his dogs. The atmosphere of the race start in March is evidently 'electric'. 11 days of 6 hours mushing, 6 hours of dog resting (Jeff gets less than one & half hours rest each time) until they reach Nome.

Can you tell that I really enjoyed this activity. Barney, I have a signed book for you. No starting this one at the last page to see if you like it!

4pm ----- down at the station! The 4 hours trip turned into a 5 hour trip, BUT... (fanfare) we saw several moose. Yes, several. We were beginning o think that they were only on posters and t-shirts. We also saw the odd arctic hare, 2 caribou, several white swans and a sparrow. Oh, and a red setter.

Fairbanks looks like a real city. It has really surprised me.

Tomorrow my friend Colleen is meeting us at 8am and she will be spending two days with us, showing the sights of the area.

Till then, that's it from me and that's it from them!