All photos and video ©Tara Opsteen-Van Dyke
Journal
Today was an AMAZING day! We started out by exploring downtown Anchorage. We went to the Ulu Factory. An ulu is a native knife that is rounded on the bottom and has a handle on top. You use it to chop or cut things in a wooden bowl that the knife fits in perfectly. Then we looked at the snow sculptures that were done for the Fur Rondy. The Fur Rondy is a festival that has been going on all week and included sled dog sprint races (short races). We also had the opportunity to ride on a dog sled through one of the city parks! It wasn't the Iditarod, but we can say that we were on a dogsled in Alaska! Another great experience was going to the Anchorage Museum. Right now there is a fabulous display of clothing and artifacts from all the native tribes in Alaska. It is on loan from the Smithsonian and is absolutely beautiful. Additionally, we walked up and down 4th Street, which is the street that the Iditarod starts on. There are a lot of cool statues, the best of which is Balto. And before leaving, we stopped at a reindeer hot dog stand for lunch. Yummy!
After all the fun in downtown, we drove out to the Millennium hotel, which serves as the race headquarters. That place was packed, and everywhere you looked, you saw mushers! We ran into Aliy Zirkle and her husband Allen Moore. Allen just won the Yukon Quest, and Aliy won it several years ago. Both will be running Iditarod. They were so nice and posed for pictures with us. While at headquarters, we picked up our volunteer badges, Trail Guard arm badges, and our volunteer hats. We feel so official now!
Then this even we got to go to the Musher Banquet, All I can say is WOW! We were able to walk around and talk with mushers. The table decorations were made by school children from all over the country (I'll have to look into that for next year). I think the most beautiful part of the evening was listening to Mike Williams, Sr. lead us in prayer. First he said it in his native language of Yupiaq. Then he did it in English. I included it in the video. After our delicious dinner of rib-eye steak, we lined up near the stage, and the mushers began drawing their numbers out of a mukluk. After each musher came off the stage, they signed whatever we had. I got my Iditarod Monopoly board signed, and Emmaline got her poster signed. What a treat to talk to each and every one of them. There are so many more things I could tell you, but I need to get up in five hours, and I'm not sure I can even spell any more!
After all the fun in downtown, we drove out to the Millennium hotel, which serves as the race headquarters. That place was packed, and everywhere you looked, you saw mushers! We ran into Aliy Zirkle and her husband Allen Moore. Allen just won the Yukon Quest, and Aliy won it several years ago. Both will be running Iditarod. They were so nice and posed for pictures with us. While at headquarters, we picked up our volunteer badges, Trail Guard arm badges, and our volunteer hats. We feel so official now!
Then this even we got to go to the Musher Banquet, All I can say is WOW! We were able to walk around and talk with mushers. The table decorations were made by school children from all over the country (I'll have to look into that for next year). I think the most beautiful part of the evening was listening to Mike Williams, Sr. lead us in prayer. First he said it in his native language of Yupiaq. Then he did it in English. I included it in the video. After our delicious dinner of rib-eye steak, we lined up near the stage, and the mushers began drawing their numbers out of a mukluk. After each musher came off the stage, they signed whatever we had. I got my Iditarod Monopoly board signed, and Emmaline got her poster signed. What a treat to talk to each and every one of them. There are so many more things I could tell you, but I need to get up in five hours, and I'm not sure I can even spell any more!