Well, things are progressing here for team NorthernStar Kennels. We have completed all of our necessary vet checks. We had our team ECGs yesterday morning. Each dog that runs the Iditarod has a full panel of bloodwork done as well as the electrocardiogram to assess their fitness level and ability to run a race such as the Iditarod. All dogs are also microchipped for identification purposes. Most of our dogs are already microchipped but the few that weren’t are now.
We were there at the same time as the Discovery channels new news program so keep watching the Discovery channel everyone. We don’t know when it will air but we will let you know if we find out. Warren was interviewed while he was holding the dogs for their ECGs and I was interviewed after the tests were all done. Our dogs not surprisingly hammed it up for the cameras. One thing about my taking so many of pictures of our dogs is that many of our dogs are posers as soon as they see a camera, very convenient for the media and spectators.
After the testing was all done we had to run around town to pick up things still needed for the race and the very necessary washing of the truck and trailer, both of which had become substantially darker in color after the Alcan highway! All that took up the afternoon and then we headed into Anchorage, about an hour from Wasilla where the Iditarod headquarters is located and where we had the first vet check.
In Anchorage we had the second of the pre race vet exams last night. In this exam each dog has a full physical. We are lucky enough to be friends with a great veterinarian here in Alaska, Dr. Deni Albert, and we had her do the pre race exam on our dogs again this year. She has worked at countless sled dog races and really knows sled dogs and we value her opinion greatly. One of the really cool things about the Iditarod is the way that mushers and vets work together for the best care of the dogs. We are happy to report that Deni gave our dogs a clean bill of health, remarking more than once about the great shape they are in. While we already knew this, it is always good to hear it from a vet and helps us with team confidence.
Finishing up well after nine pm with the vet check we were happy we were able to have a late dinner with Deni and her partner Mark Nordman, also the race marshall for the Iditarod and a good friend of ours. We got reports of the trail from Mark and it happily is not in as tough a shape as it was for last years race. We were really happy to get the chance to visit with them both before the race starts. During the race Deni will be a vet on the trail and Mark will be busy nonstop as race marshall so we shall not have another chance.
This morning we turned in all of our mandatory vet paperwork at headquarters and it felt good. Slowly but surely all the logistics are getting finished and soon it will only be about running the dogs. I know Warren is anxious to get out on the trail.
This afternoon was all about getting organized with our most important goal to get the second sled packed up. Warren will be sending his second sled, a lighter sled than the one he will start with, to Takotna. The sled is all ready to go now. Tomorrow while Warren is in the mushers meeting, I will head out to the airport to send the sled out, another big logistic to check off the list.
We are now en route back to Anchorage where we will spend the night. The musher meeting is at 9am tomorrow morning and we don’t want to fight with the traffic going into Anchorage in the morning. That is the best thing about our trailer; we have our living quarters in it so we are quite self-sufficient. We will park it at the Millennium Hotel, the race logistics headquarters during the race, and then in the morning Warren can sleep in abit and I can be with the dogs while he is in his meetings.
We are excited to go have a late dinner with our friends Laura and Jane who are flying in as I write. We are hoping to go to an Anchorage icon, the Club Paris, where we all dined together before Iditarod 2006.
Cheers,
Kate