Well, Warren and the dogs are off! The dogs were to say the least very amped for today. Even dropping them this morning at the house they were out or control hyper...it was like they knew it was race day. We nearly took out one of our volunteers getting the dogs walked to the starting line and we completely took out one of the sled catchers at the starting line - they are a very powerful group of dogs. We got down to the starting line around 1030 this morning. Having fed the dogs at the house just before leaving we left the dogs up in the trailer while we set about packing Warren's sled for departure. With the exception of a set of runners that did not want to go on the rails and a missing set of mitts it was very unstressful and the above mentioned were only minor blips. Warren has been exceptionally calm this year in preparation for the race. He knows the training of the dogs is good, the caliber of the dogs is exceptional, they are amazing athletes, and he now knows the trail so all of these factors make for a successful run. Of course there are lots of variables during a race of this length but mentally and physically our team is ready to compete with the best of them. It is going to be a very good race to watch. The final roster for our team is as follows, Cash, Diesel, Goblin, Caper, Guiness, Blueberry, Black Dog, Calvin, Earl, Redneck,Frank, Edenei, Dobie, Maynard,Liberty, and Famous. Look on the pics on the Iditarod website for taoday's pics and you can see Cash and Diesel in pic 15 of 18 leaving the start chute. Also there is a picture of the dogs, Warren, and I on the March 1 pics, I believe it is pic #28, we are coming down a hill , you can see four of the dogs and Warren's UpHere hat is very visible. I now have eight dogs on the truck with me - Lena, Filbert, Kazen, Dude, Apache, Widgi, Katrina, and Raphael. They are a good group and I am looking forward to spending some good quality time with each of them. Lena injured herself on the last training run of the season so she is on rest mode but I am looking forward to taking the other seven on a few runs on new trails while I am here. All for now as now that the excitement of everything is down, I feel tired from the journey. Off to drop my remaining eight dogs and then catch some sleep. More tomorrow. Kate