Sunday, August 10, 2008

Ashley's Birthday Trip

For my birthday this year I asked Jon to take me on a ride with iditarod dogs. Well we went yesterday to a small town 2 hours from Anchorage called Seward where the iditarod first started. We went to Seavey's Dog Sled rides. It was pretty fun - not exactly what I expected. Our "1 hour" ride was a 2 mile ride and then a tour of the facility but it was still awesome. The smell on the other hand was not so great. They have 84 dogs in their homestead and that many dogs together makes for not so great smelling times. It was really fun to see how the dogs live and the training they have to go through to be picked to race. We got to ride with the puppies pulling us - Our lead dog was still learning and he only missed one command. They use the summer as a testing time to see which dogs they want to run the big race in March! We got to hold some puppies also - they were only 2 weeks old - Jon's puppy peed on him:)


After the dog sled ride we went and toured Seward. There is some big Salmon derby going on so there were a ton of people going out to fish Salmon - we just walked around and then found out about a Glacier in the area so we went to check it out. We got to climb to the side of it - out goal before we leave is to go to the top. It is a 3.7 mile hike straight up a mountain so we are going to have to train a bit for that. How many people hang out at a glacier in August??

As for our wildlife update: 4 moose, 1 bald eagle flying out in the open, a bunch of salmon and some of the world's largest mosquitoes.

3 comments:

Bert Burt said...

Ashley the "Iditarod dog sled driver" has a great ring to it. Sounds like a great adventure and a fun way to celebrate your birthday in AK. Also, you walk on a glacier sounds like an amazing thing to be doing in August. I will say that a 3.7 mile hike straight up a mountain sounds very challenging and something I would only attempt in Aug. Not sure when the weather turns really cold but I would not want to try that in the winter months. Your wildlife counts makes it sounds like you are getting to see some beautiful sights. Hope all continues to go well and that you have a great birthday!

Mandy said...

Wow! That is so cool! Those gos have always fascinated me.

Tressa said...

What a GREAT adventure and a memorable birthday at that!
Those puppies are so cute! You guys should buy one! HA!!