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yesterday was not a day of much accomplishment. After I had my post eaten here, I went off to the downtown Fairbanks area - sort of. The buses don't run all that often and I wound up having to wait until around 1:15, but since the bus stop was near a stand called Paco's Tacos I did all right for lunch. I got downtown and dropped off my film at Safeway, then made it to the local Red Cross chapter and talked to the folks there for several hours. The Red Cross chapters of Alaska recently consolidated. There is one RC chapter in the state, and everything else is branch offices really. Lord, they have their job cut out for them. On the way back to Safeway I passed a pickup truck with a Kiki decal and the word 'Poing!' across the back end, as well as - and I am not kidding about this - Senor Flannagan's Steak Pit and Cantina. Got my pictures back,t hey're very good, and bought a sleeping bag.
But the real big deal yesterday was the DOGS. I finally got out to Mary Shields' place. Oh, my, that was fun! She has a ten dog team and they're all huge, friendly animals; she's a great storyteller, and she lets the visitors come in and meet the dogs as she talks about each one. Unlike most racers, she's breeding her dogs for hauling rather than speed, so they're about two or three times the size of most racing dogs. We got to meet the huskies; when we left the pen she let them out to all run around and play with each other while she talked about them and the raising thereof. Then she put them back on their chains and they snuggled up in their houses as we went off for her to demonstrate what the dogsled is like, and the snowshoes she uses, and a bunch of other stuff. When that was done we all went into her cabin and she talked about racing and her career and traveling by sled through the Alaskan bush and everything else - loads of fun - and when she talked about a goodwill race she was in over in Siberia, she brought out a reindeer parka one of her hosts gave her as a gift. (She gave him her Gore-Tex parka in exchange.) I got to model that for everybody.
In the end it was really a fantastic time, and if you have any kind of fondness for dogs and ever get to visit fairbanks, you want to come up and see Mary and her dogs.
Today, I am going to head over to the Large Animal Research Station and take the musk-ox and reindeer tour. Talk to you later!
But the real big deal yesterday was the DOGS. I finally got out to Mary Shields' place. Oh, my, that was fun! She has a ten dog team and they're all huge, friendly animals; she's a great storyteller, and she lets the visitors come in and meet the dogs as she talks about each one. Unlike most racers, she's breeding her dogs for hauling rather than speed, so they're about two or three times the size of most racing dogs. We got to meet the huskies; when we left the pen she let them out to all run around and play with each other while she talked about them and the raising thereof. Then she put them back on their chains and they snuggled up in their houses as we went off for her to demonstrate what the dogsled is like, and the snowshoes she uses, and a bunch of other stuff. When that was done we all went into her cabin and she talked about racing and her career and traveling by sled through the Alaskan bush and everything else - loads of fun - and when she talked about a goodwill race she was in over in Siberia, she brought out a reindeer parka one of her hosts gave her as a gift. (She gave him her Gore-Tex parka in exchange.) I got to model that for everybody.
In the end it was really a fantastic time, and if you have any kind of fondness for dogs and ever get to visit fairbanks, you want to come up and see Mary and her dogs.
Today, I am going to head over to the Large Animal Research Station and take the musk-ox and reindeer tour. Talk to you later!
