July 9th, Day 18 Alaska Trip

It was great to be getting the heck out of Anchorage (...Just another big city) and back into the Great Wide Open! We skeedaddled north on the Parks Highway and stopped in the town of Wasilla. Noooooo, not to look in on Govr. Palin, but to check out the offical Home of the World Famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race! Historically, this grueling route from Seward to Nome began in 1910 as a mail carrier route and ran just under 1000 miles. In those days, just about the only transportation was dog sled teams. In 1973, a fella by the name of Joe Redington, Sr. organized the first Iditarod Dog Sled Race which led to the route becoming a National Historic Trail. I included at snap marking Mile 0 in the original Seward start location. Now, they start from Wasilla and the race has grown world famous as over 80 teams comprised of only the toughest, strongest, fastest, most amazing dogs that ever lived survive almost insurmountable hardships over 1049 miles to be the first sled team to arrive on Front Street in Nome, Alaska. I got to meet some of those dogs today. In fact, I got to ride in a sled being pulled by some of those dogs today, and the Musher was none other than the son of the Founder of the Iditarod, and Iditarod veteran himself, Raymie Redington. BTW, the littermates of the 2 dogs harnessed in the rear were winners in the last three Iditarods. The sled was actually on wheels and like a dumb a**, I didn't think to have the video running the whole time, because it went really quick! These dogs race out of pure devotion to their mushers -- They race for that ol' fashion praise and affection. As soon as I stepped into the sled, they hopped up, started yipping and wagging their tails - Man, they were really ready to go! When Raymie would gave them commands, they just flew! The Musher knows every dog inside and out - They breed them specifically for what traits they want 3-4 litters from now. It was really fun and the exhibits were cool as well. They even had a little puppy there for the kids to play with - They start the young dogs out really early being around people. Next stop was Talkeetna, south of Denali State Park. We found a room at the Roadhouse - built in 1914. We are staying in the original log cabin bedroom where the owners lived. It was built in the traditional roadhouse style with the bathrooms at the end of the hall. Our cozy accommodations just barely has enough room to swing a cat, but it is very comfortable and has a window overlooking Main Street. The historic end-of-the-road town of Talkeetna is known today throughout the world as the base for international climbers making their way to climb Denali (Mt. McKinley), North America's tallest peak. Denali and the other peaks of the Alaska Range offer a magnificent backdrop for this picturesque town of around 800 people, located about two and a half hours north of Anchorage and halfway between Anchorage and Denali park. Total distance traveled today 118 miles.