Iditarod 40

This may have been the most exciting Iditarod we've seen since moving to Anchorage--simply because we got a sneak peek of the sport through a Discovery Channel special. The Toughest Race on Earth is a 6-series documentary covering the 2008 Iditarod. We found a few more mushers that we really like--Martin Buser came out on top for many reasons. I thought his photo finish this year with his son Rohn was classy--it's the case of a father being a true mentor to his son, and it was true to Martin's character.

Another reason was because my parents have had a long friendship with the Seaveys. They met Mitch and Janine in 1998 when they first brought my siblings to Alaska (I was on my mission at the time), and have exchanged letters and books with this family for the last 14 years. When they came up last summer, my parents and sister attended Dallas Seavey's Ididaride show in downtown Anchorage--and got to have dinner at a private table with Dallas. Needless to say, we were all thrilled when Dallas won this year's Iditarod.

 We've gone to the same spot for the last 3  years--but somehow we never knew about the free hot dogs and chili. Clearly David approved! (Although he didn't approve of wearing his hat in such freezing temps.)

 The mushers were handed a free hot dog from the Horizon tent that sponsored the free lunch, then a box of girl scout cookies a few yards later. A couple of the dog teams lost focus and veered off the trail to head into the hot dog tent--so it was a good thing that all of this was for fun and show, not for the race.

 Daddy helped David stay off the trail and try to stay warm (which was kind of hard with a bare head).

David had fun in the snow while we watched a few mushing teams pass. We caught the middle of the pack--so we saw Lance Mackey and Dallas Seavey come by with their champion dogs, along with at least a dozen other teams.

Here's how David really felt about posing for the picture with his parents.

 But luckily my friend clicked fast enough that we got a neutral looking photo as well.