Hot Shower, Hot Meal, Warm Bed

Jeff King shared his thoughts about seeing Mackey on the trail then commented that he is looking forward to a hot shower, a hot meal and a warm bed!

I can understand those desires after just being on a tent-camping-hunt! It is always so good to get home! Home, where you can walk around in socks! Home where you can find a comfy place to sit! Home with all the hot water - ready in an instant! Home with a plate of hot food! All those conveniences make the heart sing - home sweet home!

Congratulations to Lance Mackey, our 35th Iditarod Champion and his very spunky dogs! Lance said that it would be hard to pick out two as his main leaders since he let them share the lead a lot; but I see he chose Larry and Lippy. Good job driving them Lance Mackey and well done to all of your racing dogs! It's cool that Lance and his Dad Dick, and his brother Rick, all won the Iditarod with bib # 13 and on their sixth Iditarod race! Incredible.

As I suspected, it was a race for third place between Zack and Martin. I went to bed last night right after Buser and Steer left Safety. I hoped to see Buser in third when I got online and looked today! It would be fun to be hearing the stories that are being told now that the finishers can just relax and enjoy life again. Awww, Buser looks so tired in the picture on this page.

I enjoyed the race this year. I am so glad Buser is in the top five. Last year he didn't do so well. I am looking forward to Iditarod 36 as it will be interesting to also watch his son Rohn run in the race as a 2008 rookie.

I'm watching Sigrud Ekran in position #18. She is originally from Norway and a 2007 rookie; she could finish today as the first rookie of Iditarod 35. She is doing very well. She slid into White Mountain at 10:05 a.m. so that means that she can start off for Safety in eight hours at 6:05 this evening. The closest rookie behind her appears to be Sylvia Willis in 27th position and out of Elim at 6:08 a.m. Hmmmm, Aliy Zirkle has dropped clear down to 29th position, she is also in and out of Elim.

Chickens, llamas, alpacas, donkeys and an old mule continue to wait along with a three year old son for the right now Red Lantern musher Ellen Halverson, also a rookie. Ellen's average speed is 2.81 mph as she continues on the Iditarod Trail to Eagle Island today.

Ellen says,

"I have attempted the Iditarod twice but haven’t completed it. Outside of parenting a child (which I think is very challenging) Iditarod is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted. Running the Iditarod is a wonderful life experience. The dogs are built to run and it is a very special experience to partner with the dogs on the Iditarod Trail. There is a different intimacy with the dogs in this long race than one ever gets to otherwise experience. I have learned and made a lot of mistakes in my previous attempts to run Iditarod. My dog team is growing old and I want to run with my dog buddies with whom I have shared so much." From Iditarod.com.

Hang in there Ellen, we are watching you coming down the trail on your way to that hot shower, hot meal and a nice warm bed.

Here is one of many brilliant sunsets that have been going on for many weeks now. The skies continue to be clear and blue every day which means it has been cold, cold, cold. It's not only cold, it has been windy here in Big Lake too.

Day 78.