sled dogs

See you up the trail, Romano…

Yesterday, after sixteen-some adventure-filled years together, it broke our hearts to say goodbye to our beloved Romano.

Romano was a good man! He didn’t have a sneaky bone in his body (which, for an Alaskan husky, is really saying something). He was a saint among dogs. He touched the lives of so many. I like to imagine him in Heaven, hanging with all of the humans who adored him—Dwight, Brenda, Mom, Dad—as well as the long string of dogs leading him to the Heavenly smells and sights—Lolo, Borage, and his brother, Stinky, along with the rest of the Cheese Family… and the many other dogs from both the Gilliland’s pack and my own… the list goes on and on.

Thank you, Romano, for being you. 

We’ll miss you… 

Mush, Romano! Mush!

 

 

Louis Tenney Photo
Louis Tenney Photo

Representing the USA …

IMG_3836

This morning Noggin did a fine job representing TEAM USA (and sled dogs everywhere) at our presentation at Mt. Healthy Elementary in Columbus, Indiana. The big and beautiful flag as our backdrop put my Alaskan Husky in a very patriotic mood. Noggin is always such a good girl at our talks— she does deserve a gold medal. But, thankfully, she was quite content with the slices of American cheese stashed in my back pocket.

 

 

 

Bundle Up!

IMG_3261

The 1000-mile Yukon Quest is happening RIGHT NOW! Follow the race at www.yukonquest.com. Everyone always asks me if I’ll ever run the Iditarod again—this is the race I’d love to experience at some point in my life. BIG country, great people, and challenging terrain with a “smaller” 14-dog team (Iditarod is a 16-dog team)—I’ve always found the Yukon Quest intriguing. The Quest website has beautiful videos from past races. Click on their Youtube channel to live a little bit of the trail yourself …

The Iditarod starts on March 3, 2018. Follow the race at www.iditarod.com. Teachers click on the EDUCATION page to follow the Teacher on the Trail, watch videos, and access  race resources. Throughout the race, I also frequent the Anchorage Daily News website (www.adn.com) for free daily updates and beautiful photography.

I still have some dates open for Iditarod school or public library talks at your location OR via Skype. Contact me now (mymusher at Yahoo dot com) to set a date!

DSC_7932

DSC_7907

Eiteljorg Museum Moments

Photos from our talks at the Eiteljorg Museum’s Exhibit — DOGS: Faithful and True —have been trickling into my INBOX. Here are a few…

IMG_0960

Future musher, Katelyn Harvey, looks like a pro behind my Iditarod sled.

DSC_7930 (1)

Noggin receiving some loving at Friday’s Eiteljorg school talks.

DSC_7908

Thank you to everyone who attended our presentations. Noggin and I enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones. See you up the trail!

Mush Madness

Thank you to the Rural Alliance for the Arts for sponsoring our Batesville Intermediate School visits for the second year in a row!

IMG_0632 (1)

As always, the teachers had their students well-prepared for our time together, and we enjoyed lively discussions about the 1,049-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race which, of course, is happening RIGHT NOW! Noggin and I gave five talks at the school over the course of two days. Each and every third grader has picked a musher and dog team to follow daily throughout the race so they were ready to talk trail. And Noggin, as always, was ready for a little sled dog TLC…

IMG_0654