freaking fanstastic

On Saturday morning, Pilot Boy and I got up earlier than we wished in order to eat, dress and be bundled up in order to go see the Iditarod. Having never been to a dog race before (of any kind) I did not really know what to expect. I did though, expect the race to be all the dog sleds taking off at relatively the same moment. Like they do at most races. I expected to see dogs running by me, barking and shouting.

I got the barking.
I got the shouting.
But there were no mass of dogs running around.

They do a "ceremony" start on Saturday, the real start of the race the next day at someplace called Willow Lake. This is due to something about permits to run along the highway out of town. Or something. Anyways, so the dogs run around town just for show. And they do not run at the same time, they run every five minutes, so it takes like four hours to get all the sleds "started."

Pilot Boy and I got to the race track (which was piles of trucked in snow packed down in the street) about an hour before the actual start. We got pretty close to the start point and moved into a spot right along the fence. I remained relativly excited till about 20 minutes before when the a boy showed up and made a comment about being cold.

"I'm cold, so I only want to see the first three start. You know they wait like five minutes between sleds," he told the woman he was with.

I looked at Pilot Boy and was like, "I can't feel my toes."

Wearing warm socks (SmartWool, ski socks) and Bog boots do not keep your feet warm. In the least. They might be rated for below freezing, but my feet, since leaving Chicago, have ALWAYS been cold when I go out for extended periods in them. By the time the "race" started, I could not feel my fingers in my super duper gloves. Why pay so much money for super gloves and after an hour you can't feel your fingers? I was warm everywhere else simply standing around except in the fingers and toes. So the long johns work.

The race finally began after much fanfare I could not see, but I could hear. Then, the dogs began running by. Every five minutes. We stayed for the first two and before the third one appeared, I was like, "I can't feel my fingers or toes any more. And this is sort of boring."

Pilot Boy agreed, so after seeing a Scots man run by in a kilt (I bet he was a lot colder than I was in that kilt), we headed back to the car. As we walked along the track, we saw a few more sleds go by and got to stand right next to the track after we got off 4th Ave. That was pretty cool, much cooler than standing right near the start point.

We finally made it to the car and tried to get warm before heading to the store for some food. We spent a lot of time waiting for Chinese food from Carrs (oddly, pretty good), then came back to our home for the time being. Basil Dog was over joyed to see us and we actually got to watch the last hour of the Iditarod race on TV. While it was cool to say I went, I think next year I might just remain home in a cozy shell to watch the start on TV.

It snowed all day yesterday. And it is snowing now. I talked to my dad yesterday back in Chicago, and he said the snow back there was melting and also an icy mess. I think, after seeing snow since October, snow might be getting old by now, but for me, I still like the snow. I like the cold, I only wish I had more clothes. lol!