AND THE MAID NEVER EVEN BATTED AN EYE!

Kim’s in the Iditarod check-point as I write…almost halfway to Nome!

She is among a few rookies who are running at the “back of the pack", but moving along steadily. At this point she has dropped two of her dogs (Denver and Avalanche) from the team. They are fine and back with us in Anchorage, asleep in their familiar dog truck. How I wish they could talk! I have so many questions about what they saw and did out there.

I thought Trumpet and Durango would be happy to see their kennel mates return, but I’m not convinced that they are. The dogs who stayed were naturally getting extra TLC, and perhaps not so eager to share again so soon! The fact that three males are in the mix with one female also adds to the tension, I think. Meanwhile, Trumpet and Durango have their own tale to tell.

On what I thought would be a quiet day, I went to check-out some local museums with Diane (another of Kim’s handlers) and all the action happened while we were out. We returned to the news that Kim dropped the first dog whose identity was still unknown at that point. Also, it was discovered that the brakes on her dog truck were not working and it would have to be towed somewhere for service. Fortunately Kim’s mother, “Mom Darst”, is the epitome of grace under pressure. She had it all under control in her no nonsense, no fuss way. But the truck is the kennel and so the question was obvious, “What about the two dogs we have here?”

As luck would have it, there were two dog crates on hand in this pet-friendly hotel that we could borrow…so Trumpet and Durango moved in. It’s worth mentioning here that the room was already full of people and beds and supplies and luggage. I offered to take a dog into my room, to which Mom Darst said, “Oh, you have a roommate.” I opened my door and there it was, parked right down the length of two beds… Kim’s second dog sled - the one she used as her tag sled in the ceremonial start!