Odds & Ends

Peter and I made our first major purchase (if you don't count the cat) around Christmas. We had been talking about our need for a second car, weighing the options and so forth. We weren't sure what exactly we were going to settle on, until an acquaintance of ours left Fairbanks unexpectedly and offered us her faithful old wagon. It was a deal we couldn't refuse.


After a few false starts and a little mechanic lovin', Twiki is running great. He's a solid little wagon whose body has been through the mill (thank goodness for white duct tape) but who's engine (once warm) and airbags work just fine. For better or worse, we also inherited a panel full of bumper stickers.


In a funny twist, my friends Alex and Janelle lent me their car last year while I was in Chicago. While I was driving, it took its last gasping breath and puttered out. To replace it, they bought a car from an acquaintance ... turns out, it's the same color, make and model (and only two years younger) than our new ride. If we send them the appropriate bumper stickers, we'll virtually have twins.

In other news, I spent a lot of Sunday at the Gold Run Championship race. Our neighbor and Nyssa & Duncan's Veterinarian Melissa was there, as the official Race Vet this weekend. I stood with her at the start for awhile, talking about the teams (another neighbor of ours was running 6-dog.) It didn't take long before I was conscripted to help hold the ten dog teams at the line. Remember what I wrote about how powerful those big teams can be, lunging at the start? All I have to say is, I'll be taking a lot of advil over the next couple of days ... but I'm not even going to worry about it until my poor toes thaw out. Next time I go to a dog race, I'm taking hand warmers and my -92 boots. (More pics on Flickr under Mushing.)


Also, for those who doubted, I give you Denali from Fairbanks. Click it!