Iditarod Weekend
Man, are my quads screaming!! Riding snow machines and doing 3 miles laps around the lake on skis for 3 days makes for a tired girl!
Soon after the first musher came by! The famed Dee Dee Jonrowe, world traveler, long time musher, award winning kennel owner and dog breeder, cancer survivor, queen of the dog sled, was the first musher! She looked beautiful in her pink parka and fur hat with her curly blond hair framing her face. She truly is amazing. After that, a stead stream of mushers flew by! Here are a few of our favorites!
We thought we would be at Scary Tree until dark. Us Lounsbury/Thomasson's were hoarding our food until we realized we were about to watch the final few mushers whiz by! That french toast could keep an elephant's hunger at bay for hours. The sun was getting low and it was time to heat up tortilla soup and cook some gourmet dogs!
What a blast of a weekend I just had with my hubby, Dad and Steph! We are so blessed to have a cozy cabin at Cow Lake, a pretty pink plane to fly us there, and a dad who is a big kid with a fleet of snow machines and every cabin gadget know to man kind including my new favorite, the log splitter.
Day one: Colin and I wake early to pack all the food and the rest of our gear. For once we beat dad to the gas shack (plane supply shed at airport) but only by enough time to watch him taxi the plane down the road. After a bumpy and sluggish 15 minute flight we arrive at Cow Lake! Steph and I, being the domestic goddesses we are, got the homestead straightened up while the men, boys with be boys, went to the shed to start all the snow machines, making sure they were in tip top shape. Our dear friends Marty and Shannon rode over from Red Shirt Lake for a beer. I pretty much don't remember details after that. I started drinking bloody marys, played with the log splitter, made some sandwiches and next thing I knew, we had more visitors. Steve and Mary from Crooked Lake! We all drank wine and finalized meeting times to ride out to Scary Tree- a gathering place for Iditarod enthusiasts. All the fresh air that first day had made me sleepy. Steve and Mary headed home and we all headed to bed!
Day two: The big adventure was set to start at 1pm. The re-start of the Iditarod takes place in Willow at 1:30pm. A ride out to Scary Tree takes about 1/2 hour- you never want to miss the first musher!! No adventure can start without lots of fuel and by fuel I mean french toast. I make a bitchin' french toast!! Well, as all great breakfast chefs know, no breakfast is complete without eggs...and guess what? We forgot the eggs! Luckily we have great cabin neighbors! Fresh eggs were flown in from Anchorage just for us courtesy of the Strumpler's!! We totally own them cookies!
Again, us domestic goddesses cooked for our men while our men prepared the iron steeds! After about 2 hours of strapping down firewood, chairs, BBQs, food and beer, we were ready to set off to Scary Tree!! We had a group of about 16 snow machines!! The sky was vibrant blue, the trails and pristine white, and Denali was out for all the world to see! Dozens of colorful machines and rides, all with huge smiles on their faces, hit the trails! It was a great day to an Alaskan.
Scary Tree was already becoming a little Sturgis for snow machines by the time we arrived! Everyone was chatting about how great the weather was! I even bumped into the Embely's! Dad started a camp fire with a propane torch. That is just how we roll.
Day one: Colin and I wake early to pack all the food and the rest of our gear. For once we beat dad to the gas shack (plane supply shed at airport) but only by enough time to watch him taxi the plane down the road. After a bumpy and sluggish 15 minute flight we arrive at Cow Lake! Steph and I, being the domestic goddesses we are, got the homestead straightened up while the men, boys with be boys, went to the shed to start all the snow machines, making sure they were in tip top shape. Our dear friends Marty and Shannon rode over from Red Shirt Lake for a beer. I pretty much don't remember details after that. I started drinking bloody marys, played with the log splitter, made some sandwiches and next thing I knew, we had more visitors. Steve and Mary from Crooked Lake! We all drank wine and finalized meeting times to ride out to Scary Tree- a gathering place for Iditarod enthusiasts. All the fresh air that first day had made me sleepy. Steve and Mary headed home and we all headed to bed!
Day two: The big adventure was set to start at 1pm. The re-start of the Iditarod takes place in Willow at 1:30pm. A ride out to Scary Tree takes about 1/2 hour- you never want to miss the first musher!! No adventure can start without lots of fuel and by fuel I mean french toast. I make a bitchin' french toast!! Well, as all great breakfast chefs know, no breakfast is complete without eggs...and guess what? We forgot the eggs! Luckily we have great cabin neighbors! Fresh eggs were flown in from Anchorage just for us courtesy of the Strumpler's!! We totally own them cookies!
Again, us domestic goddesses cooked for our men while our men prepared the iron steeds! After about 2 hours of strapping down firewood, chairs, BBQs, food and beer, we were ready to set off to Scary Tree!! We had a group of about 16 snow machines!! The sky was vibrant blue, the trails and pristine white, and Denali was out for all the world to see! Dozens of colorful machines and rides, all with huge smiles on their faces, hit the trails! It was a great day to an Alaskan.
Scary Tree was already becoming a little Sturgis for snow machines by the time we arrived! Everyone was chatting about how great the weather was! I even bumped into the Embely's! Dad started a camp fire with a propane torch. That is just how we roll.
Soon after the first musher came by! The famed Dee Dee Jonrowe, world traveler, long time musher, award winning kennel owner and dog breeder, cancer survivor, queen of the dog sled, was the first musher! She looked beautiful in her pink parka and fur hat with her curly blond hair framing her face. She truly is amazing. After that, a stead stream of mushers flew by! Here are a few of our favorites!
Dee Dee Jonrowe (finished 12th)
Lance Mackey (finished 16th)
Trent Hurbst (finished 25th)
Oswald "Newton" Marshall (scratched)
Martin Buser (finished 18th)
We thought we would be at Scary Tree until dark. Us Lounsbury/Thomasson's were hoarding our food until we realized we were about to watch the final few mushers whiz by! That french toast could keep an elephant's hunger at bay for hours. The sun was getting low and it was time to heat up tortilla soup and cook some gourmet dogs!
Scary Tree wasn't scary at all. It was a awesome! Here are some smiles to prove!
Me & Mary
Dad & Steph
Day three: My favorite day. I tried to make it a point to not ride snow machines or use mechanical equipment. I just wanted to be quiet and one with nature and the people around me. My dad was kind enough to groom a trail all the way around the lake- roughly 3 miles. By late morning I was ready to ski!
There was not a cloud in the sky! In the sun you could break a sweat and get a sunburn. Colin and I strapped on our skis, filled the backpack with beer and headed out. The trail was soft, the snow glistening, the sun shining and all you could hear was the sound of your own breath. It was absolutely beautiful!
Halfway around the lake we stopped to take break.
When we arrived back at the cabin I was happy to see Dad and Steph also enjoying the day. Steph was napping outside on the Eklutna Couch as we call it with the sun beaming down on her rosy cheeks. Dad was busy just surveying the property, admiring all the hard work he has put in the cabin over the years.
One benefit of not firing up the snow machines is that camp robbers feel much more comfortable visiting the cabin, especially when enticed with crackers.
It was one of those weekends that just came together. Chips didn't break in transport, no one's tootsies got cold, everyone we wanted to see at least stopped by and hell, it was 30 + degrees and sunny spring skies EVERY DAY. Any day that can be enjoyed outside on a couch on a porch in the sun with Moose Tooth Raspberry Wheat is heaven on earth.
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