Ready to Rondy!

This past weekend we attended the Anchorage Fur Rondevous, the winter extravaganza of hoke, and we're glad we did!

Friday started off slow - we attended the first day of the Rondy dog sled races. If you have never experienced a dog-sled race, it really is something. The first thing that is interesting is that they are racing by time, not all lined up and racing against each other to a finish line. So each musher (driver) is introduced by the announcer, and then they go. Then the next team comes up to the start line, and so on. The second thing is that that many dogs all hanging around waiting to run can create quite a din. (If this picture had audio attached to it, you would be deaf right now.)The third thing is that those dogs want to run! There are teams of guys holding them back, and they (the dogs) bark and jump like you wouldn't believe, just waiting to get running. This is why they can't be lined up next to each other. Once you see one team lined up and waiting to go, you can't even imagine the amount of chaos two of them next to each other would be.

And then they're off!

And then, about an hour or so later, they're back! They are generally quieter, and their tongues are hanging out, but they stil have enough energy to bounce around after they come to a stop. The races went right down 4th street, which is part of the center of downtown. The Rondy committee and the city trucked in snow (yes, really) and groomed the track, which made its way around several other streets and looped around all over Anchorage.

Standing in the center of a city, surrounded by stoplights and skyscrapers and coffee shops, and watching dogsled teams mushing by was probably one of the top ten moments of my life. I love this crazy city!

In tomorrow's posting: parade, festival of many cultures, and outhouse races!