DD in Upstate New York is synonymous with Dunkin Donuts.  Ahh, I miss the orange and pink logo…….(Feel free to pause here and take a sip of a DD Hazlenut Latte for me).   We miss that which we cannot have. DD in Iditarod vernacular is very different.  It stands for Dropped Dogs.  One of the […]

Read more "And Then There was Leo….."

Thank you to my lovely wife for the opportunity to once again guest write in her blog. We both took on new assignments this year and learned a great deal, both relating to the race and many other aspects of Alaska life. I departed Anchorage with a hybrid assignment. I was transitioning from “COMMS” (Race […]

Read more "Ruby, the Jewel of the Yukon"

“Challenge yourself!” I thought, “Try something different this year.”  Short of actually ENTERING the Iditarod and running 1,049 miles with 16 dogs across the wilds of Alaska, working Iditarod Race Logistics was the wildest ride for which I have ever volunteered. When you join the Iditarod Trail Committee each year, you are directed to a […]

Read more "To Be Quartered"

Bucket lists are exhausting.  Alaskans work hard during the “seasons”, making money in the tourism season as well as stocking the freezers in hunting seasons and fishing as much as the different seasons allow.  We had some truly awesome experiences on the Bering Sea for the coastal brown bear season, as well as in the […]

Read more "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s On the Trail We Go"

David and I are psyched.  We had always hoped that we could find work at a remote lodge in Alaska for the season.  It would include food and lodging, which would virtually eliminate our living expenses while being gainfully employed. We began, even before we left New York, crafting a canvas letter – introducing ourselves, […]

Read more "The Alaska Club"

Or to Nome….   When we first realized we were really getting to volunteer on the trail for the Iditarod, David asked me if I wanted to try to make it to Nome to the Awards Banquet.  I tucked away the notion as out of the realm of possibilities, logistically and financially. But like light at […]

Read more "Nome"

I am sure my whole “Alaska thing” had friends shaking their heads.  I’m a nerd, a bookkeeper, a computer geek by all accounts.  Living outside my comfort zone is a big part of the joy here in Alaska.  Imagine my euphoria then to get a phone call just moments after I arrived in Unalakleet from […]

Read more "Safety Last"

Thank you to my wife, for allowing my “guest post”. Since I was the lucky one to get a position at Rainy Pass, she suggested I share my experience. This checkpoint is not a village at all, but rather a remote hunting and adventure lodge. It’s just before the highest elevation of the Iditarod trail. […]

Read more "Love At First Flight"

We’ve all gotten them.  A call that changes everything.   In 1987, I got a call from a certain New York State Trooper asking me if I “did lunch”.  That call changed my life.  In January of this year, while on top of a mountain in Alaska, we got a call announcing the arrival of our […]

Read more "The Call…."

Alberto Salazar is quoted as saying, “I had as many doubts as anyone else.  Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards.”  After I waved good bye to Dave last Saturday morning, as he flew off in the bush plane for Rainy Pass, I actually felt a bit of dread trying to find my way […]

Read more "Start Me Up"