London Heathrow to Copenhagen

The trip was long, but uneventful.  We had side-by-side “pods” in first class.  

Between them was a “suitor door” – boy did I get a surprise when I opened it!

London was hot and humid… and the airport was crowded.  We were able to wait in the Concorde Room (the first class lounge).  We had a bit of an adventure… we were sitting over in a corner, and this very tall, good looking guy dressed all in black came over to the couch opposite ours.  He was reading, sipping champagne.  I thought I recognized him.  After his wife joined him, I was pretty sure.  When he got up, I saw the label on his suitcase – Brosnan., Pierce Brosnan!  (To use a line from his James Bond character.)  Later they moved to another chair so his wife could plug in her cell phone to charge.  After they left, I had gone to check on our gate assignment, and Scott looked up and realized she had left her phone.  We grabbed the concierge and told him that Keely had left it.  He was able to find out what flight they were on and got it to them just before the plane left the terminal. 

Hard to see, but this is Pierce Brosnan from across the lounge
I will clean it up when I get access to PhotoShop

Our connecting flight was late due to incoming equipment.  So we arrived a bit late in Copoenhagen but were able to link up with our traveling companions at the airport hotel.  We had a room on the 11^th floor, overlooking the airport. 

Quiet, except for the plane at 3 in the morning!  Scott slept right through it.  

Boston

After lunch in Vernon, CT, with Scott's Uncle Richard and Aunt Eileen, at the world famous Reins Deli, we headed for Boston.  We negotiated the twist and turns of the roadways around the airport and dropped off the rental car.

We got to the airport around 3:30, and discovered that British Airways doesn't open their ticket counters until about 4:15.

We got checked in and headed to the first class lounge.

I got a couple of pictures of downtown Boston, had a few drinks, then captured sunset.

Logan Airport

Boston Skyline at sunset

Sunset

After the first BA flight left, we had a 4 course dinner... as Scott says, it.s the only way to fly.

Boston Skyline after dark

We are headed for London!!! 

Bennington, Vermont

Bennington Monument

We have been visiting Scott’s family in Connecticut.  On Friday, his niece Tammie and her husband Brian took us to their camp in Vermont.  We got there in time to catch sunset over the Green Mountains from the deck of The Publyk House, a historic restaurant north of Bennington.    Here’s a couple of views of the Bennington Monument and the sunset.

trees starting to get their color

sunset, looking toward NY

 

On Saturday, we went to the monument, the tallest structure in Vermont.  This commemorates the battle in 1777 where the Green Mountain Boys held off the British in their efforts to take supplies.  This defeat contributed to the later defeat at Saratoga, and the British retreat back into Quebec.  

Around Bennington there are painted moose and catamounts (cougars), including one at the base of the monument.  (This depicted covered bridges.) 

Covered Bridge Moose

After leaving the monument we went to the old First Church, the oldest church in VT.  The graveyard next to the church has markers for revolutionary soldiers, signs for well-known stone carvers, and the grave of Robert Frost. 

revolutionary soldier

From there it was off to explore some of the historic covered bridges. 

Paper Mill Bridge and dam

Henry Bridge

After a quick stop in town to visit a local antique gun shop, we went back up to the camp.  In the swamp below the camp we encountered a real fisherman.  

We explored the hillside on ATVs, and, after dinner sat on the porch listening to the owls, the coyotes, and other sounds of the night.  

the Kennedy camp

One final picture... one of the catamounts:

"Cattitude"
Main Street, Bennington

:

The Trip Begins

We got to the gate in PDX to find out that our plane was being delayed due to weather -- not in Oregon, where we were having thunderstorms -- but in Boston.  It turns out we were at the mercy of ex-hurricane, now tropical storm Juan.  It is sitting off the coast south of Nantucket and sending rain and winds against the coast from Long Island to Cape Cod.

We arrived an hour an a half late, jumped on the Mass Turnpike, and got to Thomaston around 10:40 p.m.  All is well.

Nome, Day 10 - The Musher's Banquet

The final event of the race is a banquet for 400 people in the Nome Rec Center. The Lakeshore Hotel in Anchorage caters the meal and sponsor Northern Air Cargo hauls 7500 pounds of food and equipment in for the event.

The menu includes prime rib, pesto chicken, potatoes, rice, vegetables, pasta salad, green salad, peel and eat shrimp, rolls, pastries, and strawberries.  Each of three serving lines has a flower decorated sled full of strawberries - regular and chocolate covered.

I was standing in line near the stage when a large group edged in in front of us.  Jeff King was at the back of the group and so I kiddingly asked him if the trophy at the edge of the stage looked familiar.  He glanced at it and realized they had created a new trophy since the last time he won... so he stood next to it for a quick picture.  He's the 4-time winner who grew up in St. Helena.







After everyone eats, the awards are presented.  I had the pleasure of sitting next to rookie of the year, Sebastian Vergnaud, one of two French racers.  Turns out he lives near mile 89 of the Parks Highway so he is almost a Talkeetnan.  He was wearing a "There's no place like Nome" tee shirt.

After the awards, each and every racer is called to the stage in reverse order of finish.  I don't have time to go through everything, so I will give you Cindy Abbott the red lantern and Mitch Seavey, the winner.

We're packing up now... tonight is the flight back to Anchorage.  One meal to make and we are out the door.

Bye.   (Just to prove I was here... here's me under the arch!)

Nome, Day 9 - The Race is Over

At a little after three this afternoon, the last musher crossed under the burled arch.  Cindy Abbott was in 64th place (six of the original 72 mushers had scratched), finishing in a time of 12 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes.  She is officially the "Red Lantern" -- the "caboose" on the race.  Officials met her as she came up off the ice and gave her a real red lantern to carry down Front Street. 

the widow's lamp

When she finished, she was given the honor of extinguishing the widow's lamp that has been burning night and day under the arch.  When that light is gone, the race is over.  I have no pictures of Cindy's arrival because I was back at work.









A few places ahead of her was Paul Hansen, a Colorado State alum.  I was down at the Iditarod HQ for the musher signing, but had time to go up and get shots of him and his team checking in with the officials.  I introduced myself as a fellow CSU alum and told him I'd send one of the shots to the alumni newsletter.  We will see whether or not they'll publish it.

The big event of the day was the chance for people to meet and greet the mushers.  People pick up copies of the free posters or purchase official race books or photographs and collect autographs.  There were some cute local kids getting signatures in homemade autograph books.  Some of the mushers looked bored, but this is a mandatory function for them -- and most were gracious.  I waded through the throngs of people and got 60 autographs (the last three mushers had not yet finished).  I was getting ready to leave when Paul Hansen came into the office to make a phone call so I currently have all but the last three.

this is what the convention center

looked like when we arrived 3/10

capacity crowd at the "Meet the Musher" event

Day 8 -- Happy St. Patrick's Day

After our 15-hour lull, the mushers began arriving again.  I was headed down to the mini convention center when I heard the PA system going.  We had heard two sirens going off, so I knew two mushers were pretty close together.  While I did not get any arrival shots, I did get to see a crowded chute.

One was easy to identify.  From half a block away I knew it was DeeDee Jonroe.  As a cancer survivor she dresses in pink and her dogs are in pink booties, harnesses, collars and coats.  (At the start in Fairbanks she even had some of the dogs in pink leggings.  If you can imagine knee socks on dogs you get the picture... someone explained that ice can build up on the back of the dogs' legs, so some mushers have begun using the leggings as well as booties.) 

Gunnar going through the checklist of official items

with the race judge

The second musher was Gunnar Johnson. 

I got to the ramp as he was being interviewed after completing his check-in.  He said he completed the race in 1994 in 22 days - his official time in this, his second was 10 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes, 6 seconds -- half the time of his first run.  He said at this rate, his next race should only take 5 and a half days.

The two had left Safety together and they came in 30 seconds apart, Gunnar got a big hug as he thanked DeeDee for "pushing" him forward.

As DeeDee checked in, I noticed that in her 30 years of mushing she had figured out a way to keep track of the officially-required items... she ties them to the handlebars of the sled... with pink lanyards, of course!  What you see here is her vet book... a record of the observations done on the trail by the official vets.  We listened to the teacher on the trail Skype with her class in Chicago yesterday and she explained what the vets look for... using the acronym HAWL (heart, hydration, appetite, attitude, weight, and lungs). 

I walked on down to HQ, as DeeDee came down the hill headed for the dog lot.












Across the street from HQ (in the house with the boat) Martin Buser was feeding his dogs.

Martin has igloos for his dogs!

Back at the church, folks were getting ready to head for the St Patrick's Day parade.  I braved the 5 degree temps (with wind chill down to -15) to watch them come up front street, led by the mayor.  The black top hat he wears at the finish had been replaced by a green one.  They came up and posed under the burled arch for us, and the Iditarod teacher on the trail, Annie Kelley, danced an Irish jig for them.  She had her dance shoes and Irish sweater mailed to Nome so she could do it.

all the parade participants

Annie Kelley

local kids

(note the call sign of the local station -

how appropriate!)

Happy St Patrick's Day!