|
 This is a picture of my best friends. Mike and Mary with Lakota in the sled. This picture was taken in the Spring
of 2002 at our home in Palmer, Alaska.
Yes that is snow on the ground and behind Mike!
|
|
|
 This is
a picture of Sandy, Mike & Mary's beloved housedog. Sandy was a rescued dog. She was a grand old lady who taught
me how to dig carrots out of the veggie garden. We think that Sandy was around 13 years old and was born
in 1991. She loved to walk and play catch and fetch, plus the Tug of War
game. Sandy crossed the  Rainbow Bridged in May 2003. We all miss her. While she was bossy and sassy, she
had a heart of gold.
|
|
|
 This is
Ice our "Kennel Queen.” Ice
is really Christmas in our books.
She is very smart and likes to play catch and fetch. Ice is very gentle, but loves to
wrestle with Lakota and I. Ice was born May 2001 in Knik, Alaska. Ice had a litter of 7 puppies in
August 2002. We kept 2, Sky and
Tundra. Stormy was given to a
friend who retuned her to us in Feb. 2003. In Nov. 2002, we were involved in
a rollover truck accident that crunched the truck and dog box. We all made it out OK, but Ice and
Lakota were lost for 9 days.
Many of our friends went out looking for them and helped us find them. During the 9 days that they were
lost, we received over 1100 e-mails from all over the world hoping and
praying that we would find them.
We received many offers from children offering up their piggy bank
savings to help set up a reward fund for Ice and Lakota.
|
|
|
 This is
best friend Lakota. He is large
and powerful but very shy. We
think Lakota is around 8 years of age and was born somewhere in Alaska around
1995, but we are not sure.
Lakota and I are generally teammates in the wheel position of the dog
team. Like me, Lakota has run
the Iditarod. When he is not
running the trails or chasing shrews out of our yard, Lakota just likes to
cuddle with Mike.
|
|
|
 This is Sky, one of Ice's pups. Sky was born August  2002.
She has 6 brothers and sisters.
Sky likes to sing and does so anytime she sees someone. Sky is very mischievous and is always
exploring things in our yard or garage.
And can Sky jump!! Sky also likes to play catch and fetch. She is very smart and likes to cuddle.
Like her mother Ice, Sky is becoming one of our “Kennel Queens.” She takes the biscuits that Mike
gives her and save them. Then
when her sisters are done with their biscuits, Sky scoots into her doghouse
and gets her biscuit and sits in the middle of our yard and eats it. Yep, Sky likes being the center of
attention!
|
|
|
 This is
Tundra, who is also one of Ice's pups.
She is Stormy’s twin sister.
Tundra was born in August 2002.
She is very strong and Mike told me that he might train her to run in
the lead dog position. Tundra is
also a cuddlier, loves the cold weather and snow. She just loves to play catch and fetch with a tennis ball
except that she throws the ball at Mike instead of dropping it at this
feet. Then she rolls over and
wants her tummy rubbed!
|
|
|
 This is Stormy, Tundra’s twin. She is very mellow and laid back
except when a stranger visits our yard.
Then she has the loudest bark that I ever heard from a young pup. Stormy is very respectful of her
elders (me of course) and looks after me. She loves to run in harness with our team. Since she is about the same size as
Sky, they run together as teammates.
And are they fast!
|
|
|
 This is
one of my favorite pictures of my two best friends, Mike and Lakota. We went out to help our good friend
Musher GB Jones give dog sled rides to the military folks out at Elmendorf
Air Force Base. As you can see,
Lakota loves to be cuddled also!
|
|
|
 Here is
a picture of the three of us again at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Mike is giving us some praise for
doing a good job. I am on the
right of the team, while Lakota is closest to Mike. We sure had fun that day! It was very cold, one of the coldest days we had all
year. Remember 2003 was the year
that we had very little snow and the Iditarod re-started in Fairbanks!
|
|
|
 Lakota sometimes acts as my "eyes" and tells me what is
around us. Lakota has a sense of
humor and will joke with me about what he "sees.” As you can see, I am shaking my head
saying, "No Lakota that is just too unbelievable!"
|
|
|
This picture is of Mike and I at the University of Alaska, Anchorage
campus doing a book signing. Our
good friend Rachel invited us to this premier event. I met many nice people there. The staff was impressed that I could
walk around the bookshelves and not bump into anything. Mike was giving me Gee Haw commands
to help me. Mike was very proud
of me that I did not “mark” the trail in there. I bet I am one of the few sled dogs who has "gone to
college!"
|
|
|
 As you know, Mike cannot sing worth a hoot so here is a picture of
yours truly giving him howling lessons.
Nope, that did not work either!!
|
|
|
 This is
a picture of our good friend Bob and Ice having a conversation in our back
yard during the summer of 2002.
I wonder what Bob was talking to her about, since Ice was sure
attentive! And yes, we do have grass in Alaska!
|
|
|
This is the sled that Mark at The
Grateful Sled made for us.
Mark delivered it the day before Thanksgiving 2002, just a few days
after we found Ice and Lakota who were lost for 9 days after a vehicle
accident. The sled is very light
and nimble. We got a chance to
pull it at Elmendorf Air Force Base when we helped GB. Now
that was fun, even though I dumped Mike, 3 times!! I even got to be lead dog
with my friend Fin
|
|
|
 Sky is giving kisses to Mike or else she is
cleaning his beard. Your
call. All of the girls are very
affection to Mike and Mary. That
is Ice looking up and Stormy sitting on the ground. Tundra is chasing tennis balls and Lakota is napping in
his doghouse. Me, I napping in
one of the dog condos you see in the background.
|
|
|
 This is a picture of our good friend Musher GB
Jones in the starting chute for Iditarod 2003. GB is teaching Mike how to mush. GB raced to Nome in Iditarods 2002 and 2003. He is racing in Iditarod 2004. Sometimes GB lets Lakota and I train
with his team. No, we are not
racing any more, but we training to keep in shape. We are proud to be one of GB’s sponsors for Iditarods 2003
and 2004. I listed GB’s web site
on the Links Page for
you. By the way, I am going to
Nome with Iditarod 2004. Not
really, but my books are! GB is taking autographed copies of my books to Nome
with him during the race! How
about going to the Rivers’
Books pages to see the books that will be racing the Iditarod trail with
GB?
|
|
|
 This is a great shot of Ice and I waiting to get
our turn to run with GB's team at Elmendorf Air Force Base. This was one of the last times that
we try to run with Ice. She has
decided that mushing is not for her and Mary will let her be our house mom
plus our Kennel Queen. She gave
it her best shot, and we are all proud of her for trying.
|
|
|
 Mike is
giving some words of encouragement to Ice. This was the first time she ran since the roll over truck
accident in November 2002. She
was very nervous. However, we
all assured her that she would do OK. It tuned out to be her
last run and that is OK with us. She now has a full time
job being Mary’s “baby.”
|
|
|
 Icy and her girls watching who comes up to the
house. That is Tundra on the
left, then Sky, Ice and Stormy
|
|
|
|
|
