#34--Moose, sled dogs, Cheap T-shirts, and more spaghetti...

Well today has been another excellent day. Stacy woke up and swore she felt alright, but I do wonder why she insisted on having plain spaghetti for both breakfast and dinner…she’s such a lightweight…

But we started the day right off seeing 5 moose! They seem to be the resident campground moose—both cows and bulls. It was cool. Then we headed back into Jackson to see if the people we had met the night before were serious about us coming out and seeing their sled dog operation—they were.

Guess we visited someone almost famous—although very famous in this area. Frank and Stacy have Iditarod Sled Dog Tours (www.jhsleddog.com) and Frank is one of the leading mushers in the states. He has run the Alaska race 8 times and best finish was 6th—not shabby for 1000 miles and starting with 125 teams—only 75 usually finish (average). They gave us a tour of their place and we learned all about the race he puts on from Jackson to Provo, Utah in Feb. They close the entire town to start it and I guess it is quite the thing. We met several of the dogs and got the low down on the basics of racing. They were wonderful to take the time to show us all around—and then gave us directions to a waterfall and hot springs further into the forest from their place. It was a very unique and interesting experience and we hope to reciprocate if they ever head our way. And we will now watch the Iditarod and actually be able to root for someone we know! How cool is that?

Then we headed back into Jackson for another Mexican lunch, minus the beverages, and finished shopping the town. Once again we found some great $5 shirts, and I guess I got Stacy’s B-day present. Gave up on a surprise since it never works, and she got a Teton mountain ring—it is beautiful but who would have thought she would end up being a jewelry horse. But it is kind of special and a good memory of the trip. She doesn’t get it until her actual Birthday though.

We were also able to fill the remaining prescription for my hand ointment, although we had to call around to see who stocked it, I needed a stronger one that isn’t used much—lucky me. I’m not sure if I’m still in the peeling and recovery stage, or if it’s still a major problem. I seem to still be getting some new irritations, not nearly the scope I had, but both hands are completely peeling—it’s been kind of bizarre and definitely a drag. The good news is that the ointment helps and I’m trying to keep them both medicated and lotioned. Being in a very dry climate isn’t helping but surely I can manage them until I get home and go to my doctor. I do have to address some doctor issues when I get home, but I’m soo ready to deal with it.

We then headed back to the campground about dusk and were again treated to our 5 moose. Hoping the bear that was spotted here a few days ago will come back, but I do admit we haven’t really been getting up early to see wildlife. Figure we see what we see—and sleeping late just seems to be a group decision.

Tomorrow we will pack up and start to head south to our friends Betsy & Tom’s house in Arboles, Co—about 50 miles SE of Durango. They have another friend who is an outfitter and hopefully we can do some riding with her—although the country they live in looks good to us—the outfitter can go into areas that aren’t open to the general public—how cool would that be?

I love having cool friends. Yuliya has been kind of amazed at the people we have stayed with and whom we know—it is an eclectic group but old history or animals seem to be the theme, and they have all risen to the occasion when we've needed them.

We have about 700 miles to go and we aren’t sure how we will go yet. Betsy has warned us off some passes that are really steep, so I think it won’t be the most direct route—but it does promise to be some more beautiful country.

The aspens have just started turning this past week and I imagine we will see some great color before it’s all said and done. We’ll probably just stay at their house until we head down to Albuquerque. That works for us—no gas, free showers, free horseback riding, great meals and times with friends—what a way to end a trip. Now if we could make about $15,000-20,000 (our record there is $12,000) at the shows in Albuquerque it couldn’t get much better—even with my sister and without Alaska…

Guess we are the winners after all…