The Moose is Loose

We are just 700 miles from the Iditarod finish line! Sebastian and his mad crazy head of hair is in third place, but that's a benchmark. With more than half of the race under their belts, the dogs and Mushers are now required to rest their teams for 24 hours. So the actual leader is hard to figure, because the officials have to factor in the required 24 hour break, which most are taking right now, in a magical land called Takotna, population TWELVE. Anyway, Mushers are required to take two 8-hour breaks prior to the finish as well. So this is really anybody's race right now, but I know how much we ALL want Sebastian Schnuell to win!!

(Quick sidenote: I began questionning my actual interest in the Iditarod last night. It's getting old for me, too, FYI. But I have invested this much time and energy into following the race and can't quit now, I am committed. So, in a nutshell, deal with this till it's done. I am struggling with it as well.)

Some exciting news is that now the course is getting a bit more rugged and challenging. There are tremendous amounts of snow this year, so that makes the banks very high, so Mushers can't even see their leaders sometime when coming around corners. They are also anticipating the very likely event of coming across Moose now. The Moose are using the trail to travel on since the snow is more packed than off trail. Sebastian came across a very large Moose just last night, and this is VERY dangerous, as they have been known to attack and stomp a team rather than give up the trail. He said "The dogs went bonkers. It is the closest I've ever been to a moose and the closest I ever want to be." One Musher, Dee Dee Jonrowe, came across a Moose who attempted an attack. In order to survive and protect her dog team, she had to shoot at the large animal, but her gun barrel was so packed with snow that it almost exploded in her hands. JESUS!!!!! But it gets worse and scarier. Dee Dee's lips are blackened with frostbite. BLACKENED. But she is barreling along, singing Johnny Cash songs to her dogs, while also dealing with audio hallucinations, in which she thinks she is hearing people in the woods calling out her name. I need someone to explain to me why the Iditarod is fun to do. Quite like the Iron Man race, where the finishers cross the finish line crawling on their hands and knees, pooping themselves and vomitting, I don't see the fun here.

All of this to win $69,000 and a new truck.