Hi Boys and Girls, When you’re planning a big trip or a move like my family is doing, you need to have a plan. My humans have been busy getting our supplies ready for our trip. We need food, our dog bowls, water dishes, dog beds, and most importantly, treats!!!! They are also mapping out our route. This includes rest points and a sleep break. The furkids need breaks for walking, eating, and other things like treats! I love treats! This trip is taking lots of planning. The mushers have also been working on a plan. They have to decide first the type of race they want to run. Do they want to win? Remember not all mushers run the Iditarod because they want to win. Some run, just hoping to complete the race. Some are running young teams and they will plan their race so that the young dogs have fun. Some run, hoping to better their previous times. Everyone wants to have the best race they can have. When the musher makes their plan they consider what their goal is. Then they decide what checkpoints they will rest at, where they will take their mandatory breaks, where they will rest between checkpoints, and the overall time it will take them to get to Nome. When this plan is complete, they can decide what supplies to send to what checkpoint. More supplies will be sent to the checkpoints that the musher is planning to take their mandatory breaks than to the other checkpoints. Check out my post on Drop Bags to see what supplies they are sending out. Planning is a good thing. Hopefully everything will go as planned. But what if it doesn’t. Let’s say that a musher plans to take his/her 24 hour mandatory rest in McGrath. Due to weather conditions they need to stay in Nikolai for their 24 hour. What’s a team to do? Their extra food and extra supplies are in McGrath because that was their plan. Supplies that have been left behind by the mushers who have already gone through a checkpoint can sometimes be used by other mushers. Race officials can distribute left over dog food at their discretion. Mushers can contact other mushers down the trail and ask if they can use or borrow supplies. Mushers have been known to share sleds, repair supplies, clothing, boots etc. with mushers in need. While having a plan is always good, you must be flexible in case things change. It will make it easier to get back on track. Are you getting ready to do something big? Will a plan help you? Go ahead, and try it. Decide on something you’d like to do, somewhere you’d like to go, and make a plan. Don’t forget to list what you will need to make your plan successful. Then follow your plan. Did it work? What did you learn to help you make your next plan? Good luck and have fun. The Iditarod starts in 10 more days. Have you starting getting ready? Have you picked a musher or mushers to follow? Who do you think will win this year? I have to get back to packing and making sure my humans follow their plan.

See you on the trail,

Gypsy