Hi Boys and Girls,

It’s snowing this morning in Anchorage.  I think I heard someone say we were expecting 10 inches today.  It has snowed a couple of times since I arrived.  This is really good.  The Iditarod trail has enough snow for the sleds to run on and there’s certainly enough to gather and get 4^th Avenue ready for the Ceremonial start.

I had a little extra time yesterday and wandered downtown Anchorage.  Guess what?  The Fur Rendezvous was this weekend.  How lucky was I?  The Fur Rendezvous (or Fur Rondy as it is commonly called) is an annual winter festival held in Anchorage the end of February.  There are over a hundred different events going on including the World Championship Sled Dog Race, a snow sculpture competition, a carnival, outhouse races, ice bowling, carriage and horse rides and so much more.  AND there is LOTS of good food.  There are food trucks selling everything from crab cakes, pork chops on a stick, to reindeer sausage. Everything looked so good and tasty.

I had a lot of fun.  I met a group of teachers from Indiana who are here for the Iditarod Teachers conference.  It was there first time in Alaska and they were having so much fun exploring the downtown area.  We spent a lot of time on 4^th Avenue which is known for its tourist shops, restaurants, and art galleries. I really liked the horse drawn carriages. Who knew humans would like to ride in big sleds pulled by horses.  I wanted to help pull one of the carriages but I couldn’t get any of the horses to agree to let me try.

This picture is when I was trying to convince the horse to let me help them.

Hope you are having a good day and I’ll see you soon on the trail.

Gypsy