I was showered with opportunities to meet and talk to people.  And while I really didn’t engage in world-changing discussions with any one of them, each conversation was precious to me.  I absorbed the words and savored the moments to talk to…

Lavon Barve, race judge, as he regaled me with stories of the Iditarod “back in the day” when they tried drying out booties with Blaz-o.  Mark Nordman, race marshall, recalling the year that he and a group other Iditarod finishers agreeing to cross the finish line at exactly the same time.  In Nome, Aliy Zirkle, noticed my Phoenix Suns sweatshirt and telling me that the Suns are her favorite team.  And her dad,  Doug Zirkle as we stood along the trail in Ruby hour after hour chatting.  Al Marple, race judge, sharing stories of native friends of his in Koyuk.  Martin Buser, as he fed his dogs in Cripple, asking me how I was enjoying my journey.  When I told Mike Owens that I just wanted to hug Melissa every time I saw her in a checkpoint, and he said, “You should have!”  Lance Mackey with me in line to get something to eat at the gym in Nikolai when I told him that I use him as an inspiration for students to work hard and follow their dreams saying, “That’s good if it helps someone.”  Peter Bartlett and Ryan Redington telling me their advice for young people who want to follow their dreams.  Cim Smyth, pulling in to Kaltag, asking me how I was doing.  Jeff King explaining the book Mawson’s Will, his favorite, to me in the Russian import store in Nome.  And again, Jeff King catching me off guard in White Mountain with a quote he said I should know because I’m a teacher…but I didn’t! Trent Herbst, musher and 4^th grade teacher, at the musher meeting offering to send me his ideas for using the Iditarod in the classroom.  Rick Swenson sitting down beside me at the table in McGrath, telling me his story, explaining his perspective.  In Takotna I met Ellie Claus’s dad and asked him to let her know that in my classroom every year, I use a magazine article she wrote.  And the list just goes on and on…

I have the tangibles—souvenirs and pictures, but the memories of the people and time I spent with them are the most precious gift of all.

by Jane Blaile

Physically, I am back home.  But my mind and heart still have pieces in Alaska – with the people I met and at the places I was.  On the trail every day, I’d wake up and have to ask myself, “Where am I?”  That has happened to me several days since I’ve been back!  One day I woke up thinking about where I was.  When I realized I was home in Phoenix, I asked myself, “Is the Iditarod over?”  I guess some of my thoughts are still catching up with me.  I have had dreams about mushers traveling along the trail and being at checkpoints.Everything around me reminds me of my experience. I thought a bumper sticker promoting the county sheriff’s department stated “Honorary Musher”.  But it said “Honorary Member”.  When I was checking things off a list with my daughter, I told her I was being the “checker”.  Playing cribbage with my husband and father-in-law, I pointed out that the two highest scorers were Lance Mackey and Jeff King and the last was the Red Lantern winner.  Those are silly, but true examples!  I suppose my family and friends might tire of the Iditarod references, but I never will.  My experience along the trail is over, but my experience of the Iditarod is not.

All of my 8 different sleeping spots along the trail were pretty good spots. I stayed overnight at Yentna Station, Skwentna, Nikolai, McGrath, Takotna, Ruby, Kaltag, Unalakleet, and Nome. They had one or more of these qualities: on a carpeted floor, in a school, in a gym, or on a mattress or pad. They also had these qualities: multiple people in the same place (sometimes MANY) and lots of noises (talking, snoring, shouting, shuffling gear, sirens, doors opening and closing, etc.) I am appreciative of each and every one and felt very lucky to have the spots I did. I’ve attached pictures of some of them but don’t have Yentna Station, Nikolai or Skwentna.

As I’ve been traveling along the trail, I’ve met people who have things in common with me, such as other teachers, people who have relatives in the Phoenix, AZ area, and even people who live there themselves.  This morning, I was talking to volunteer veterinarian Paul Nader.  He was talking about his work at a zoo.  Assuming the zoo veterinarian group enrollment might be small, I asked him where he worked.  And when he told me, I mentioned that my brother was the head veterinarian at the St. Louis Zoo, in Missouri.  It is a prominent zoo and I knew he’d have known about it.  Well, when I told him my brother’s name, Paul said he knew him very well.  They talk on the phone about lemur care, one of my brother’s areas of expertise.  That has got to be one of the neatest connections I have made up here…someone who knows one of my family members.  And we meet in Nome, AK….over 3,000 miles from my home.  Iditarod surprises continue!

By Jane Blaile

This afternoon I visited Nome Elementary school.  I had taken the school presentation I’d been doing previous to my trail experience and changed it somewhat.  I kept the part about Arizona but changed the “what I’m going to do” part to “what I did and saw”.  I was told the students would LOVE to see my trail pictures, so I was excited to share.  But you know what?  I didn’t just get to share here; I learned here.
Luckily, I had the foresight to put in pictures of Melissa Owens, Nome’s hometown girl.  They all knew who she was and were happy to see her in pictures.

In my first presentation to the 1^st and 2^nd graders, the students were getting excited each time I showed a trail village or town.  They would call out the names in a familiar and fond way.  Afterwards, the teachers apologized for their enthusiasm, noting many of them had relatives in and had visited those villages.  That wasn’t something I’d encountered before. So showing those pictures wasn’t so much as introducing the places, as sharing in their visits there.

Next, I spoke with 4^th and 5^th graders.  When the slide of the start in Anchorage came up, a little girl in the first row said, “That is my uncle!”  It was a picture of Louis Nelson, Sr.  That comment reversed my perspective from the one giving information to being honored to receive it.  I shared with her that I felt he was a kind and friendly person.

And the oldest group, the 6^th graders, shared with me the ingredients of Eskimo ice cream.  The pictures of me trying the native foods I ate in Galena will raise a different reaction from students in other states; here I felt the students were proud that I had shared in their ways.
I left Nome Elementary feeling warmly welcomed and very connected to the students and teachers there.  Rather than giving just one more rote presentation to groups of nameless students, I had been given glimpses into their lives, and even shared experiences with them.

Only 3 mushers remain on the trail. Tomorrow the 36^th Iditarod will be over. There will be a red lantern winner. But many mushers and dogs won’t be leaving here until later this week. There are many logistical considerations to getting dog teams flown out of Nome. It is expensive, there aren’t a lot of airline options, and some airlines have specific requirements, such as crate size. Well, when you have 1,000s of dogs needing a ride home, it can get a little complicated.
This morning I attended the musher service at the Covenant Church just at the finish line on Front Street. What a moving experience to sit with my pilot, Danny, Jeff Schultz, Dee Dee Jonrowe, Aliy Zirkle, Ed Stilestra, and the Lanier family. Aliy and Dee Dee told some of their experiences on the trail and Jim Lanier and his family sang.

This afternoon was the finisher’s banquet. It was packed into the rec center. The food was exquisite – provided by the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage. I couldn’t believe I was sitting there actually participating in it; each year previous, I have eagerly waited for the pictures and news to come out on the website. I put out my quilt squares to have the mushers sign as they exited the stage after their award presentation and got all but the 3 mushers still on the trail. I will treasure the quilt those squares will become.

My journey here is ending; I’m OK with that. The race is ending, and I have been a part of it from start to finish, so I’m able to come to some closure on this. Tomorrow I will visit Nome Elementary School and Tuesday I go back to Anchorage to wrap things up with the Iditarod Education Department. Thursday I return to Phoenix, just in time for Easter weekend.

I am contemplating how I will continue to be part of Iditarod; it will always be a part of me.

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Are you wondering what goes on in Nome when Iditarod Mushers are arriving?
Here are pictures of one of the special Iditarod week activities.

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Welcome to Nome!

Right when I finished my last posting this morning, I was about to find something to eat for lunch when I got the message that Danny was going to fly to Diomede Island, and if I wanted to go, I should be at the airport by 1:00. So, I raced back to the church where I’m staying and got geared up. Where is Diomede Island? Actually, there are two, Big Diomede and Little Diomede. They are located in the Bering Strait; Little Diomede is U.S., Big Diomede is Russian. They are separated by just over 2 miles of water and the International Dateline. This area of Alaska is beautiful. There are hills and sharp rock mountains, lots of rivers and valleys, and ice along the coast. The wind was blowing fairly hard, and we had a few bumps, but mostly it was a spectacular day. We passed a military post and the whaling village of Wales. As we approached the island, it was apparent that we weren’t going to be able to land due to wind, blowing snow, and unsure ice conditions. The village didn’t have the airstrip cleared, so that was evidence that it wasn’t OK to land. So we circled around, which actually put us over the date line and into Russia a little!

Afterwards, we went flying across the Seward Peninsula with our eyes peeled for polar bears. We didn’t end up seeing any; but our trip led us to the village of Shishmaref. Now, I never expected to visit Shishmaref, that’s for sure! It’s only 10 miles south of the Arctic Circle! And, since the sea is frozen solid, I didn’t know it was an island. Danny found out where the pastor lives, and we went in and visited. That certainly was unique to my journey here. There is a quilt through the Common Thread Quilt project at the school, but being Saturday, I wasn’t able to see it.

On leaving Shishmaref, we were headed towards Serpentine Hot Springs, but since bad weather might have been rolling in to Nome, we went ahead and came back. What an extraordinary flight we had. I just stared in awe at the vast, white wilderness of Alaska….spotting moose and herds of caribou along the way.