Now that the race is over- what’s next??? Many of you are busy writing the musher you followed in the race. I know you are really excited about that and many of you are hoping for a return letter and maybe even some goodies. Since the request for musher addresses has increased during the past week, I thought this would be a good time to go over some rules for writing.

First, if you ask for musher addresses, you will be emailed a form to fill out. This is fairly new. It will ask your name, school name (if your affiliated with a school), and email address. Please request the addresses by going to: djohnson@iditarod.com
You will not receive the addresses until you return the form.  You can read more and see the form by clicking here.

There is not an address for every musher. Not all mushers are able to receive mail and/or are able to respond to mail. Please respect this.

Here are a few tips when writing your letters.

• Make sure your letters are friendly and supportive.
• Don’t ask too many questions. First read the mushers bio on the Iditarod website and if the musher has a website, go there to see if you can find the answers to your questions. If you can’t, pick only one or two questions to ask.
• If you hope for a response you MUST send a self addressed stamped envelope with your letter. If your musher lives in another country (ie Canada, Norway etc), you must have the correct postage for that country.
• Don’t ask for booties, autographs, pictures or anything else. All these things cost the musher money to buy and send. It is unreasonable to expect the musher to send out these items. Some of them do, but don’t expect it.

Please remember that mushers receive hundreds of letters every year. It takes time for them to go through them and answer. Please be patient and realize the response may come during the summer.

I hope that helps everyone. Have fun writing to your favorite musher.

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

Do you remember by first community Challenge post?  It was about Mrs. Andrews class in Pelham NH.  This 3^rd grade class was making money for the Animal Rescue Network of New England (ARNNE)  by baking and selling yummy dog biscuits.  Well they had another sale the end of March.  This time they raised $185 for a total of $315 to be donated to ARNNE.  Isn’t that amazing.  GREAT JOB Mrs. Andrews class!!!!!

To see more about this project you can go to:

http://www.pelhamweb.org/pes/mrsandrews/bow_wow_biscuits.htm

The students in Mrs. Andrews asked if the could interview me.  I had never been interviewed before.  I’m always the one that does the interviewing!  You can see the interview at:

http://www.pelhamweb.org/pes/mrsandrews/new_page_5.htm

If you have a community project that you would like us to feature on the blog, just email us the information.  We’d love to feature your class.

Keep up the good work,

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls

It has been really exciting reading the emails and the blog comments.  It looks like there are a few classes out there where the students are writing stories as if they were Nigel- the dog that was lost on the trail.  They have been sending the stories to us and we thought it would be nice to publish them for all to see.  Check back to this post often, because I will be adding stories as we get them.

Enjoy reading them- we certainly have.

Lost on the Trail

by Teagan   1^st grade  Comanche Elementary, Comanche, OK                                                                                                                                                                                           I got scared when my girl crashed. I got loose and then I was in the forest. I asked the animals if they could keep an eye out and look for my girl. First I asked a polar bear, and then I asked an arctic fox. Then I saw a ptarmigan, and I asked her, “Have you seen my girl?” I burrowed under the snow to keep warm and sleep. I ate a bird and a hare because I could not find any more food. And then a plane came with my girl in it. I was surprised because I thought she was going to come with a broken sled, but she came with a plane. I was really glad to see her. I ran up to her and I licked her to show her how glad I was to see her. Then the plane with my girl and me went off to the sled and the rest of my team in Rainy Pass.
By Nigel

More stories coming soon.

Happy trails,

Gypsy

I had a great adventure on Friday.  I was invited to Mrs. Davidson’s 2^nd grade class at Paul A. Smith Elementary School in Franklin, NH. They had read about my visit to Mrs. Andrews class and about their Community Challenge project.  After reading the post, they decided to do their own project.  They invited me to see what they had done.  They told me they had a surprise for me. I love surprises so I told my human we just had to go.

What a nice school and class.  When I walked into the classroom, you can’t believe what I saw. First, there was a large bulletin board covered in Iditarod pictures, and artwork, and race information.  In front of the bulletin board was the best sight of all. There was a pile of supplies for homeless animals.  There was food, treats, paper towels,  toys and even a dog bed. I just had to find out what all this was for.  They told me that after reading about Mrs. Andrews class they wanted to accept Zuma’s Community Challenge also.  They really wanted to help homeless animals.  They also said they wanted to meet me the K9 Iditarod reporter because their class tracked the Iditarod this year and they had a Flat Stanley travel along with Lance Mackey.  There was so much excitement in the room. 

To start their project they set up 2 committees to contact two local shelters, the NH Humane Society and the Franklin Animal Shelter.  They got a wish list from both places.  They then collected food, supplies, toys, and money.  They had another committee that got the boxes for the supplies and a container to store the money in.  Mrs. Davidson will use the money to buy more goodies for the animals.  In total they have collected 128 items and $22.76.  That’s very impressive especially since they did all this in the month of March.

I asked the class what they had learned this year.  Their response was” We learned a lot about the real Iditarod and Alaska and we learned that it’s fun to help others.  We really wanted to practice being respectful and responsible.  We had fun practicing our fractions lessons as we measured the ingredients to make Gypsy’s dog biscuits, and we loved Gypsy’s visit and learning more about the Iditarod.”

Oh yes, the dog biscuits.  Did I forget to tell you about the biscuits? Well they followed Mrs. Andrews biscuit recipe and made me a basket of biscuits.  They were so yummy.  I really love those biscuits.  My human told me I had to share with the other dogs I live with.  That was hard but I did share and everyone enjoyed the special treat I brought home.  There was one more very special surprise.  They gave me a big pink present which my human helped me unwrap.  In the package was a picture of me drawn by Mrs. Doucette who is also a part of the class.  It was strange seeing myself like that.  My human says she loves the picture.  She’s looking for a special place to hang it.

Before I left, everyone had to say good bye to me.  I recieved a zillion belly rugs.  I like belly rubs almost as much as I love treats.

It was a great afternoon and I want to thank the class for having us visit.  Congratulations to Mrs. Davidson’s class for completing the challenge.  There will be many homeless pets who will appreciate your efforts.

Please let us know if your class has completed a project for Zuma’s Community Challenge.  We’d love to post your story too.

See you on the trail,

Gypsy

Just a short message about Mt. Redoubt.  Mt Redoubt is a volcano in Alaska and has erupted during the night.  I just heard from Zuma and they are safe at the Millennium.  Here is what Zuma had to say:

Just an update to everyone.  Redoubt blew a couple hours ago and we’ve been given instructions to prepare for an ash cloud… just in case… We were told we’d have 2 hours until the ash may hit here, and the snow is still white outside now…  The alert is not for Anchorage specific at this time but we will spend the next hour closing up Millennium HQ.   Nome is now HQ Central.  Our Iditarod Internet will most likely be shut down at some point and parts of Alaska may have cuts in service…. and we’ve been told to put our technology and printer and etc in plastic.  I’ve spent the last hour working to tape up the window in my room because I have Internet wires that come in…. As I said, the ash cloud is not expected to get to Anchorage but we are taking precautions.

From my understanding at this time, planes are grounded at the Anchorage airport and most mushers and their dogs are still in Nome and will stay there until it is safe to fly out.  A couple of flights did make it to Anchorage but I’m not sure who (except Cathy Walters the TOTT) was on those flights.
I will keep you posted as I am able to get information.  Also please understand that coverage, emails and information out of Anchorage will be slow if at all through out the day.

You can get more information about the eruption by going to:

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

We K9 reporters have received many emails and blog comments asking us what the difference is between a musher who has scratched or was withdrawn from the race.  This is an excellent question for the blog. 

When a musher scratches from the race, he or she makes the decision themselves.  The most common reason a musher scratches is for the best interest of the team.  This means a lot of things.  Sometimes, a musher is hurt or ill and they feel they cannot take care of their team properly. The team may be ill or not performing to the level needed to finish the race and the musher scratches.  The sled may have been damaged to the point that it is not useable and an extra sled is not available.  There’s just so many reasons a musher may have for not continuing the race. 

Withdrawn means the decision was made for the musher.  The decision is made by a 3 judge panel.  At least 2 of the judges must agree to the withdrawal.  This decision does not mean that the musher did anything wrong.  This year Rob Loveman was withdrawn from the race due to his team no longer being competitive.  He was in last place and far enough behind the others that he would not be able to catch up to them. 

There is one more way that a team would leave the trail and that is by disqualification.  This is more serious and rarely happens.  All 3 judges must agree that a musher should be disqualified. The chief Veterinarian may be consulted also if  cruel or inhumane treatment of the dogs is suspected.  Mushers can be disqualified for deliberately breaking the rules, cheating, or abuse of the dogs.  The musher is given the chance to present his case to the judges before a decision is made. 

Hope that helps.  Thanks for the great questions you have been asking this year.  We will be answering  the questions we are asked the most on the blog.  So keep reading and writing.

See you on the trail,

Gypsy  \\

Hi Boys and Girls,

Several of you have emailed me about dog booties.  You’ve wanted to know what they are made of and when they are worn.  So this post is for you!

Most dog booties used for dog sledding are made out of a material called Cordura 330.  Cordura 330 is a lightweight flexible nylon material.  There are other weights of Cordura that are used for tougher trails (like gravel) and for things like backpacks.  But for booties on snow and ice, the 330 works just fine.

I bet you’re wondering why a dog would need booties.  Ice and snow can pack between the toes and can cause small cuts and discomfort to a dogs paw.  The bootie stops this ice packing from happening.  Booties protect a dogs paws just like shoes protect your human paws.

Another question that is often asked is: “Do the dogs like wearing the booties?”.  I can answer that one.  They are not my favorite thing to wear.  When my human puts them on my feet, the first thing I want to do is take them off.  I’ve tried shaking them and biting at them but they don’t usually come off.  They are tighten with a a Velcro closure that’s really sticky and tough.  That’s probably a good thing for dogs like me that try to take them off.  Once I get running though, I forget I have them on and run the same as I do without them.  I do know that I need them and that they keep my feet safe.

I have also been asked how many booties are worn during a race like the Iditarod.  That usually depends on trail conditions.  I’ve heard mushers take between 1500-3000 booties with them on the trail.  The booties are changed when they wear out or fall off.  I’ve heard some mushers say that they change the booties every 30-50 miles.  Booties are taken off during rest times and feet are massaged and ointment is put on the pads. When a team is ready to start racing again, the booties are put back on.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

Hope you’re enjoying the race.

Gypsy

Several of you have asked me if Mrs. Andrews class would share the YUMMY cookie biscuit recipe they are making for their community project.  I asked and Mrs. Andrew was very happy to share.  I hope all of you can make them for your dogs.  Your dogs will really enjoy them.

Chicken Flavored Biscuits:

1/2 cups of quick oats

3/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 cup white flour

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl.  Mix until stiff dough forms.  Roll dough to 1/4″ thickness.  Cut into shapes.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 min.  Cookies should be hard.

Thank you Mrs. Andrews and class.   I’m off to ask my human to make some for me.

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

I hope you are enjoying the race this year.  Several of you have asked about food for both the dogs and humans along the trail.  We’ve talked a lot about what the dogs eat but not about what the humans eat.  Mary Calore contacted me and said she was Matt’s mom and she had prepared all his food the last year when he ran the Iditarod.  She wanted to know if I would be interested in doing a story about it.  I gave her a big howling “YES”.

Matt Calore has run the Iditarod twice, once in 2007 as a rookie and again last year in 2008.  He didn’t run this year but is preparing to race again next year.  The first year, Matt froze mostly pizza and sent it in his drop bags.  Last year, his mom Mary, made his food for the trail.  I was able to interview Mary about the types of food she made and the process she went through to make sure the meals would be easy to prepare and eat.  One of the biggest issues was that Mary lives in Massachusetts and Matt lives in Alaska.  So not only did the food need to stay frozen and safe in the drop bags, it had to make it from Massachusetts to Alaska first.

How did you plan the meals? 

“Matt and I spend several long phone conversations discussing the number of meals he would need, the food he wanted, and the types of meals he needed.  He felt that he would finish the race between 12-15 days, and so needed food for 16 days.  He also figured that he would receive about 5-6 meals at the different checkpoints along the route.   This meant that I made him 15 breakfasts, 14 lunches, and 14 dinners.  I also included snacks and “special Mom treats”.

“We discussed his need to have really substantial food that would give him lasting energy, something to look forward to when he was tired, cold and hungry, but most important, something that was easy to prepare in the cold, in a pot containing dog food and melted snow, and when you are exhausted and starving.  We decided that he needed fats, carbs and meat – so much for too many vegetables!  We also thought about food that would be tasty even if he didn’t get it hot, but had to settle for warm.  This was not the time to try out new recipes!”

What kinds of food did you make for Matt?  Were you able to make his favorite foods?

“For breakfast, I made burrito wraps with scrambled egg, cheese, Canadian bacon, salsa, and flour wraps.  These were favorites of his on the trail because he enjoys salsa and spicy things.  I sent one in each package, but figured that he would eat two in a meal.  I also made egg, cheese, and sausage English muffins – yup- MacMuffins.  These were easier for him to eat without utensils.  I wanted to send cereal, but couldn’t figure out how to send milk without having it freeze, and knew that dry would only make him very thirsty.

The rest of the meals were for dinner or lunch – or a midnight stop along the trail.  These were more difficult.

I made him lasagna, but I did not have cheese on the top.  I had the cheese inside as I was afraid that it would stick to the bag in which it was frozen and then cooked.  The lasagna had hamburger and sausage meat in it, some spinach – yes, as a Mom I wanted him to have vegetables! – and a thick tomato sauce.  The pieces were about 4 inches by 6 inches and one was a meal.  He had about 8 lasagna meals.

Matt also likes rice, so I made him his favorite rice, sausage, green pepper, onion, tomato and cheese casserole.  He said that he liked this for any meal – even breakfast!  I had to make two big pans (6 quarts) of rice!  I think he had about 10 of these.

I also made him cheeseburgers.  In addition to plenty of cheddar cheese, I put salsa on the burgers and used whole wheat rolls.  I had to drain the salsa so that the rolls would not get too soggy.

Matt also like shrimp fried rice, so I sent him two meals of homemade fried rice.  I found a tasty chicken fried rice at the store that I mailed him and he said that it was good, but mine was better!

He loves Italian sausages with sautéed onions, mushrooms and green peppers in sub rolls.  I decided that this would not work too well, so I put the sausage, mushroom, onion and pepper in one bag and froze the rolls separately.  I think this worked OK.  He had five of these.

I also made beef stew with mostly meat and potato, but I included some onions, carrots and peas too.

He wanted some homemade pizza, so I included slices of my own pizza with pepperoni, mushroom, pepper, and extra cheese.  Matt loves cold pizza for breakfast, so I knew that this would be one of the meals that he would heat until it was warm, but not so warm the cheese would melt and make a mess.”

Did you make any special treats for Matt?

I made him about 30 of my special brownies.  They are double batches to make them thick and I put a bag of chocolate chips in each batch to make them really chocolately and moist.  These I froze in twos after cutting them into about 2inches by 3 inches.  I also made some oatmeal caramel bars which can be gooey, so I added extra oatmeal bar part.

I also made up a lot of bags of trail mix as it has protein and oil in nuts, carbs in the pretzels and cereal, and energy in the chocolate and peanut butter candies.  I also found some really good, but not too salty, jerky – beef, turkey and buffalo which he has always liked.  I tried to get as many ingredients without salt as he did not carry too much water to drink for himself.

Matt’s dad bought him some of the special army meals and granola bars – the bars had over 2,000 calories in each one!  He said they were pretty good, but there were some left over and none of my food left.

How did you package the food?

As I made the food, I would cut it into meal size portions, put it into plastic containers and freeze it.  Once frozen, I popped it out of the container into a vacuum, food sealer bag, and using the food sealer machine I bought, sealed each one separately.  Now Matt could put the bag into the water and dog food mix that he was heating on his butane stove, and it would not be spoiled by the dog food.  When he was at a checkpoint that did not feed the mushers, but provided a microwave, he could heat his food inside too.  I made sure that he had a sharp knife to cut the bag as they are very strong and the seal is melted together.  I had to be sure to freeze the meals first, because the sealer pulls out all air, and usually most of the liquid put into the bag.  When it was frozen, the liquid could not be pulled out!  I now had a very full freezer.

How did you get the food from Massachusetts to Alaska?

I vacuum sealed ice cubes, froze the ice packs we got from fish stores, and collected heavy Styrofoam containers – like those the Omaha steaks come in.  We filled them to the top with all of the food, put them into cardboard boxes layered with newspaper and sealed them.  We mailed them US Mail special delivery – next day  delivery – to Anchorage from Massachusetts.  This was very expensive!  A friend of Matt’s picked them up and brought them to him where he kept them in the snow outside.

How did Matt pack his drop bags?

When he packed his drop bags, he put in snacks and a treat bag or two.  Matt had planned the places where he would stop to snack the dogs and himself, where he would camp and cook food, and where he might just need something to chew on.  He then had separated the meals by breakfast and “other” and put whatever he grabbed into the bag.  He was careful to include only the number that he needed so he would have enough for the whole race.  Matt said that the ice was still in the boxes when he unpacked to put the food into the drop bags.

Are there any problems with the food in the drop bags for long periods of time?

Once in the drop bags, the food stays frozen as long as it is cold outside where the bags are kept.  I heard that there has been some trouble this year with ravens getting at the bags!  Last year it was warm and some of the bags got too warm and the food started to thaw!  Matt was lucky and none of his thawed.

Is there anything you would do differently next time?

Matt said that I put too much of the stew and rice in the bags which made them fat and very hard to thaw in the middle. Oh, the rolls for the sausage and peppers shriveled up and looked really funny when I tried them in the vacuum bags, so I just wrapped them in plastic, put them in zip lock bags (good for trash!), and froze them that way.  I did the same with the brownies and bars, who wants shriveled, mangled brownies?  I did not freeze the trail mix, which I had packaged in single serving vacuum bags, but it was packed in with the frozen food when we mailed the packages.

Thanks to Mary Calore for telling me about preparing human food for the trail.  It sounds like a lot of work and Matt is sure lucky to have a mom to do this for him.  Mary said she and her husband are planning to go to Alaska for the 2011 Iditarod and hopes to be an Idita-rider. Have a great time!

And Matt, I’ll be watching for you next year!

Happy Trails,

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

Isn’t this an exciting weekend?  Are you following your musher?

 

I received a really nice letter from Mrs. Gobles 3^rd grade class at Cannelton Elementary in Cannelton, Indiana.  They have been very busy this year with Community Projects.  Their first project was for the Perry County Animal Shelter.  They wanted to help the homeless animals at the shelter find new homes. First, they went to the shelter to play with the animals. I know the animals really enjoyed that!

 

 

Their current project is to help the shelter purchase a grooming kit. This kit will be used to  clean up the animals and get them ready for adoption.  They are planning a celebration at the shelter when they deliver the kit.  The celebration will include a cake for the humans and treats for the animals.  They will take pictures of the new arrivals to the shelter and make new posters to feature them and hopefully find new homes for the newest members of the shelter.

Another project they did this year which had a direct link to the Iditarod was to make 100 booties for musher Ramey Smith.  They joined the Bootie Brigade which is a group of sewers who make booties for mushers in the Iditarod. They said they “were happy to be a part of the race in this way, because not only are they helping a musher but they are directly helping the dogs who make the race possible.”

 

 

 

I asked Mrs. Goble what she thought the children have learned.  She said, “they have learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are, anyone and everyone can help make the world a better place. They also learned that they can have a whole lot of fun doing it.”

Currently, a flat Ramey (modeled after Flat Stanley) they made is in Alaska enjoying the race and sending them back reports and pictures. They are very excited about this.  Flat Ramey even called them the other day and let them talk to the real Ramey!

Congratulations Mrs. Gobles class.  We K9 reporters are very proud of you.  You have helped a lot of cats and dogs find nice homes and families who will love them and take care of them.

Is your class doing a Community service project to help animals?  We’d love to hear from you and feature you on our blog.

Have fun this week following the race,

Gypsy