The months of June, July, and August were a mixture of busy days and lazy days. Summer in Alaska is a beautiful time. All of the daylight hours give everyone plenty of time to be outside. When I wasn’t walking around the neighborhood, I enjoyed chewing on my favorite toys while in the shade beneath the trees in the yard. I breathed in he smells of salmon, steak, shrimp, potatoes, and other goodies being grilled in the evenings. I couldn’t resist sitting next to the table at meal time, hopeful of something delicious being handed to me beneath the table. I also enjoyed taking long afternoon snoozes and dreaming about the fun times I’ve had with my family and friends. I went camping and fishing a couple of times, too. Riding in a boat is lots of fun but I have to tell you my favorite part of camping has always been the time around the campfire watching my humans roast marshmallows. Getting that marshmallow roasted just right is such an art but my humans are pretty good at it. We had a great 4th of July holiday, too. I must admit that the sounds of firecrackers going off are too noisy for me. I covered my ears with my paws until all the noise was gone. Best of all this summer, I enjoyed spending time with all of my humans. We even took time to look at some old family pictures. We talked about the times when we were all a lot younger. All that talk about the past and our time together made this the best summer ever. You just can’t beat spending time with family and friends!  I am grateful for my loving family and will always be with them, even in my dreams.

I bet you did some of the same things I did this summer. I’m sure as many teachers do, your teachers had your write in your journal about your summer. I know that is something you probably have to do every single school year,  but writing about your experiences is a good thing.  One idea is to save your journal entry and look back at it ten or twenty years from now. What fun it will be for you to remember what you did!

No matter where you are now, September is almost over and October will be here soon. Your September and mine may look and feel different. Here in Alaska, ‘Termination Dust’ is on the mountains. Leaves have turned golden. There is a crisp feel to the evenings and mornings. I know this because as I walk through the park near my home, my paws feel the crispness in the grass. My nose breathes in the coolness and I know that winter will soon be all around me. In some places in Alaska, a tiny bit of snow has already fallen. Take a moment and look around your world and jot down some notes about what you notice in nature. What hints is Mother Nature giving you about your season? In 30 days, observe again. Take notes and compare how things have changed.

Most of you are probably back in school and working hard on your assignments. Some of you are in a year round school and have holidays and vacations at different times. I live in Alaska in the northern hemisphere, but some of you live in the southern hemisphere and are moving into spring and looking forward to summer. No matter where you are, though, it is time to start to think about the 2010 Iditarod! This will be the best race ever and you aren’t going to want to miss a bit of it!

At the June 27th Volunteer Picnic and Musher Sign up, those mushers wanting to race in the next Iditarod began to turn in their registration materials declaring that the rest of their summer and the months leading up to the race, would be filled with training their dog team for the race. As of today, 63 mushers have signed up to run the race. Take a look at the musher listing and see who has signed up. Check back often to keep up with the sign up news because I’ve heard rumors a few more mushers will sign up soon.

During the next several months, the K9 Journalists and I will be bringing you lots of interesting stories. Check in every month and get updated information. After our last K9 Journalist staff meeting, we’ve decided on some great story ideas. Get ready for great stories from Gypsy, Libby, Sanka W. Dog, and me! We can’t wait to get our paws on the key boards!  (Learn all about the K9 Journalists by clicking here!)

One special highlight at Zuma’s Paw Prints this year is your chance to meet a few authors. Ed White, Helen Frost, and Marianne Schlegelmilch are the first three authors who have agreed to share about their books. When at Zuma’s Paw Prints, click in the menu tab,” Meet Authors! Read Books!” to get started. I hope you decide to read the books by these authors. After you have, leave comments or your questions about the books by the author’s article. This is going to be so ‘mush’ fun! Get reading!

I am also proud to announce the 2nd Annual Zuma’s Community Challenge. Boys and Girls, I know one thing you’ve learned in school is that people are pretty powerful and even kids can do things to help make the world a better place. I am sure you have ideas on things kids can do in their own communities to help out. Talk to your teachers and get involved in this project. You can learn more about this challenge by reading this article.

Boys and Girls, I know that you are going to have a great school year. As you practice your skills and learn new things in school, keep checking Zuma’s Paw Prints and Iditarod’s website for interesting information about Iditarod and Alaska.

Racing season is just around the corner. We can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

You can learn more about me at this link.

I hope you enjoy this slide show.   The pictures will change so keep watching!

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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

Can you believe the time is finally here?  The mushers and my fur friends will soon be headed to the starting line.  We know you are anxious to know the order that the mushers will head to the starting line.

Click here to see the starting order.  Remember, musher number 1 is the ‘honorary’ musher.  So the first musher to start the race is in position 2.

Get ready for some mushing! The race begins on Saturday.  The restart is on Sunday.  The race from Anchorage to Nome will soon begin!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

Hi Boys and Girls,

Did you read Zuma’s post about doing community service?  Isn’t that a great idea?  Well I went to see a class today that is doing a wonderful community project.

Mrs. Andrews 3^rd grade class from Pelham Elementary in Pelham NH has started baking dog biscuits to sell.  The money they raise will be donated to the Animal Rescue Network of New England (ARNNE).  This is an organization that helps find homes for rescued animals.  Every month they have a Pet Adoption day where pets from several shelters and foster homes come to meet humans looking to adopt a pet.  Tables are set up by some of the rescue groups and they sell products to help fund their efforts.  This is where I found Mrs. Andrews class.

Mrs. Andrews is a really cool teacher.  She believes that learning needs to relate to real life.  An example is you don’t just teach fractions, you learn to use fractions by following recipes, doubling recipes, halving recipes etc.  For all subjects, she gives her students as much real life experience as she can.  So when she saw another teacher and class making and selling dog biscuits, she thought, “we can do that too”.  With that Bow Wow Biscuits was started.

 

I got to talk with the little humans (students) in Mrs. Andrews class.  They were great. They hugged me, gave me belly rubs, and let me sample some of their doggie biscuits.  The biscuits were sooooooooooo good, I had to know what was in them and how they made them.  The students said they used all human ingredients- flour, chicken broth, oats, wheat germ, cornmeal and vegetable oil.  They told my human that even she could eat some.  She didn’t but a few of the students said they had tried the treats and that they were good.  To make the biscuits, the students mix all the ingredients, roll out the dough and then use dog bone shaped cookie cutters to cut out the individual biscuits.  The school kitchen allowed the class to use the kitchen’s ovens to bake the biscuits.

Baking the biscuits was just the first step to their new business.  The students had to package the biscuits, make tags for the bags, and then make signs and order forms for their first sale. 

 

 

Their hard work paid off.  They have made a profit of $130 which they have given to ARNNE. They will continue their efforts by taking orders having a once a month bake day, and going to more Pet Adoption Days. Mrs. Andrews received a new recipe on Saturday for Cinnamon Apple biscuits.  She hopes to either make some of them or other flavors on their next bake day to expand their line of biscuits.  WOW, I can’t wait.  I know they are going to taste as good as the chicken biscuits they  made.

 

Mrs. Andrews class has become our first to receive Zuma’s community service certificate.  If your class is doing a project that benefits your community please write us and let us know.  We’d love to feature you on our site.

Hope to see you out on the trail,

Gypsy

It is Iditarod Season.  The mushers and their dogs have been training for a long time.  They are ready to race to Nome!  With sled bags almost packed and supplies waiting for them in checkpoints, with hopes, dreams, and plans in place, mushers will soon be heading to the starting line.  The race starts on Saturday, March 7.   The restart is on the following day, Sunday, March 8.  The race will end when the last musher reaches Nome.  Get ready for an exciting race, a race full of challenges big and small.

The Iditarod is a time of great challenges, challenges big and small.  Meeting challenges along the trail, the mushers race to Nome.

I’ve got a challenge for you.

Have you ever thought about what you can do to help make the world a better place?  I’m sure if you sit down and come up with a brain stormed list, you can discover lots of ideas about things you and your classmates can do to in your own communities.

My challenge to you, Boys and Girls, is to come up with a class project in your own community. Get involved.  Learn what it is like to help with a community project and take pride in your efforts.  Discover the results of working on a project.  Take pride in your accomplishments.

Here is one idea:  Animal shelters are always in need of supplies.   Gypsy, Sanka, Libby, and I have a special challenge for those of you who are interested in helping the pets in your communities to stay healthy.  Research about your local shelter.  Invite someone from the shelter to visit your classroom so you can learn more about the shelter.  Discover what their special needs are and how you can help.  Put a plan in action.

When your project is done, write to us and tell us what you did and why you did it.  You can even send us a  picture and we’ll put the picture and your story on the website.

We’ll send you a certificate thanking you for being involved in the 2009 Iditarod Community Challenge.

Don’t just sit there, friends!  Get your thinking caps on and come up with a project, any project that you want.

Just think what a wonderful world this can be if each of us  were to get involved in helping others—  in helping human or K-9 friends!

We can’t wait to hear about your projects!  Join our challenge!  Start your project on or before the start of the race and see if you can finish it before the last musher reaches Nome!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

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Hi Boys and Girls,

Th e race is just 2 weeks away.  I’m so excited.  Have you picked your musher yet?  I’d love to hear who you picked and why.  Do you know that you can write to us and ask questions or tell us something about you or the race?  Well you can and this is how you can do it.  To email us, go to:   http://iditarodblogs.com/zuma/email-the-k-9-reporters/    or under the blog posts you can click on ‘add a comment”.   We’d love to hear from all of you.

To help you ask the best questions and get a quick answer, I have decided to share a few tips with you.  Please remember these when writing to us.

Look around the Iditarod site or the zuma paw prints blog and see if you can find the answer to your questions.  A few places you can try are:

• For race rules go to;   http://www.iditarod.com/race/iditarodrules.html
• Route and Checkpoint information:  http://www.iditarod.com/race/route.html
• Musher listing:  http://www.iditarod.com/race/musherlisting.html
• For general information and pictures:  http://www.iditarod.com/learn/

Your question may be answered by a different K9 reporter than you wrote to.  During the race we are really busy reporting on the race.  We take turns answering emails and blog comments.  Since we want you to get an answer as soon as possible, whoever is answering mail will answer your letter.

Please give us a day or two to answer your questions.  For the next few weeks we will be receiving hundreds of emails and blog comments every day.  We don’t want to give rushed answers so it takes time.  We will answer all the mail we receive.

FOR TEACHERS:  when you send us a class email or blog comment, please make sure your students do not add their last names or private email addresses.  While we monitor all mail before it is posted, it’s better not to include this information.

We can’t wait to read all your comments and questions.  We love mail.  In fact, I’m off to answer some questions from Stanford Avenue School in Oroville, CA.

Happy trails and have fun writing.  I can’t wait to hear from you.

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

It’s getting close to race time.  Are you ready?  Many of you will be picking a musher to follow in the race. In some classes, you’re assig ?ned to a musher or you pick a name from a hat. If you are able to make the decision yourself, I thought I’d give you some tips on how to pick the best musher for you to follow.

1. Look for similar interests- Read the musher bios on the Iditarod site.  Pick someone who has similar interests or hobbies that you do.  Find someone who’s from the same state you live in. Or maybe their non-mushing job is something you would like to do some day- teacher, be in the military, pilot, etc.  Really read the bios and find something the says “this person is for me”.
2. Look for something familiar- Pick someone with the same name as yours or who looks like a family member.
3. Take a chance on a rookie.  You never know which Rookie will be the “Rookie or the year” or a future top finisher.  Most rookies have been planning for years to run the Iditarod and have set goals for themselves.  Try to find out what their goal for the race is.
4. Pick for a musher with a website- If you are going to have to write a biography, or a report about your musher, this is a good way to make sure you have enough information to write a good report.  You will also be able to see pictures of your musher and the team.  Many times, someone will update the website during the race so you can get up to the moment stories about your musher and how the race is going for them.
5. The middle and back of the pack- Some of the best stories along the trail come from the middle and the back of the pack.  Most of these mushers do not intend to win the race.  They have set finishing the race as one their goals.  If they have run the race before, their goal is probably to finish in a better position and time than before.  These are certainly mushers to look at when picking someone to follow.
6. Picking a winner-  Everyone loves a winner and loves to win.  You need to remember that just because someone has won or placed high in the race before doesn’t mean the same will happen this year.  This is a race where anything can happen and anyone can scratch- even the best.  A plus to picking a past winner or top placer, is that they probably have a website and/or there is lots of information about them that you can use for your any reports you might have to write.

I hope that helps you pick a musher that is right for you. Most important thing is to have fun, enjoy learning about whoever you pick,  always be positive- even if your musher isn’t doing as well as you want him/her to do, they may be running the race they want to and accomplishing the goal they set for themselves.  Once you pick a musher, write me and let me know who you picked and why.  I can’t wait to hear your stories.

Have fun,

Gypsy

Hi Boys and Girls,

Can you believe that the start of the Iditarod is only a month away.  Are you getting ready to follow the race?  Have you picked a musher to follow yet?  I bet your teachers are working hard to get things ready for you to learn about and follow the race.

Talking about teachers, did you know that there is a special program for teachers called the Target Teacher on the Trail Program ™?  This program offers teachers a unique opportunity for a once in a lifetime adventure.  One teacher is selected every year to spend 3 ½ weeks in Alaska doing presentations, visiting schools, and flying in a small plane up and down the Iditarod trail following the teams from Anchorage to Nome.  During the time these teachers are the TOTT ™ they prepare lessons and they report from the trail.  I bet your teachers use some of the lessons developed by the TOTT’s ™.

So, how does a teacher become a TOTT ™?  There is an application they have to fill out.  I looked over the application and it’s the biggest homework assignment I’ve ever seen! Some teachers say that it takes months to put together all the information needed to complete the application.  All the applications are due by Dec. 1 of each year.  Once all the applications are received, the selection committee goes over each one and together they decide on 3 finalists.  Those finalists then go to Alaska the week before the start of the race.  They do a presentation at the Iditarod Teachers Workshop, have an interview with the selection committee, complete an assignment/project, go to the banquet and to the start and restart of the race.  They get to meet many of the mushers and give lots of ear scratches and belly rubs to the canine athletes.  When the race is over, the selection committee will select the next TOTT ™ from the 3 finalists.  What a wonderful experience for these 3 teachers.

I was very lucky to do email interviews with all 3 of this years finalists.  I will be doing a post for each one.  They told me about special goals they have set in the past and some for the future.  I love goal setting stories!  I hope you enjoy their stories and that it helps you set some new goals for the future.

Do you know of a special teacher that would make a good TOTT ™?  If so, please encourage him/her to apply.  Maybe next year, I’ll be writing about your teacher.

See you out on the trail,

Gypsy

I’d like to introduce Nikki Allen.  Nikki teaches at Fort Braden School in Tallahassee, Florida. She teaches Social Studies to 7^th and 8^th grade students.  She likes to go to the beach and the gym to work out.  She has traveled a lot and has visited 12 different countries.  Doesn’t that sound like fun.  I love to travel and see different things and meet new people.  I bet Nikki has lots of great stories to tell about her travels.

When I emailed Nikki about her goals, I got an email back from General, the wagging Weimaraner of the South.  You can see General in the picture with Nikki.  Isn’t he handsome?  Anyway, he said that Nikki’s daily goals were to smile, laugh, be physically fit, and to be a good role model for her young humans. I think it’s great to have a daily goal.  I’ll have to think of some for me.  General told me his daily goals were to chase squirrels, and get as many treats as possible.  Those sound pretty good to me especially the treat part.    General then told me that a long term goal of Nikki’s was when she was in high school.  She wanted to be accepted to Florida State University and become a cheerleader for the Seminoles.   She had dreamed of that goal for years.  She worked hard, kept up her grades, focused on her athletic training and was accepted to the University and not only became a cheerleader, but she was a pole vaulter for the track and field team.  Wow what an accomplishment.  This was a goal from when she was a young human and she accomplished it as an adult human.  I bet some of you already have goals in mind for when you’re all grown up.

Nikki’s current goal is to put her best effort into becoming the 2010 TOTT ™.  This is a goal not only for herself but for her young humans.  They are a team going on this journey together.

Congratulations to Nikki and best of luck becoming the 2010 Target Teacher on the Trail ™.

Happy Trails,

Gypsy