Celebrating My Birthday the Alaska Way!

This was easily one of my favorite birthdays I've experienced so far. I have enjoyed renting the public use cabin on the Kenai Peninsula a couple times in the past, so I decided to rent a cabin north of Anchorage for my birthday weekend to try somewhere different. Somehow the work schedule worked out well enough that 6 of us (the cabin's capacity) were off, and everyone was excited to help me celebrate my birthday!

I picked this cabin because we didn't have to spend hours driving there (it's about an hour and a half away) and it looked to be in a pretty setting.  I didn't want to spend all of our time traveling to and from the cabin... I wanted to be able to spend some at the cabin relaxing and enjoying ourselves. I picked the location and made the reservation, and then left the rest of the planning to my friends. They did a bang-up job, I must say! Anyway, here's the trail to the cabin... it was a little over 1/2 mile from the parking lot to the cabin. We stayed at P.U.C. (Public Use Cabin) #1.

This is the view from the cabin looking back up the hill. And that's our outhouse there on the left. :)

 And... this is the cabin. We got right to work chopping wood for the stove inside!

Nice!

There were a couple of us that hadn't chopped wood before, so we just had to try it out. We didn't do too badly for our first try, I must say!

Keeping a watchful eye on us wood choppers...

However, perhaps this is where the watchful eye should have been turned! ;)

Alright, my turn. My first shot wasn't so great... notice the audience pressure (including a camera) I had though!

I kept trying, and of course when I actually chopped a piece right in half nobody was watching. I had to at least show the evidence...

Now I'm hooked. I'm not necessarily graceful, but I got some of it chopped for us anyway!

And... back to the master chopper of the group.

So by the way, we had max temperatures in the teens, and with the sunshine it felt great! Add in a little frisbee tossing on the lake, and we were downright toasty.

Ready to catch! And notice the not-too-shabby scenery in the upper right corner of the photo...

Eek... it's coming right for us!

We had multiple frisbees going at the same time... extra fun!

One frisbee coming... one frisbee going.

Meanwhile... back inside the cabin, we aren't exactly roughing it with food and drink. :)

Homemade hummus and guacamole, along with some homemade pita chips that aren't shown here.

Seasoning the salmon to be grilled

Cookin' rice

Our birthday dinner spread: salmon, rice, salad, brussels sprouts, and wine, of course!

This right here is a chocolate cake with no milk or eggs in it. The icing is chocolate avocado... VERY creamy and yummy! This cake did not disappoint even the most discerning palette in our group.

And the following morning, pancakes for breakfast! Yum...

I was the first one awake in the morning. I absolutely love this time of the day! This photo was taken from inside our cabin.

Also taken from inside the cabin... just a bit more zoomed in. Beautiful morning looking at the Alaska Range!

The cabin got a bit chilly overnight, but it warmed back up nicely with the fire going again.

We left a thermometer out on the picnic table overnight. When I went to the outhouse in the morning, it was about -18F. I didn't spend a LONG time outside, but I did take a few photos while I was out there. It really didn't even feel that bad, honestly!

The windows frosted up overnight and made these awesome designs. I couldn't stop photographing them!!

(And a view out our frosty front door...)

Add in a little sun for backlight, and it just got even more fun to photograph!

One of the other cool icy phenomena we saw were these ferny crystals growing out from the snow. I didn't really have the proper equipment to photograph them very well, but still... I think they're pretty.

Of course we were wishing we could stay another night, but I think we got the most out of the time we had there. It's certainly a birthday I'll never forget, especially with the surprise fireworks! (No photos of those, but I'd be glad to share the story if you want to hear!)  =D

'Til next time...

Iditarod 2013 - The Official Start is Here! - March 3, 2013

The day after the Ceremonial Start is the Official Start of the race. Game faces are on both the dogs and the humans, but it's still a big party for the spectators. Before we get to the dogs, here's an idea of the rest of the event.

The official start takes place in Willow, AK... about an hour and a half's drive north of Anchorage. It's on a lake, and then the teams mush into the woods where they see very few people over the following 1000 miles.

Looking "up" the chute...

Looking "down" the chute toward the woods.

There was a lot going on out on the ice, with ice fishing huts, snow machines, other snow vehicles (you could get rides on those and they'd take you all over the lake. Looked like fun but I didn't partake), and even semi trailers and food trucks that you can't see in this photo. A small village set up on the lake for the day... I love that it's just so normal to spend a day hanging out on a lake in the winter around here!

A beautiful spring day... and people are acting like they're not walking on water. ;)

Capturing the view from above... they were flying around part of the time.

It's an Alaskan beach!! So fun to see kids playing as if they were at a beach in the summertime. Snow is probably easier to work with than sand when making sculptures and things, too!

So, they set up a long chute for the teams to run through as they cross the ice and go into the woods. Lots of people lined either side of this chute, and they continued along the trail into the woods and beyond. It was quite bright out there with all the snow around, and I didn't compensate very well for that when taking photos, but they could be much worse, too.

We set up our chairs down a ways from the starting line so we didn't see all of the hubbub that occurs as the teams are waiting for their chance to start down the trail (they are released from the starting line every 2 minutes sharp), but I did get a video of Scott Janssen's team waiting for their turn. I know I say it a lot, but these dogs are just so excited to do what they were born to do! Tails are wagging, they're barking, pulling on the harnesses... it's torture having to be patient! :)

Iditarod 2013 Official Start from Mary-Beth Schreck on Vimeo.

Alright, let's get to the photos of the teams running past our spot along the fence.

This is Newton Marshall, who is from Jamaica. He finished the Yukon Quest, and then wanted to run the Iditarod. He finished the Iditarod in 2010.

Jeff King... He ended up finishing this Iditarod in 3rd place after scratching last year.

I think this is a neat photo... It must be this dog's version of a "high five"! :)

Here comes Aliy! And there's Quito at front right (from Aliy's view) looking happy as can be! She and Aliy are competing for biggest smile as they start on their 1000 mile trek.

Happy doggies! The mushers have to ride the brake through the crowd because these dogs are so excited to be running... their adrenaline is pumping!!

Mitch Seavey. He ended up winning this year's Iditarod... his second Iditarod win. Last year it was his son, Dallas, who won the race and became the youngest musher to win.

Jake Berkowitz... he finished this year's race in 8th place. Even more impressive is that he finished with 15 of the 16 dogs he started the race with and won an award for excellent dog care throughout the race.

There they go down the trail... there's ALWAYS an adventure ahead!

Ok, I suppose that's enough happy dogs for now. 'Til next time...