3-5-2016: The ceremonial start to the 2016 Iditarod

Jeff was in Anchorage this week in training for work, and I was able to get a ride in to town on Friday from my boss.  Since we were there, we decided to go and check out the ceremonial start to the 2016 Iditarod!

Fairbanks sent a bunch of snow down to Anchorage on the train.
That snow was then put down on the roads so the dogs would be able to run on snow.

But it actually snowed in Anchorage the day before!  Shocker!  They've had to haul snow in a lot of recent years, and have had to move the official start due to lack of snow.

everyone was cheering on the puppies, including this little cutie!

This is Dallas Seavey, who has already won 3 Iditarods.

And this is me taking a selfie with Dallas's dad, Mitch Seavey (also an Iditarod winner), in the background.

very fashionable puppies running in orange booties

After seeing a few dog sled teams, we did our shopping and headed home.  We bought sandwiches and salads at the Fred Meyer, and stopped at the pull-off after Caribou Creek to have our "picnic" in the truck.  Not a bad view!

Almost home - all the mountains had at least a little big of clouds, but they are impressive, nonetheless.