Whoops

I just sent out our spring newsletter to our guests and friends and folks who signed up to be on our email list. If you didn't receive it, it would be because I don't have your email address or I have an incorrect address and it came back to me. If you did not receive the email newsletter and would like to be on our list, just shoot me an email telling me that.

In the newsletter, I informed everyone of the TV schedule for the airing of the show featuring our Run Silent Dog Sled Trip business by Real Outdoors.

Unfortunately, I made several mistakes and wanted to correct them for you. I stated that we would be on Directv channel 609. It is not 609, but 608. I also stated that we would be seen on Charter Cable on March 26 and 27 at 9:00 pm. It is instead
9:00 AM.

So, the full schedule is as follows:
Pursuit Channel on channel 608 Directv and channel 240 Dish Network
March 28 at 8:30 pm; March 31 at 12:00 am; April 2 at 6:00 am

Charter Cable (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) channel 87
March 22 at 9:00 pm; March 24 at 9:00pm; March 26 at 9:00 am; March 27 at 9:00 am and March 27 at 9:00pm.

Sorry for the confusion. Hope you get a chance to watch it.

Our First Dog Sled Race

Agimac River Outfitters and Run Silent Dog Sled Trips sponsored their first dog sled race. Joanna worked hard all fall and winter training her dogs for the upcoming winter races. As it turned out, she only was able to run in two races, the Beargrease in Duluth,MN and the Wolf Track Classic in Ely,MN. She had planned to run in the Eaton Rugby race near Dryden and sponsored by our dear friend and vet, Clayton Schneider. It is her most fun race of the season. Unfortunately, she was unable to participate in that race because we were so busy here at camp taking folks on dog sled trips and working with Brian and Patty Whitens of Real Outdoors for the TV taping.

On the way home from the Ely race, she was proposing the idea of maybe doing an easy fun run in the city of Ignace and drawing the mushers in the general area from Dryden to Thunder Bay to Pickle Lake. After spending so much time and effort in training the dogs, she really wanted to experience the thrill of one more race.

We talked about the different possibilities and continued our discussion with John after arriving home. Next, we contacted the local area developer, Doug Pronger, to see what options there might be to involve the Ignace populace.

Because time was short, we decided to have the race at our camp and use a ten mile trail that we use for our dog sled trips. John spent time pushing snow back on the road to prepare a spot for mushers to park their trucks and unload dogs. He cleared snow from around the outhouses and made a spot for a picnic table and to build a fire after the race for lunch. Joanna and I made some signs with arrows to mark the race trail for the contestants. But the weather was NOT cooperating. The temps were hitting the high forties and we wondered if the trails would totally break down.

In our minds we seesawed back and forth, trying to decide if we should continue or call it off. In looking ahead at the weather forecast, it seemed that a few days before the scheduled race on Saturday, March 19th, there was going to be a cool down. The question was--- would it be enough to preserve the trail?

We decided to go ahead with it and ended up with six teams showing up for this grand event. Clayton Schneider brought four teams, Jan Verburg from Pickle Lake came with a team and of course Joanna had a team.

The race got under way at about 11:05. Clayton's team left first, but not before his fired up team took a side turn in the wrong direction. John was able to help him turn around and make his way back to the starting line. He probably would have FINISHED first as well, but thought he was going the wrong way at one point and started to go in a different direction. At any rate, that allowed his nephew Brenden to win the race and Joanna came in a close second.

It was such fun to rehearse the race and laugh about the different challenges along the trail around the campfire. A good time was had by all and there was a general consensus that they would like to see this become an annual event. We'll see.

Update on TV Debut

We just found out that the filming of Ontario winter sports activities including walleye and northern pike ice fishing, snow shoeing and our dog sled trip business will be aired on the Pursuit television channel (nationwide) channel 609 on Directv and channel 240 on Dish Network, March 28th at 8:30 p.m.; March 31 at 12:00 a.m.; April 2 at 6:00 a.m.

Also on Charter Cable (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) channel 87 on March 22 at 9:00 p.m.; March 24 at 9:00 p.m.; March 26 at 9:00 p.m.; March 27 at 9:00 p.m.

THESE ARE ALL CENTRAL STANDARD TIMES.

Brian Whitens from Real Outdoor/Ontario in Michigan was the company doing the filming at the request of the Ontario government. It will also be put online eventually.

Hope you get a chance to watch it.

Our TV Debut

Just a couple of weeks ago, a gentleman from Michigan contacted us to see if we would be interested in being a part of a TV promotion for Northwestern Ontario. He and his brother own a television show called Real Outdoors/Ontario which has 50 million viewers in the U.S. The Ontario government subsidized him to come shoot some footage of winter outdoor activities and adventures in our neck of the woods. Brian had heard we had a dog sled trip business and had always wanted to do some dog sledding himself. Of course we were ecstatic to have our business put on TV, but the clincher was that it would be free advertising for us.

So, Brian and his lovely wife Patty came to stay with us for three days. What a wonderful time we shared together, visiting and working on the project! We are not sure yet when the show will be aired on stations in the U.S., but it should be sometime soon in March.

The photo above is of Brian taping John and Joanna in the back part of our dog yard as they shared the story of how we got into dogs in the first place. This year we have gotten quite a few more dog sledding guests than any of the previous years for which we are thankful. It is so fun to meet new people and take them on an adventure of a lifetime.