A Cold Day In January 2013

I was down in the states visiting our daughter Cherish and then took an unexpected flight down to Texas to help John's mother move when back at camp they were having terribly cold weather.  I almost felt guilty enjoying the warm seventy degree ABOVE weather in Texas, but that guilt only lasted a few minutes.  I thought it was wonderful timing.

Cold weather does have its beauty.  You just can't stay out in it for very long.  John was out long enough to capture some nice shots of the camp and surrounding area.  You can see the steam rising from the rapids under the bridge and almost feel the stillness of the frigid atmosphere.  Sure am glad spring is around the corner.

Abounding Adventure

Joanna and I just returned from our third and final dog sled race in the states.  The first was the 83 mile Midnight Run in Marquette, MI  in which Joanna placed 6th out of 28 and the second was the 30 mile Ely Wolf Track Classic where she also placed 6th.

 We had planned to continue on from Ely to the 150 mile Copper Dog Race in upper Michigan, but we were having some serious dog issues with a few females in heat and males that refused to eat or drink.  In addition a few of the dogs picked up a virus at the Ely race, making it impossible for them to compete.  So, we headed back home to regroup and recoup.

 Joanna was extremely disappointed in the turn of affairs because she had her heart set on running the Copper Dog race for the first time.  However, after a week of recuperation, she thought the dogs were recovered enough to run the Beargrease Mid distance 106 mile race in Duluth,MN.  So off we went to Duluth the first week of March.  The dogs had a slow start the first leg of the race but were back in form on the second leg with the third fastest time.  At that point, Joanna was in 8th place, but unfortunately, two of the eight dogs had some shoulder and wrist injuries which prevented them from going any further and when Joanna started out on the final leg of the race, she realized another dog was limping from a wrist injury that hadn't showed up at the vet check.  It was quite disappointing, but Joanna made the decision to scratch from the race rather than make the injury worse or put undue stress on the five remaining dogs in those steep hills.

At this point it was early Monday morning, so we decided to head over to Ely to spend the day and night with Cherish.  Neither Joanna or I had gotten any sleep all night and felt like we could literally pass out into sleep mode.  Joanna was talking to me to try to keep me awake and did a good job.  I could hardly move my mouth to answer her I was so exhausted.  After about 35 miles, she passed into sleepy land and I pressed on thinking it was just a little further and I could make it.  About three miles outside Ely, I too passed out, crossed the road and hit the ditch.  Joanna and I both woke with a start to find snow flying over our windshield.  I screamed, "God Help" and slammed on the brakes, seeing a large poplar tree in front of us.  Thankfully the ditch was full of heavy deep snow and it helped stop us in time.  But the snow was up to my window on the left side.  It took a tow truck quite a bit of time and lots of maneuvering to finally pull us trailer first out of the ditch.  The dogs were in the trailer, but were no worse for the wear.  I surely learned my lesson to stop and rest when I feel that tired again so as not to endanger anyone's lives.  Thank you Jesus for your protection over us.

 

Ely Wolf Track Race

Joanna did quite well at the Ely Wolf Track Dog Sled Race.  There were about 30 entrants for the race and Joanna came in 6th behind Clayton Schneider, the vet from Dryden and two other of his speedy sprint teams.
Joanna was using it more as a training run for 6 of her dogs that had not run in the Midnight Run and were going to be include in the ten dogs team for the Copper Dog 150 mile race in Michigan the following week.

Though they were not her 6 fastest dogs, they all performed well.  It was disconcerting at the finish line, however, when one of them threw up and would not drink any water.  Later, we realized that the dogs had picked up a bug at the vet check the day before and the virus began to spread through the rest of the dogs.  Joanna was so disheartened as she realized she would no longer be able to compete in the Copper Dog race, the main race she had prepared for all winter.

So, we headed back home to Canada to try to nurse all the dogs back to health, even using IV's to hydrate some of them.  She is hoping they will be well enough to compete in the Beargrease race in Duluth next weekend.  They have a week to recover and train, so it is cutting it close.  We shall see. 

Midnight Run 2013

Just got back from the Midnight Run Dog Sled Race in Marquette, MI.  Whew, that's a long drive, especially when you stop every two hours to water and drop nine dogs.  It's always an adventure on the trail with Joanna.  We have a great time together and it's fun getting to know her friends in the mushing world.  Being out in blizzard conditions in very cold weather, in the dark of night, keeping track of eight dogs and trying to hurry, all develops one's character.   I know Joanna  enjoys competition and just running new trails through gorgeous scenery.  She won the Midnight Run last year which was a career first for her, but this year her race was more challenging with three females in heat and males that were having mixed up emotions.  Still she came through with a 6th place finish of 29 entrants.  She amazes me how she does it.  Tomorrow we're off to Ely for another race and then back to Michigan for the Copper Dog 150 mile race.  She has never run this race before, so it will be a new experience for both of us.

The first two pictures are at the start of the Midnight Run and the last picture is at the awards banquet where she collected her check and gave a little thank you speech.

Mid Winter Excitement

Just when things were really slowing down here for me after Christmas and I was wondering what to do with myself, I decided to go down to Ely for a conference at our daughter, Cherish's church on Israel.  Cherish and I had made a trip to Israel last fall and we have particular interest in that nation for many reasons.  It was just going to be for the weekend but I ended up staying for a week.  The day I was preparing to return to Ignace, I got a call from John's mother in southern Texas asking if I could come help her.  She wasn't feeling very well and was in the middle of moving into another mobile home in her park.  So, I drove on down to Minneapolis and flew to Texas.  I had a great time with Nona and the warm weather was an added plus.  One week later I drove back up to Ignace from Ely with our daughter Cherish.  She came up to sing and speak at a conference at our church in Ignace over the weekend.  What a powerful time it was.  Everyone was mightily blessed, so I'm sure we will do it again in the future.  With one day to prepare, Joanna and I will be leaving in the morning to head to her first dog sled race in Marquette, MI.  It's called the Midnight Run, which she won last year.  The next four weeks we will be traveling to both Michigan and Minnesota for more races.  It's been quite a whirlwind lately.

Just before I returned home, this area got over 9 inches of snow and now yesterday another four to five inches.  So, John has once again donned his road department hat and is trucking down the 325, our 18 mile driveway to plow the road.  The 325 is nice and smooth during the winter months when the snow fills in the bumps. 

Winter Wonderland

The snow has finally come.  An Alberta clipper with lots of moisture went right over us and dumped 14 inches of snow on us yesterday.  John had to plow the road to Ignace twice in one day to try to keep it open.  That was a first.  A nice couple from Ignace was supposed to come out yesterday for a half day dog sled trip, but they couldn't get out of their driveway with all the snow.  So, they came out today to embark on their adventure.  The first three pictures show them on the sleds leaving the dog yard.  John brings up the rear with his snowmobile in case someone has trouble and needs his help. I took a few extra shots of the beautiful trees, heavily laden with snow.  Now that's what I call WINTER!! 

He Still Loves Me

On one of our hikes to the overlook, John had taken his chainsaw to cut and remove some fallen trees from the trail.  Once he got to the top of the ridge, he came across an old rotten stump that was about shoulder height.  He decided to do a bit of art work on it, which is displayed in the middle picture above.  In case you can't easily read it, he chainsawed the letters DO (Daryl Oberg)  +  JO (John Oberg).  Yes, he still loves me.  Pretty cute, John.