Saturday, March 10, 2012

Fur Rondy and the Iditarod

In Alaska, March means Fur Rondy and the Iditarod.

Both are a ton of fun, and very different from anything we've ever been to, but I've been trying to get us out and experiencing as much as we can.



Fur Rondy aka Fur Rendezvous:
A festival that was started to coincide with the time that miners and trappers came to town with their winter's yield. It began as a three-day sports tournament in 1935 and featured skiing, hockey, basketball, boxing and a children's sled dog race down Fourth Avenue. Nearly the entire population of Anchorage turned out for the bonfire and torchlight parade.

Is has now become a ten day festival that includes everything; including a Fur Auction, dog sledding, a Blanket Toss, a Dog Weight Pull, a Snowshoe Softball Tournament, an Outhouse Race, and the list goes on.  It's basically 10 days of fun and insanity.

I wish we could have experienced more of it.  Walking around a city when it's only 17 degrees outside isn't on Perri's list of high priorities.  She really just wanted to play in the snow, not be stuck in a stroller having to listen to me.

She did love the dancing though!  We went to the Cultural Day and were able to see the traditional dances being performed.

Amazing, amazing regalia.

Perri was pretending to be shy.
One of the outhouse race participants.  Yes, it says "Save Our Planet!  It's Our Last Source Of Beer!".


Maybe this is mean to post, but I had to laugh at how horrible of a mood she was in once we were home.  























































































































































Iditarod:
The following weekend was the ceremonial start to the Iditarod.  We headed to Campbell Airstrip to watch the last part of the mushers coming in from downtown before heading to Willow for the Restart.   We parked at a school and took a shuttle over to the park, (of course) on the way off of the shuttle I fell and twisted my ankle.  I sucked it up and limped over to where the mushers were going by so we could watch some of this awesome action.  (I have become slightly obsessed over the whole thing.)  After watching a few mushers go by, I decided it was time for us to head home.  Perri wasn't listening, I was in pain, the backpack broke, I fell again, etc.  It is now comical to think back on, but it was a really grumpy weekend day for us.  I am glad we went though.  Seeing some of the mushers go by was really cool, and it was also great to see how much fun the dogs were having.

Perri was thinking it's hilarious that she's stuck in a snow bank that goes to my hips.

One of the teams that went by.

This is a screen shot from a video, I just had to include it cus he's wearing a kilt and yet still smiling. 





































































































Like I said, I've become slightly obsessed with the Iditarod.  I've been keeping incredibly close tabs on the whole thing.  It's fascinating!

And I really want Aliy Zirkle to win.  She'd be the first woman since 1990 to win!  (and she's basically been leading the whole time.)




PS My ankle is improving.  The swelling is even starting to go down!







No comments:

Post a Comment