Backside of the burl arch.  Finish sign down because the wind
had been so strong.  Waiting for Karin to get up on Front St.

Just one more gee and then a haw and up the shute to the arch.

In the shute: snacks from Karin while Varan takes off booties.

Karin: bib, white wind breaker, fur from hood of her blue parka.
Shortly after this she did a strip of several layers.

This morning, Friday, Gwen and I were going to have breakfast with Karin and Varan.  They arrived first and ordered their breakfasts and got a few bites in  before they got a call saying the dogs needed to be ready NOW for their flight.  What happened to the "we'll call you and give you a heads up"?  So they ran out the door as we arrived, went to the dog yard and got the dogs ready in time.  By the time they got back we were through with our breakfasts and the dogs were in the air.  They called Miriam, their great dog handler, and told her the dogs were arriving at 1:30 in Anchorage.  It was 12:15 when they called her and it is a 2 hour drive in.  Oh well.  So, now for the first time Karin and Varan can enjoy Nome with no dogs to feed or exercise or worry about.  Lots of good entertainment in the bars.

 

Did I tell you she dropped Alis in Shaktoolik?  Anyway she did and I don't know the reason.

 

The banquet here in Nome is on Sunday.  It is a much less formal affair than the beginning banquet in Anchorage.  Not a sitdown dinner but a buffet with prime rib and a sled on each of the 2 serving tables filled with strawberries and 2 tables full of desserts.  The mushers go across the stage one at a time to get their patch and recognition.  Often there are wonderful 'tales from the trail.'