Hello Race Fans!

-35 here at the Homestead this morning. My goodness I'm glad we have a dog barn. Just gave the race team their vaccinations and their soaking up the 45 degree ABOVE warmth of the barn.

Near mutiny ensued at the discussions of selling Colonel and Ross. So, heeding the recommendations of the staff here at Husky Homestead, Ross and Colonel will remain in training with the A-Team.

A new sled has been added to the fleet. A masterpiece G-Pole sled built by David Klumb. Get a load of his work... Thanks Dave!

Sign-ups are going well for the Denali Doubles. Our most recent addition - and no doubt an 'up and comer' - is Dallas Seavey. He will be competing against the 'down-and-going' Mitch Seavey (sorry Mitch - I couldn't resist!) as well as many other top competitors .
Teri Simmons, manager of First National Bank of Alaska here in Healy, dropped of their contribution of $500 for the Denali Doubles this chilly morning....

First National joins a growing list of contributors who share our desire to see that mushers in the race are generously rewarded. We will be working on purse contributions until the bitter end. There will be cash purses at least for places 1st, 2nd and 3rd, with 1st Place guaranteed at $10,000.

Fur Rondy race preparations are not going near as well. A picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe another day you'll get 'the rest of the story'....

[pic] Fur Rondy Sprint Sled... salvageable?

Dave DeCaro from here at Husky Homestead is signed up for the Denali Doubles. I have gotten my entry in for the K-300, and have every intention of signing up for the 2010 Fur Rondy. It's been several years since I went to Kotzebue for the 440 - and it's certainly on my radar. You'll find more pictures of our training and preparations on my Facebook page.

I'd also like to put feelers out for a cabin and dog yard that may be available for Pete Kaiser of Bethel for the month of February as he prepares for his first Iditarod. I can vouch for Pete and his family as being 'top shelf'. You won't be sorry for helping him out. Any ideas, let us know here at the Homestead.

In other randomness around the Homestead...

[pic] Tessa modeling my Cabela's Walking Sleeping Bag a.k.a. The Pickle! I'm sick of being cold!!

[pic] Virgil and his 'Charlie's Angels'... if you don't see him at his wood cutting pile, you may find him hanging out just like this. :) L-R: Carrie, Virgil, Caroline & Ellen.

Winter is here!

We have been waiting to start our fall blog until winter arrived. Well guess what? She's a blowin' and a stormin' right now! And it sure looks like winter to me.

Virgil, Jason, Dave & Carrie are back at their posts and together with their fearless leader we're like a fine-tuned team of Navy Seals. Two of those Navy Seals (who have 19 toes between them) are out on the Denali Highway today with the awesome puppy team that Dave will be driving to Nome. Jason and I have been out on the highway with the race dogs on several occasions - exercising them in front of the truck, or the fancy little track rig that Aaron Burmeister loaned us - and have managed to train several 95 mile runs. We had a wonderful anniversary dinner with Alan & Susie at the Maclaren River Lodge - steak and crab legs!

Big kennel news is the Denali Doubles Race! Lots of entries locked in and several more on the way. That is happening the weekend after the Yukon Quest start, and just before Iditarod food drops. Then on to the Fur Rondy where I have the privilege of running some of the fastest sprint dogs in the world thanks to Buddy & Terry Streeper.

I have two really good dogs for sale. Trained up and ready to rock-n-roll.

Ross (Jodi x Yuksi) has been a finisher in my team for quite a while. Last years Iditarod, Kusko, Percy - I don't know that I've ever dropped him. Turning 4 years old. Fast & smooth and very comfortable in lead.

Colonel (Spaniel x Salem) is a three year old knuckle-head. A body sculpted of soapstone - he is hard as a rock. Carries the most fat on his bones out of any dog in the yard. Fairly light coat, but hard working and really picking up leadership skills (the other day I yelled "Gee" too soon and he crashed out into the brush headed to God knows where). About 60 lbs and neutered this dog is all muscle.
$2500/each or $5000 for both. (Nope, that wasn't a mistake - they're worth every penny.)
Questions about these two can no longer be directed to Carrie at info@huskyhomestead.com as they are actually staying with us for a while! [Yay! (This from Carrie)]