The Team; Together

Yesterday Aliy went down to the dog lot to say 'Hi' to her team mates. I caught some of it on film:


Aliy spends time with Quito in the dog lot



Some of you are wondering about the dog lot? The dog lot is a secure, quiet and sheltered area just 100 yards from the finish chute. Iditarod volunteers man the secure dog lot 24 hours a day to ensure everyone is safe. We visit several times a day and during the night to check on them, feed and snack them, massage them or just to say 'Hi', happy in the knowledge they are safe and secure when we're not there. It is a restful place to be, despite teams coming and going every now and again - there is a calmness about it as teams rest and mushers/handlers quietly get on with their tasks at hand. We're all a little tempted to take our sleeping bags down there!

Note: update on our dropped dogs - Boondocks, Honda, Puppet, Waylon and Rambler have all arrived back in Anchorage and they're all fine and happy to be around familiar faces having spent a few extra nights out on the trail. "Team Miller" picked them up from Dog Drop HQ at the Millennium hotel and they're now with Margie in Wasilla along with Dingle and Kipper so they will all be enjoying her fabulous hospitality and taking time to catch up with their mates. Thanks Team Miller and Margie! We appreciate the great care you are taking of those so precious to us.