Meeting Lance Mackey!

Living in Wisconsin, I haven't had the exposure to mushers that many who live in Alaska have. Despite this, I have had the opportunity to meet numerous mushers at the UP 200 Sled Dog Race, and I have even met several champions: Dick Mackey, Libby Riddles, Doug Swingley, Jeff King, and now LANCE MACKEY!

My friend Donna who is a fellow Bootie Brigade member called me a few weeks ago to let me know that Lance was going to be in the Milwaukee area. Donna has made booties for Lance, and my students have signed them. She also keeps in contact with him via e-mail because of the booties and the fact that they are both cancer survivors.

Needless to say, our family drove down to Gander Mountain in Germantown to meet Lance. What a great guy! He was so sweet to Emmaline--he asked about her stuffed husky Pedro that she brought along and really gushed over the picture she drew for him (even though she drew him with pigtails instead of a ponytail!). He sincerely thanked me for making booties through the Bootie Brigade and said that he really enjoyed all of the words of encouragement that my students had written last year. He signed a poster for us, Jon's Iditarod hat, and offered to sign Pedro's tail, but Emmaline was having none of that! Then I produced my Iditarod Monopoly board that Jeff King had signed two years ago. I told him that I hadn't won at Monopoly since Jeff had signed, and I needed his good luck. Lance said, "Well, I have to sign higher than Jeff!" He proceded to sign nice and big above Jeff's signature!

Of course I was so star struck that there are a million things I wish I would have asked him but didn't! Oh well, it was still awesome!

Race Finish

Coming into Deerton; homeward bound

Today we woke up pretty exicted, knowing Tim was doing so well. We called race headquarters to find out what time he left Wetmore to return to Marquette. He left around 6:00 AM, still with a 40 minute lead. Armed with this knowledge, we packed up and left, heading to Deerton so that we could see him pass through on his way to Marquette. Fortunately this vantage point was at a school, so Emmaline could play in the park while we waited for the first musher to come through. Just as we expected, it was Tim. We cheered him on and then waited for the next musher to come through. About 40 minutes later Rick Larson came by. Excited by his lead, we headed off to Marquette to find Tim's family and friends at the finish line. We let them know that we had seen Tim, and we all anxiously awaited his arrival. Shortly before 1:00 PM, Tim Calhoun became the first Wisconsin musher to win the UP 200. We only just met Tim and his family and friends this weekend, but we were so proud of him.

Coming in to Marquette

Way to go, Tim!

Winner of the 2007 UP 200, Tim Calhoun from Tomahawk, WI

Ever since Peggy contacted me about making booties, she kept telling me that Tim was the "real deal." I really didn't have any expectations for how he would do; I was just looking forward to meeting him and encouraging him along the trail. What a treat this weekend was! We really had a fabulous time. It was great to follow somebody we knew, and to be able to share the experience with new friends. Oh, yeah, and it was nice to see my booties in action (and they held up!).

Congratulations to Tim and all of the mushers! For more pictures and race information, check out www.up200.org

Saturday Checkpoints

Tim and the pups arriving in Grand Marais

Today we headed out to follow Tim and the other mushers' progress. We first stopped by the Wetmore checkpoint where the mushers spent several hours overnight. After checking the stats board, we found out that our suspisions were correct last night--Tim was the first through Deerton. He was also first into Wetmore and the first to leave Wetmore for Grand Marais around 6:00 this morning. Our little entourage was now on its way to Grand Marais to try to see Tim coming into the checkpoint.

Heading to the rest area

As is usual for this area along Lake Superior, there was a snow warning out, and we drove through heavy whiteouts for nearly the entire 60 miles. Fortunately, we all made it safely and arrived just in time to see Tim arrive first in Grand Marais! We spent some time watching him feed the dogs and bed them down. Emmaline was particularly interested in the vet check and the fact that some of the dogs refused to lie down and take a nap--just like her!

Nap time!

We took off, knowing Tim would be resting there for the rest of the afternoon. Back at our hotel, Emmaline got out her four stuffed dogs, "hooked" them up to the the "gangline" (DSL cord for a computer), and mushed around the room!

Our little musher

This evening we called race headquarters to find out if Tim left on schedule. He did and had about a 40 minute lead. As we cuddled up in our hotel room watching his interview on the local news, we thought about him and the other teams out in the continuing white-out conditions.

UP 200 Race Start

Tim's kennel logo, Tim with wife Jenny tying on his bib before the start of the race

We headed up to Marquette, MI, today to watch the start of the UP 200. The first thing we did was find Tim Calhoun. We found him by his "Seek Wilderness Adventures" truck. I introduced myself to him, and with him being a man of few words, I let him get back to his race preparations. I was also able to meet his wife Jenny and his children Katie, Gunner, and Cody. Such nice people! Then I met Peggy, whom I'd been talking to on the phone for so long, her husband Bob, and their good friends. They all made us feel so welcome and a part of the extended family.

Emmaline & Jon petting Greta

After petting some of the dogs, especially sweet little Greta, we went to find a vantage point along the chute--not an easy task considering how many people turn out for the start of this race. After seeing Tim off, we moved a little further down the trail to watch the mushers coming down a hill and around a curve. That was a little more interesting than the straightaway!

Tim and the team are off and running!

We watched all of the mushers leave, and then we headed to our usual post-start vantage point at the Michigan Welcome Center along Lake Superior. This is a great place to watch the mushers going by in the dark. After this stop, we went to the Deerton school, half-way between Marquette and Munising. This is a checkpoing for the Midnight Run, and a great spot to view the UP 200 mushers go on by. The plan was for the Calhoun supporters to meet there so we could let Tim know the time so he could check his pace. The Midnight Run checkers gave us the names of the mushers that had been there before we got there--no Tim. We stood there and watched musher after musher go through, but no Tim. Since he was bib #3, we eventually figured that he must have gone through before any of the Midnight Run checkers got there--after all, they didn't need to check the UP 200 mushers. We may have missed Tim, but we enjoyed a nice bonfire and new friends.

Making Booties and Making Friends

Last fall I was contacted by a woman in Tomahawk, WI, who had read an article on the Iditarod website about the Bootie Brigade. I was quoted in the article, and this was the fourth time I was was contacted as a result of someone from Wisconsin reading it. Anyhow, she was the one who put together the musher gathering I wrote about in a previous post, and wanted to know if I would make booties for an up-and-coming musher from Wisconsin named Tim Calhoun. I immediately volunteered to make 1000 booties for Tim. As it turned out, he only needed 500 this season, but I will be starting on the other 500 for next season soon. Too bad it's not closer to spring. I had quite a system going for making the booties last summer. I took the yards and yards and yards of material outside, spread them out across the backyard, and measured and cut the strips of fabric I needed. Then I cut out all of the booties and Velcro while sitting at the kiddie picnic table while Emmaline at lunch outside. And of course nobody wants to sit in a basement and sew on a perfectly beautiful summer day or evening, so I spent a lot of time sewing booties on the patio while watching Emmaline play. There were even some gorgeous summer nights that seemed just perfect for sewing! I had the full moon, a patio light, lanterns with candles, classical music, and my water fountain to set the mood for sewing! In the spirit of quality control, I saved the wine for after the sewing session!

Since that initial conversation, Peggy has stayed in contact with me, sharing stories of Tim's progress in startinig up his kennel, as well as information about his training and racing. As we got closer to race season, I found out that Tim was going to be running the UP 200, the race we go to every year. I was very excited to meet "my musher" and see my booties in action. I also couldn't wait to meet Peggy since I'd been talking to her so much.

Check out that good-looking bootie!

Matt, Tim's handler, is putting booties on the dogs before the start of the UP 200.

Finally!

Emmaline got the first ride.


After ten years of following the Iditarod and being a fan of sled dog racing, I finally got the chance to ride behind a team of dogs on a sled. High Cliff State Park had a family Winterfest today with one of the events being a sled dog demonstration. They hooked 14 dogs up and gave the kids short rides. I didn't think it was fair that my three-year-old was able to ride and I wasn't given the fact that I've been a fan a lot longer than she's been around, so I asked the musher if I could have a ride too, and he graciously obliged me. What a thrill!

The view I've been waiting for

King of the Iditarod

Tara & Jeff King

Our family had planned on going camping this past weekend until my husband called me from work one day and said, "We can't go camping in two weeks. Jeff King is going to be at the new Cabelas store in Richfield!" Since we live in Wisconsin and don't plan on making it to Alaska any time soon, this was an incredible opportunity to meet a premier musher. I've been honored to meet many mushers in the U.P., and have been thrilled to meet Libby Riddles, Dick Mackey, and Doug Swingley. But meeting Jeff King was really special. As a four-time champ, and the reigning Iditarod champ, this was awesome! We drove an hour and a half to the new Cabelas store, north of Milwaukee (heck, even that was exciting!). Jeff was right in the front of the store signing autographs, chatting with his fans, and posing for pictures. He signed my Iditarod Monopoly game (nobody better beat me at my game now!), and signed a poster for my husband and me. Apparently running for office, he also asked if he could sign a poster for my little sister. Our DAUGHTER, Emmaline, loved it! After shaking his hand, I promised I would make it to Alaska someday to see him in his element. Of course, I'm sure I'm going to win the Cabelas drawing for the trip to the 2007 Iditarod, so I'll see him then! Incidentally, it was a cold, windy weekend, so camping wouldn't have been too much fun anyway!