Another Kind of Race . . .

Iditarod 36 is running through the interior of Alaska with a few teams at the halfway point while many teams are still working their way along the trail. The weather has been warmer than normal forcing many teams to travel in the colder night hours using the midday times to break or rest the dogs.

High winds and blowing snow kept teams that were in the back of the pack hunkered down at Rainy Pass waiting for conditions to improve. One of the camera helicopters flying over Dalzell Gorge while filming mushers Rachael Scdoris and Joe Runyon for a feature film crashed when gusty winds caused the aircraft to spin and impact the canyon walls. Luckily no one was killed and there were only minor injuries to the pilot (the father of a friend of mine) and his cameraman.

During this time in the race with the mandatory stops (a 24 hour & 8 hour somewhere along the trail) being played out it is hard to know exactly who is in the lead until everyone is on the move again. DeeDee Jonrowe was the first one into the Cripple checkpoint to claim the $ 3,000.00 in gold nuggets after Paul Gebhardt thought he had passed the checkpoint and turned around as DeeDee passed him.

It's been a day (several really) trying to get out several bids for the City of Anchorage School District that I slept about an hour a night over the last few days much like the mushers on the trail since the start of the Iditarod. I spent the better part of the day getting the bids out and running around town catching up on several project site visits before heading back to the office.

I’ve talked before in my blog about a great place that I really enjoy in downtown Anchorage. It’s great for dinner and a good time at Phyllis's Cafe & Salmon Bake. My friends Apollo and his wife Lisa have a great menu, seafood that is so tasty and a place where you can always have a few laughs. This week is no exception.

Here's a little news for all the mushers and their fans . . . the Iditarod isn't the only race in town. Phyllis's Cafe has a race of it's own that didn't include any dogs. It’s the “Crustacean 500”, a hermit crab race. Apollo and his staff have set up a table in the restaurant for the "races" and for a few bucks you could select your crab and hope it crossed the finish line first.

I couldn't resist. I picked my own racer, #13, who I endearingly named "Larry the Lobster” from an old Saturday Night Live skit. "Larry" was a huge disappointment for me in round one. I’m not sure but I think he got stage fright as he didn't move. Round Two was started and "Larry" made an impressive comeback and was heading to the finish line for what I thought would be a strong win, beating out all the other crabs. I’m not sure what happened, if it was the pressure, the lights, the cheering from those of us watching, but right when "Larry" reached the finish line he froze and curled back into his shell.

Sadly, I didn't win . . . neither did “Larry” . . .

I think "Larry" should retire and he did . . . another great meal from my favorite eatery in town. Phyllis’s Salmon Bake is great!

I can add this to my list of Alaska cultural experiences.

Now where is that White Sport Coat and a Pick Crustacean . . .

Ice

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