Aerie Report, March 5, 2010

One fantabulous day here at the Aerie. The kind of day that holds the promise of spring. Bright sunlight all day long and temperatures near 40 degrees saw thin snow on the driveway turn to slush and the thick stuff on the lawn compact another two inches. It'll take many more days like today to get down to bare ground and start the grass growing again, but the forecast is for at least three more just like it or even better so hope springs eternal.

******

We (Terry, Joe and I) were sitting over coffee this morning after the cats woke us early when the sound of the propane truck backing into the drive caught our attention. We hadn't gotten a delivery since around January 20 so I knew we were due, but at 6:45 AM?

******

Joe stayed overnight and headed off to Wellsboro this morning to accompany his hired home inspector as they looked under the hood of the property north of that town that Joe and Pat have struck a deal on. If all went well, the deal will go on as planned and there will be two more ex-New Jerseyites soon.

Not long after Joe left, Terry headed down to Baltimore. She ran into some trouble on Route 15 in the town of Liverpool, PA where she got caught in a 45-minute traffic backup caused by a serious accident. She says there were two helicopters on the road which isn't a good sign as it indicates that a medivac was a necessity. She was eventually forced to head back north and seek an alternate route to get down to I-83 south of Harrisburg. I haven't been able to find out anything about what went on via the internet...yet.

Terry will be gone for a week.

******

UPDATE: Corrections thanks to Rev. Paul who is on the scene in Anchorage.

Tomorrow Anchorage, Alaska will host the ceremonial start of The Last Great Race--The Iditarod. The first sled is scheduled to leave the start line at 9:30 AM Alaska time (that's 1:30 PM EST). After Saturday's brief jaunt to Checkpoint #1 at the Campbell Airstrip on the Eagle River, there will be an official restart at Wasilla Willow Lake at 2 PM (Alaska Time) on Sunday afternoon.

This year's race will be following the northern route and is listed as 1112 miles. Despite the distance--and God, dogs, and weather permitting--the first racers will reach Nome in 9 or 10 days. Even that time, brief as it may seem, includes mandatory stops of two 8 hour and one 24 hour layovers. The speed record was set in 2002 by Martin Buser. He and his team of dogs completed the race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds. Last year's winner, Lance Mackey finished in 9 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes, and 46 seconds. It was Lance Mackey's third consecutive victory. He will not have a fourth as he is sitting this one out. CORRECTION: Lance is going off at #49 as he looks for a four-peat.

I've been looking over the list of mushers and there are a few well know veterans in the mix this year, but I'll be looking to see how rookies, #4 Wattie McDonald of Stonehaven,Scotland and #69 John Stewart of Aberdeen, Scotland make out.