Fur Rendezvous, Sunday

Saturday we just wanted to go see Fur Rondy. On Sunday we decided to jump right in and experience it. We started bright and early (for an Alaskan winter) at 10 am at the Peanut Farm, which is a local sports bar. They were hosting Ice Bowling on the pond behind the restaurant.

The lanes are a little shorter and right next to each other without gutters or dividers. And since the ice isn't perfectly smooth, and gets progressively less smooth as you throw a bowling ball across it, it makes for some interesting bowling. I, in one throw, successfully managed to get a strike on two lanes as the ball ricocheted off the back barriers of hay. Luckily for the bowlers, there were volunteer children (or maybe the employees' kids being forced) to retrieve the balls and reset the pins after every throw.

I hit no pins on my first and last throws of the day, but managed to knock every pin down on every throw in between (except one) to finish the 10 frames with a score of 258 (about 40 higher than I have ever finished in real bowling). Rebekah came in at a very respectable 99, which was around where the rest of our friends came in.

(Rebekah got a little intense)

After a small stop off for lunch, we went to Jason and Brittany's place just in time to watch the 3rd period and overtime of the memorable Gold Medal Olympic Hockey game between Canada and the USA. We were convinced that it was destiny for the US to win after the tying goal with less than a minute remaining in the 3rd period, but somehow Sid the Kid managed to pull off the winning goal for Canada.

From there we walked down the street to watch part of the World Championship Sled Dog Races, which occurs during the first weekend of Fur Rondy. Many of these mushers are the same that compete in the Iditarod, which begins the following weekend. However, these are their sprint dog teams instead of the endurance teams they will use during that race. The World Championship Sled Dog Race is a three day race completing a loop in Anchorage. It lasts only a couple of hours per day and is based off elapsed time. As with all sled dog races, they let a team go every couple of minutes so the teams are spaced out for the safety of the dogs and drivers.

Next we drove down to Ship Creek to view the entries in the Snow Sculpture Contest.


It was amazing what the teams were able to make out of blocks and piles of snow.


The winning entry (and our favorite) showed a Native Alaskan in a small one person fishing boat and a giant fish. The entry was very detailed and looked like it took a long time to complete.


After parking downtown, we walked down to 4th Avenue to participate in the Running of the Reindeer. This was the 3rd annual event, and basically it is a 6 block run. First they let a group of people start running down the snow covered street.


About 10 seconds after the start they release a half dozen male reindeer (oh, and they have sprayed the urine of female reindeer in heat on the trailers at the end of the race) which run as fast as they can through the crowd to the end.

Chaos ensues as many people are scared by the proximity to the reindeer. However, the reindeer just try to avoid the people and no one has been hurt in the race in the three years it has been put on (by the reindeer at least, a few people have fallen on the snow and ice).

Did I mention that people like to wear crazy costumers?


As we walked back to our cars, we stopped to watch the blanket toss going on at the carnival. It looked like fun, but we were all worn out from the long day and decided to go home and sleep.



Steven

Fur Rendezvous, Saturday

Here in Anchorage, there is a winter carnival and festival the weekend and week before the Iditarod (#24 on the list). Wikipedia says that Fur Rondy (for short) is celebrating the end of a long winter and the beginning of spring. Although spring is on it's way, it is not here yet! Fur Rondy gets its origins from the time when fur trappers would meet in Anchorage to hold their annual swap meets with their harvests. They began to hold sports tournaments around this swapping. That was 75 years ago, before Alaska was even a state! Today, there are events all over town, including dog sled races, hockey, a parade, fire works, a snow sculpture competition, Frostbite Footrace 5k, Outhouse Races (I will show you), carnival with rides, Trappers and Miners Charity Ball, Ms. Fur Rondy Pageant, Running of the Reindeer, Ice Bowling and more. Needless to say, we were busy and we didn't even go to everything that there was going on!

First, we walked around at the carnival to see what was there. We saw the Fur Auction and the creative headwear that people were sporting. In the background, you can see the fur auction. Those furs are NOT cheap. A coyote skin was auctioned for $400!! But, 6 squirrels went unsold...go figure.


Next was the Outhouse Races sponsored by the Architecture and Engineering Club at UAA. Apparently these are the World's Largest Outhouse Races. Wow, I didn't know that this happened anywhere else but Anchorage, Alaska. Basically, different teams built structures that resemble outhouses, put them on skiis and race them down the snow-covered street. The teams go two-by-two so as not to cause a traffic jam. Some of them have funny names and themes...


Just something entertaining to get us out of the house during the long, cold winter!! Stay tuned for more Fur Rondy, the Iditarod starts in Anchorage and Willow and our dog mushing adventure!!!



Rebekah

Moose Mail

Just this week, when Steven was going to get the mail, there was this silly moose standing on our neighbors' porch. He is a small little buddy, but looks to be very hungry!! Moose are herbivores, consuming fruits and plants. An adult male moose needs to consume 9770 calories a day to maintain his body weight!! That's a lot of grass!

The weather was reversed this past week in Anchorage and Atlanta. While Atlanta was in the middle of a "blizzard" receiving 2+ inches of snow, Anchorage was experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures of around 37 degrees. This caused the roads to get a little wet and muddy and icicles to form on many roofs here.



Rebekah