You see, my dad occasionally has to fly out to different bush towns for his church calling, and he usually brings someone with him. He has taken my sisters and my mom a few times, but this is the first time I have been able to go. I was excited, because, even though I live here, I've never been off the road system! When my dad asked if I wanted to go to Nome, it didn't even occur to us that the Iditarod would be ending while we were there. That's kind of our way - when we were in New York a few years ago, we magically got tickets to Wicked (day-of), and when we were in Rome, the pope apparently decided to make an appearance outside St. Peter's the day we were there. My dad and I have weird traveler's luck sometimes.
Day One:
It was ridiculously cold and windy, and we didn't have a car, so my dad bought me a stylish Iditarod headband. I was the very picture of class! It was really fun going around and seeing all the Iditarod stuff going on. For some reason, my family usually avoids the Iditarod like the plague when it comes through Anchorage. I guess that's understandable - I mean, you have to wait in traffic for, like, ever, and then you stand outside for a long time, and then a dog sled goes flying by, and if you're lucky the musher will fling a nasty old dog booty at you. At least, that's how I remember it from the one time I went when I was little.
This time I think I appreciated the Iditarod a little more for its culture - there were some hardcore dog mushing fans in Nome! Can you identify the famous mushers in the picture above? I definitely could not at first, haha. Answer: DeeDee Jonrowe and Martin Buser! I guess I should've known, since the gift shop I worked at this summer sold a DVD called Martin Buser: for the Love of Dogs.The Iditarod wasn't the only cool thing about Nome, though. It's also just an interesting town to explore, so we took advantage.
Day Two:
The next day was Sunday. We went to church at the Nome branch, which was a great experience. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, and I was impressed by how strong the members were, even though there weren't a ton of them.
When we got out of church, we happened upon the last musher crossing the finish line. I guess the last one to finish is awarded with a red lantern. I think I'm going to become a musher, because I would definitely win the red lantern, and it is no shabby trophy!
After about ten minutes of waiting, my feet were FREEZING. It was seriously cold! But apparently not cold enough for those little girls to wear coats. Because this is Alaska.
That day, we rented a car, so we were able to drive around and do even more exploring. And we weren't quite so cold as the day before. My dad has a weird obsession with old gold dredges. They are pretty sweet, but I probably would've been fine with just seeing one or two. But my dad was determined to drive around to every single one.
Day Three:
We only had a couple hours in the morning on Monday to do some exploring before we flew back to Anchorage. We drove around and said goodbye to some dredges, found some old mining equipment, and went to the AC store. Apparently, an AC store is a thing. We also went to the museum and learned all about Fritz, the forgotten sled dog! I guess he's sort of the unsung hero of the serum run. Balto gets all the credit, but it was actually Fritz and Togo that did all the work! And on the way back, Togo went chasing after some sort of wild animal, and Fritz led the rest of the way by himself. Poor Fritz is always overlooked. Forgotten no more, Fritzy!
I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes you don't need to travel very far to have an adventure in a different culture! This weekend, I met some very interesting people and learned a lot about what used to be the largest town in my own state.
