Bag of Gold

Well, DeeDee Jonrowe made it to the halfway point of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race first yesterday morning. She beat the next musher by 8 minutes and was unaware that she was in the lead.

By making it to the Cripple Checkpoint first, she received a bag of gold known as the Dorothy Page Halfway Award. Dorothy was the founder of the race in the early 70s. The gold is said to be worth $3000. So that was a pleasant surprise for DeeDee!

She'd have been in 2nd if Paul Gebhardt had been able to find the checkpoint. There's an interesting article on the Anchorage Daily News site which explains how someone could leave 6 hours ahead of the next musher but not arrive at the next checkpoint until 8 minutes after them...
http://www.adn.com/2694/story/336959.html

This the Sheep Creek Lodge where we went for dinner after watching the start of the Iditarod in Willow. It's a beautiful place. About another 20 miles past Willow on the way to Talkeetna. We really like that area. Scenic and peaceful.