I spent today at Prince Galitzin State Park near us in PA today. Apparently, Admiral Peary was born near there 100 years so the town had a celebration and decided to include sled dogs. Doug & Joy Heitz and friend Larry gave rides - unfortunately on a rig in mud.

There were weight pull dogs demoing and giving more kids rides on the weight pull sled. I set up our sled display and answered questions about sleds, racing, etc. A bunch of children stood on our sleds for photos.

Two weeks ago there was plenty of snow and it would have been prettier, but the people still seemed to enjoy the dogs and learning about them.

Back home after another long drive. We hit snow squalls and heavy winds in Ohio on the way out to Wisconsin and early Monday morning - the same weather on the way home. Miserable traveling for about 2 inches of snow !

But we traveled home after Johnn won the 3 dog skijor race - what we drove to Wisconsin for. The ISDRA points haven’t been updated yet, so we’re not sure, but think the race will put Johnn in the silver medal position.

One aspect of the weekend I really enjoyed was the strong junior membership and involvement at the Medford WI race. There’s both a 2 dog and a 3 dog junior race - with 10 to 12 entries each. Several teenagers have moved up to 4 and 6 dog sprint races, and one skijored for the first time.

I watched Melanie’s Rodenhouse’s 10 dog team being expertly bought back to her truck after crossing the finish line by a troop of young girls - some of them the Rodenhouse & Johnson children.  These second generation young mushers are quite the accomplished handlers & mushers. Such a plesure to see.

We haven’t yet decided how we’re ending our 2009 season. This weekend we’ll be home and assist in a sled dog demo here in PA. We are considering both Purity Springs and the Jackson, Maine race. I understand both got hammered with snow this weekend.

Johnn and Nancy are in the van headed home after the 2nd day of racing in Wisconsin.  Since they don’t have access and I don’t they’re ready to blog via Blackberry (I’ll have to get them on that), they asked me to post a quick update.

Johnn did what he went to WI to do- finish first in the 3-dog skijor race.  Unfortunately, a couple of tangles caused him to drop to 3rd in the 4-dog class, but the team was moving fast before the tangles happened.

Nancy will be back tomorrow with more details.

The snow dance worked sorta. We got almost 2 inches of snow at the race. There were also snow flurries throughout the day.

Johnn had a pretty good run in the morning 4 dog sled class. He’s in second place, although at different times, both leaders fell on icy sections of the trail. We just came in from taking care of the dogs, gave them a massage and both Uri and Sydney don’t seem sore at all.

 Johnn’s in first in the ski jor class. They ended up going out about 1 1/2 miles, putting in a loop and coming back with head-on passing. The skiiers just weren’t sure about skiing over the road crossings on the other section of trail.

In the 10 dog class, Jan Dittmar is leading over Carolyn Johnson by just 30 seconds. Beth Knisely is winning the 4. I forget who’s in first in the 6, but Sue Graham is second.

The Dittmars had a lovely birthday cakefor Johnn tonight. And the Jacks are enjoying their time here - they’re both sleeping on the coach right now.

We arrived safely in Wisconsin after  a tough night of driving. We saw 10 - 12 accidents in Ohio & Indiania. Snow squalls and strong winds.

Unfortunately, the snow stopped before Wisconsin. It’s pretty sparse here - and on the trail. We’re hoping for more snow tonight. There’s quite a bit of corn stalks down in the trail to run over. Johnn just took the good plastic off the sled and put on cheaper, training grade.

The club’s still debating where the skijor trail will go. Everyone’s afraid the skis won’t make it across their usual two road crossing - so there’s a discusssion of either driving the skijor class ONLY out to the first road crossing , running 3 miles and ending at the second road crossing, OR, running out 1 1/2 miles, putting a turn around in a field and coming back with head-on passing.  Sounds like there’s a real possibility of the 10 dog trail being shortening due to ice on one section.