House Dogs

Tonight we are settling in with a lone pup whose last littermate was gifted away this week.  So....until he is hearty enough to keep himself warm, he will be the house dog at night. A stinker in all regards. He is puppy and has no idea about "go potty"! But soon, he will learn. Chopper is excited to have a play pal. We also have another house dog, Patty, who received an undeserving battle wound. At times, the dogs get so excited in the yard and when they are about to run - they are literally crazed. They bark, yelp, scream and sometimes nip. They mean no harm but every once in awhile there is someone else too close to the nip. Well, imagine getting a tiny cut along your ribs then running with all of your might... fascia and skin stretch and tear before realizing you even had a tiny cut. Sad but true, this is a reality for some dogs. For now Ms. Patty is cozy and warm healing with staples and bandages and plenty of TLC until she is fully healed and back at it. She has been a star patient and never leaves her padded dog bed unless it is for a potty break outside. What a trooper!

We are becoming familiar with routine here and settling in to early mornings and learning the ropes as each day presents a challenge or learning experience.  These training days are good for the dogs endurance and  also for us.  Each day we have had an unusual occurrence, lesson, emergency or how-to come up that will ultimately aid in our preparedness for upcoming mountain days. Not only do the dogs need to be ready but we, as guides, have to be ready for anything so as not to seem amateur to the guest.  It takes a lot of repetition, patience and time to encounter all of the what if's, how to's, explanations and lessons necessary for safe mushing.  There are lots of moving parts to a gang line and operators must stay on their toes. 

This week will be a test to our knowledge and ability to work with others as Rachael and Nick get to enjoy a pseudo honey moon in Key West! (Family visit intermingled/hence pseudo but hardly cause they're still in Key West!!!) Jim and I will work closely with Dave - the head tour guide manager and Jerry, the Founder of Oregon Trail of Dreams. True veterans with immeasurable knowledge and experience.   I'm sure we will learn lots and we will be ready to mush on Mt.Bachelor soon enough. The only aspect of the touring we haven't experienced is actual sled driving in snow. There isn't enough snow to practice but that is the next step in our crucial training.  Looking forward! We will keep you posted. 

Keri & Jim 

+ Chopper

Where are we??

Well, our time in Bend has been busy from the get go! We arrived into town around 8pm on day one. We had to find a storage unit to unload our trailer on day two. After doing so we headed out to the (dog) farm that we were going to be working for as well as staying. For those that don't know, we decided to move from Boulder, Colorado to Bend, Oregon due to some changing winds in our lives.  Nearly everyone says, 'why Bend?' Well, why not? For those unfamiliar, Bend has over 300 days of sunshine in high desert with surrounding Alpine forest. The Cascade Mountains are a 15 minute drive from town and the little city is an eclectic array of mom and pop shops, fine food establishments and more brew pubs than we can eat at in one week. Jim ventured out a few weeks ago to scout bike shops and look for a place to live. Turns out there is this brew pub/coffee shop/bike shop he stopped in called Crow's Feet Commons. Who knew he would connect with our new working situation. We were moving, cold turkey. No jobs, no plans.  This was quite nerve  racking, yet freeing at the same time.  We didn't know what the future would hold. I could barely sleep until I got the news.  Jim met Nick who works for Oregon Trail of Dreams, a dog sledding tour guide company! Well, they need help for the up coming season and we would need to live at the dog kennel farm given the chore tasks start so early in the morning and tour days would be long.  We accepted the offer of the seasonal work not quite knowing what we were getting into but this would allow us time to navigate Bend, have a warm bed, learn a new way of life and for the first time - work together. 

We are currently waking up at 6:30am ( not new to me, yet Jim has not had this obligation in quite some time) to have Chopper walked, a bite of breakfast and then we are out in the kennel yard by 7:30. From here the adrenaline in all of the 65+ number of dogs is raging! They are amped to be alive and know that today they may be chosen to train.  The dogs are in fall training mode. They have spent the summer patient with two (3 mile) lap circuits to beat the heat and keep them satiated.  Now the fun begins. Fall is crucial to allow for young dogs to gain experience and learn from the veterans. New leaders are being born this season as Jim and I are learning about this fascinating culture of musher life. Our mentors are well seasoned racers with 55+ combined  years of musher experience. The family of 3 maintains the kennel all year and runs a successful tour business on Mt. Bachelor every winter.  Look up Rachael Scdoris for insight as to who we are learning from.  She, her father Jerry and her newly wed husband Nick. There are a few family friends who we will meet once tour season begins as well . 

The farm is set just outside of Bend smack in the middle wilderness lands.  We rely on solar electricity, try to use very little water and  are now more (somehow) hyper sensitive to trash waste as we have to haul it to the dump ourselves.

We are grateful for this unique experience. I have been pining for animal work ever since graduating the zoo program so this keeps a smile on my face.  It is an intense change of pace for Jim and he is adjusting just fine. The dogs could not be sweeter and are full of the canine love that we adore.  Every single dog is content, fed well and gets to run for enrichment, racing or tour work.  We are harness breaking puppies next Saturday and there are two litters due any day now as well as 3 two month old pups who are in socializing mode. Training starts early for a sled dog. :) It also ends well. Retirees roam the kennel yard or live out their days in special yards with plenty of acreage and good food. 

Stay tuned! Tour season starts when the snow is deep enough!! We will keep you posted. 

Keri & Jim 

+ Chopper 

hello, is this thing on?

why am I so terrible at communicating!!

planted squash, peas, beans and flowers today. I hope they thrive!!

we are SO out of touch without internet at home. It is brutally cold here right now but I'm hoping the sun will kill the cold by next week. Boulder is known for fluctuating temps during the winter and believe it or not, right now 30 degrees sounds pretty WARM compared to negative 10. WOW!

We are both working and trucking along. I hope to post some sort of pictures eventually. Our Thanksgiving was nice and we look forward to SPRING!!

Much love

Keri

Updates!

So, we have been in Boulder going on 3 weeks now. I love it here! Boulder is so bicycle friendly and LOTS of people are always out and about. Our complex is on top of a huge hill that Jim has to ride up everyday. He is getting some ample training time in for sure. I can already see his muscles defining and it's only been a short time at our place and it's all from that hill!

He like his job immensely and comes home every day with excitement and vigor. He wakes up early to go on rides or hike with Hank. Meanwhile I am up early to get on the road in time to commute to work. Luckily my commute is along a scenic highway 93 and the traffic usually doesn't stop. My Wachovia branch is brightly lit with natural light and my coworkers are very nice. I could do without the 70 mile a day commute though! I am currently looking in Boulder to see if there is something else out there for me to do and hopefully feel as inspired as Jim does on a daily basis.

So from our front door there are TONS of hiking trails. We really hit the jackpot on where we are staying. We have a corner place and a nice patio/courtyard to hang out in while the weather is nice. Our apt is small but we don't spend much time at home anymore! Another great treat is a mountain bike trail, Marshall Mesa, not even 2 miles from our place. I can ride there alone and not worry about getting stranded. It's always busy with bikers/hikers/runners and the terrain is good training for me to get in a few times a week. It is chocked full of prairie dog colonies and I hope to see ferrets out there any day now!

Hank is adjusted to his new lifestyle of living in a kennel while we are out. It has helped his neurotic tendencies tremendously and he enjoys all the dogs that live around here. Also, we have neighbors for the winter who have a young girl who adores him. He soaks it up whenever he can.


Sometime I will post some pictures. I haven't had all of my technological tendencies and have slacked on my journalistic duties.

Just wanted to let you know, all is well.

The Crab Shack

Well, we've been in Colorado two weeks now and found a cute little place to call home! We have scoured the area in Boulder, Denver and surrounding cities trying to find a place to land. A fortunate turn of events rippling from one look at a not so pleasing basement apartment turned into a reward. I happened to call on a place that I knew was out of our price range but was curious to see what the house was renting for, turns out the woman managed several properties and mentioned on in an area I recalled from a few days ago. I was thrilled yet skeptical not knowing exactly what the apartment would look like.

Well, this morning I met with her and by the afternoon I signed a year long lease. The place is small, one bed room and a kitchen/den combo but we have a nice little garden patio courtyard area with a spectacular view. There are the Flatiron Mountain range on one side and then a huge expanse of open prairie on the other side. The complex is beautifully landscaped and there's a dog park there.

Steve showed us the trail maps and open spaces here and turns out there is a meca of hiking trails that lead into biking trails really close to our front door.