300 miles later

In the dark amid falling snow flakes, Cody and his wife Paige crossed under the iron arch reading Copper River 300 in downtown Glennallen around 9 pm, taking 10th and 9th respectively. 300 miles in 2 days and 11 hours-ish. Now it is 11:27 pm and bedtime, but only after the dogs have been fed, medicated, and massaged. I've made many corollaries this weekend between this extreme dog-powered adventure sport and the other self propelled adventure sports I am addicted to (the people being first and foremost similarly crazy), but what I really love about skis, bikes, and packrafs are that when you get off the trail, you can neglect them. And so, after pizza and beer In the hotel room, we had to put back on all our soggy gear and give the dogs a second dinner and poop break.

I took two pictures today:



Waiting at 3 am for our mushers to come in, we get sleep wherever possible.


And after pizza and beer, sleep catches us.

Today, I thought of Robin in China, and moments when she would throw fits at times when she was bad at something new. Like badminton, tennis, Chinese, basketball, etc. I was always perplexed, wondering if we all have that limit where we break, stop having any fun, and throw a fit. After 2 days, little sleep snuck in on car seats, and doing a job I don't know the subtleties of this weekend, I almost snapped when told in a constructive, supportive manner from Kate that I had done something wrong. Again. All I wanted to do was throw a fit and feel ever so pitiful. But life goes on and leaves you behind feeling pitiful and martyred all by yourself if you are too stubborn, so I petted dogs until it passed. And I thought of Robin then, and realized how I was acting 10 again and how everyone was being as supportive as anyone could ever ask for. Experiences like these are good reminders of humility, and teach (if you're paying attention) how to treat someone when they begin to snap because they did it wrong. Again.

Off to bed