Anyway, work is going well. Good money, good for the dogs and good for me. I miss Sam terribly, especially when he tells me things like 'I bought you a four-wheeler for your birthday' and 'I bought a new dog-truck for you.' Please, someone, tell me what I did to deserve such a thoughtful, selfless guy. I still haven't figured it out.
The tourists are touriffic. OK, not really. I actually had to tell a lady to get the hell off my cart (twice) the other day. She got right in my face and said 'You tell me how this isn't cruel.' I said 'Well, usually wagging tails is an indication that dogs are happy.' She proceeded to interrogate me about the dogs' well being and I got defensive and told her to get off. She later apologized. Fucking stupid bitch. (Sorry, Gran)
Here are the top five most inane questions I get from tourists.
**I get these queries at least 10 times a day and they all inevitably come after I've already explained everything they're about to ask. That's why these questions make me want to douse the cart with diesel and light a match.
1) 'So, like, do these dogs run on snow?' Duh.
2) 'Why are the dogs so skinny?' Not skinny, fit. These dogs actually exercise. Gasp.
3) 'Why do they run sideways?' Because they stayed out too late last night.
4) Have you seen 8 Below? No, but all those dogs actually died.
5) Where are the real huskies? Frozen solid in Antarctica.
ARRGGG!
But, for every ignorant slut there's at least one or two really great people each day. People who ask thoughtful questions and not just barf out the first thing that pops into their little heads.
OK, enough about work.
Despite that little rant, I am really enjoying it still but am missing Sam terribly.
I do, however, think I'll come back again next year.
On a lighter note, literally, I cut all my dreads off and sport a short, shaggy do that looks like a cross between Binky the Clown and Kramer. Meh.
It's been raining a lot here and getting a little cooler. Summer is officially over. And we still have six weeks left of the cruise-ship season. The Coho salmon are running in the creek just outside dogcamp and the bears are out in full force. They're freakin' everywhere. It's pretty cool except when I come in late at night and it's dark and I have to cross the creek on foot. I usually sing at the top of my lungs...I think that would scare anything away.
OK, enough rambling. On with the photos. Thanks for hanging in there, folks. Upon my arrival back in Squarebanks, I'll be posting regularly again. I should add that I'm really excited for this season. I'm decided to do the Gin Gin 200 and the Quest 300 as my qualifiers for the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest in 2010. Yikes.
Peace.
Me, sans dreads.
Everybody loves Bully.
And Bully loves Twizzlers.
With dreads. *Bleh*
Laura getting excited for another day in paradise.
Our water source.
Dog-food cabin.
My dog barn.
My dog yard.
Skagtown from above.
John hooking up a team.
Rich's pup Lil' Wayne.
Lower camp.
And more lower camp.
13 comments:
Great to see you back on the web. I was beginning to wonder if the bears had gotten you. Our Iowa paper has just carried a couple of items about the bear problem in Fairbanks. Well, I think it was Fairbanks.
Understand your frustration with inane questions. My youngest spent several years working cruise liners and reports similar frustrations. He included a list of the most frequent in his recent book, Cruise Confidential.
I'll keep checking every week even though you have warned of a long dry spell.
You are one of my fave mushing grrls. Thank JAH you lost the dreads, now remember; use LOTS of conditioner, regular combing is not a bad idea either. :}
Thanks for the update. You are a lucky musher (new dog rig?!?!) Educating dense tourists is community service, thank you.
Good to see you back. Great pics and I love your dogs. Getting paid to mush in the summer and train the dogs is a pretty sweet deal, except for the tourons, of course. Remember the classic one that always gets asked on the buses in Denali? "Who feeds the animals?"
Short hair suits you - good on you for telling that crazy beyotch "touron" to step the eff off - if Sam has single brother please send him to NH.
Love the new hairdo Jill. Short and sassy suits you best. Love the pics too. The area looks beautiful. Time will fly by and soon you will be back at your cabin with your man Sam. Ah .... love. Stay safe in bear country.
Sam rocks. Hell, I'd fall in love instantly if someone bought me a 4-wheeler and scooped some poop!!!
That said, I have a question for you that I'll email...
glad to see you are still having fun, camp looks great! Dontcha just love/hate those tourists. One told me, "yeah so you only see the sun one day a month in Juneau?!" All I can do is just laugh (and roll my eyes). I just tell them, yeah and in the winter I actually dog sled to work everyday!
:)
Jillian is the answer to this question. Who do I love?
I'm one of the tourists that you drove (the one that asked you about a blog). I just wanted you to know that the short ride you gave us was the highlight of our trip for my daughter, and I want to thank you for sharing a little of your life with us.
I'm glad that I didn't ask you one of the inane questions (although I was somewhat curious by the sideways running).
Sounds like you're hitting the end of season burn out, gotta love it though, keeps you in dog food! My all time favorite is "What elevation are we?" Then I look over the boat and say, "oh, about a foot" Hang in there you're on the down hill!
just happened to wander by and hit the "inane questions" post. i used to have a "husky", an alaskan malemute i believe. she was a sweetheart, as happy and loving a dog as you could want. we had a local moron complain to the dog officer because she saw "domino" sleeping outside of her doghouse on a snowbank with a light dusting of snow on her winter coat. the dog officer came by, saw she had shelter, a dog house, right by, and food and water handy and said "no problem here" and reported the complaint "unfounded". we did, in the end, have to give "domino" away because we didn't have space to give her proper exercise, so we found a farm with kids and plenty of room to run and play. we heard recently that she died of old age after a long and happy life.
"gunner"
I like the new 'do, too. It's awesome that you're getting to experience Southeast as well as the Interior. I suppose the bottom line on tourists for many permanent and seasonal Alaskans would be something along the lines of: can't live with 'em, can't pay the bills without 'em, eh?
Found my way over here via Jill's(Up in Alaska) blog. You've got some pretty sweet looking doggies there and I totally enjoyed your description of the tourists...even if it made me cringe.
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