Gerry Willomitzer's
Blackjack Racing Kennel
April 9, 2008
Impressions from Nome
On my first night in Nome I met this wild man at Breakers Bar. Rumor
has it he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for winning dogs races.
Another wild man - cleaning up in the dog yard. In the background is
Rick Swenson's sled with the "safe deposit box" for a
seat.
More wild men: Tim Osmar (2001 Quest
Champ) and William Kleedehn (2008 Iditarod Rookie of the Year) are in
Susan's good company and check out photos from the trail (or so I was
told), but I think they were actually taken at the Wet-T-Shirt Contest.
Nome's waterfront in the winter.
One happy Nome dog with his "dogloo" and his own personal truck.
Looks like he hasn't driven it in a while.
Fat Freddie's is the burger headquarters of Nome. Everyone meets
here.
Ken Anderson (left) and Matt Hayashida sign autographs for the fans.
Who said there are no trees in Nome?
Mukluk Telephone???
Yet another team finishes in Nome. Overall there were almost 80 finishers.
It seemed like it never got quiet around the finish line.
Ray Redington Jr. shows his daughter Ellen (in bib) the finish line and
preps her for her first Iditarod which should be around the year 2025 or so.
Dog truck Nome-style: Mike Webber brought my dogs, sled and air kennels to
the airport.
Wrangell and Ophir are not quite sure about the ride, but everyone was
really relaxed.
Inside the Northern Air Cargo hangar the dogs were loaded into their air
kennels and sent off on the 1 hour flight to Anchorage. There my handler
Sandro picked them up and brought them back to Knik, where they stayed
until my return from Nome a few days later.