I recently pulled off my first ever 23 hour day, or at least it was close to that. As can probably be guessed it involved dogs, in this case a rather long trip to pick up another dog. It all started this past spring... Jon Perry, another junior musher, and I are friends, on Facebook because of distance, and he contacted me asking if I needed another good leader. Now a team can always use another good leader, considering we only have one steady command leader. So I told him I was interested. It took a fair amount of haggling, but eventually we got the details worked out and I sent him the check for Tornado. I sent the check ahead of time because it would be a few months before we had any free time to go over to Michigan and get Tornado. It finally happened on Saturday July 16th. I worked all day Friday, and then had another babysitting job that night until 9pm. After that I headed straight home where I managed to catch about two hours of sleep before I was awakened at 11:30pm to leave. My dad and I drove into Manitowoc to take the car ferry across lake Michigan. This was the first time I had ever ridden the car ferry. I have to say it is absolutely fascinating. We stood on one of the back decks and watched them load all the cars, disconnect from the dock, and then leave Manitowoc. Once we were out on the open lake it was smooth sailing. So Daddy and I decided to try to catch some Zzzz during the four hour boat ride. If we ever do this again we shall have to remember to bring pillows as benches are not the comfortable. Even with being uncomfortable I still managed to get a few hours of sleep, good thing to, I had a long day ahead of me. We arrived in Ludington, MI at 6 am local time (about 5 am our time), and thus stated our day of driving. Once getting out of the ferry area it was smooth sailing. I was the navigator, daddy drove, and we made great time due to lack of traffic. We arrived at Jon's place around 8:15, a little later than I wanted to, but traveling just takes time. Finally getting to meet Jon in person was great, we had talked for so long over Facebook. We discussed the upcoming race season, and our goals for the future. Finally he took me into the kennel to meet Tornado for the very first time. Though he may not be much to look at, Tornado has it where it counts. The grey on his muzzle is just another indicator of his wisdom that can only be earned with age. He got really excited when we walked him out to the van, thought he was going for a run, sorry to disappoint buddy, you are getting a very long day of traveling. The drive home was long and uneventful, yet somehow exhausting. We finally made it home late Saturday night. I situated Tornado for the night, and then hit the sack because I was completely and utterly exhausted. Stay tuned for our next post to learn more about Tornado!
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AuthorA young women attempting to navigate the world. She is guided by her love and passion for dogs. Archives
April 2020
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