alvin's blog

Wasilla/Palmer, Alaska fireworks, March 5, 2011 - Okay, I really need to pay attention to local news more often. We just had a really nice little fireworks show here in Palmer, Alaska on the evening of March 5, 2011. I'll assume it's partially related to the Iditarod race, but since it appeared to be coming from the direction of the new Carrs here in Palmer, I'll guess that it's related to their grand opening.

A funny thing related to my recent move to Palmer, Alaska is that last night as I was moving some boxes around, I lifted the lid of the boxes to see what exactly I was moving, and I laughed when I saw the contents.

Right before I moved to Palmer -- and I do mean right before I moved -- life found me in Anchorage, and whenever I'm in Anchorage I go to the big Title Wave used bookstore. On this particular trip I was interested in buying used movies, and that's exactly what I found in that box last night, the used DVDs I bought and forgot about.

Even though I seem to be working on getting a cold ("I'm not getting sick, I'm not getting sick"), the weather here is so gorgeous I had to go for a walk today, and on my usual "Modified Jared Walk" (instead of walking to Subway I walk to the bakery) I learned that every Saturday afternoon is half-price time at the Sugar Shack Bakery here in Palmer.

2011 Iditarod news: A great thing for an Alaskan newbie like me is that the torrential winds of the last few weeks have finally subsided. Living in Palmer, Alaska, I woke up this morning to things I haven't heard in several weeks, including the sound of airplane engines at the local airport, and neighborhood dogs barking.

In addition to the latest Iditarod news, here's one more great piece of information: The hurricane-like winds have stopped just in time for the Iditarod. I noticed last night around 10 pm that the apartment wasn't making all the usual noises, so I stepped outside, and sure enough, the wind had calmed down, and the flags on the flag pole two blocks away were just hanging on the flagpole.

Whoops, which reminds me, here's a video of the Alaska wind action from a few days ago:

2011 Iditarod news: Wow, do I have a lot to learn about the Iditarod. It turns out this morning (Saturday) is just the ceremonial start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, and even more importantly (for me), tomorrow morning (Sunday) is that Iditarod restart in Willow, Alaska. That's extremely good to know, because I was getting all ready to head out to Willow later this morning to watch the restart, lol.

2011 Iditarod race news (Updated): I've been digging around trying to find information about shuttle buses and parking for the Willow, Alaska 2011 Iditarod restart, and ... (updated) ... the iditarod.com website just put up this Willow restart page, with information on parking and shuttle buses.

Here's the abbreviated 2011 Iditarod shuttle bus info:

As I try to learn more about the 2011 Iditarod sled dog race, I just found a little bit of information about the race restart in Willow. It sounds like the first part of the race from Anchorage to Willow, Alaska is largely ceremonial. They just get everyone up to Willow, and the real racing begins from there.

Here's a quote from an article I just found on the MSNBC website:

I just did a little research to try to learn more about the Iditarod race route, and found this information on the official Iditarod website. I don't meant to plagiarize their content, but to share this information, so if you'd rather read it on their much longer web page, just follow this link to the Iditarod website "learn" page.

That being said, here's the specific Iditarod race route information from that page:

2011 Iditarod Race News: Okay, it's that time, now less than 24 hours until the start of the 2011 Iditarod sled dog race. The race starts in Anchorage, Alaska on March 5, 2011, at 10am, and then there is a "restart" in Willow, Alaska at 2pm. Sorry, I don't yet know much about this start and restart business, but I'll try to learn more, and despite the continuing high winds here, I'll be in either Anchorage or Willow tomorrow, depending on what I learn.