One for the Dogs!

Sorry for the hiatus (again), but it has been a whirl wind this past week. I was in Denali on a site visit from Mon to Thurs and then down south from Fri to Sun! But anyway Denali National Park and Preserve is home to the largest mountain in the U.S. named Mt. McKinley or Denali, "the great one."  The park is located here...

And Mt. McKinley should look like this...

However, it usually looks like this...

Completely socked in by clouds...hard to believe there is a mountain range back there isn't it?

Well folks, let's say while I was there I saw some wonderful clouds! Oh and not too bad of landscape views either!

And I saw a lynx! Very interesting. Seriously the size of a dog. 

Dude bolted out into the street while we were driving and then ran back to the woods and hung out here. Crazy and not gun-shy. 

But the main animal of the trip was the dog, the sled dog to be exact. Denali apparently has many uses for sled dogs and so (on work time), we went and checked out a little show about the pups! And pups there were!

Check out the webcam on these little guys - http://www.nps.gov/dena/photosmultimedia/webcams-pups.htm - since it is operated by the park service, we here at work feel it is allowed to be open at all times to observe their adorable puppy ways!

But soon those pups will grow into dogs like these!

Who after running turn into slugs. I tried to entice them by saying "MUSH!" but honestly not even a twitch. 

I even tried to motivate them with smiles and false hopes of treats!

Still nothing...I mean seriously, they look like they just ran a marathon and died. 

But have no fear! We befriended a woman, who worked in Denali, who actually owned sled dogs! So we went out to her dry cabin (no running water - insane) and we walked/ran with her dogs!  It was so much fun! Here were the guys I trotted with! 

Waffles... 

And Zydeco! 

She had 10 in total and was getting 2 more at the end of the summer. We really were quite fortuitous to have been able to romp around with these dogs. Although to be honest, I knew we were going to have the chance to play since I saw Santa Monday and made some wishes. 

Oh you think I'm kidding? Santa apparently stops in Denali before heading to...you guessed it...the North Pole. 

So all in all, this trip was one for the dogs! I was also quite relieved when I returned from my excursion to find Kathryn alive and well. I was a tad bid concerned when I left her...

I was happy to see the trolls under her bed decided to release her. I would be lying if I didn't ask Santa to make sure I didn't have a mess of body parts to clean up when I returned to our abode. I am just hoping now that elves don't reside under her bed with the trolls, or if they do, please leave presents...or a cleaning service.   

Happy Belated Birthday to my Husband/Lover Quincy Johnson who turned the big 26 on the 21st! I know you brought out the dancing shoes.