Enjoyed our night at Portage Valley RV Campground, met neighbors from Kentucky and got in another couple walks for Sara in their big open forest areas. We also partook of the indoor showers before our noon departure. We got the call this am that there was availability on the 3:30 dog sledding/helicopter tour in Girdwood, and I decided to part with my now dwindling savings because Linda said it was "once in a lifetime". You probably have heard of the Ididarod dog sledding race, run every March from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska - about 1100 miles over 8-14 days. The dog "mushers" (the guy on the sled) runs a team of 16 dogs with only 2-4 hours sleep per day, running mostly at night with a huge light since the dogs are nocturnal. The goal is to run the dogs at a speed, usually 10 mph, to maintain endurance, not speed. This tour group is run by the Seavey family, winners in 3 generations of the family, but our guide, Pete Reuter will be running his first Iditerod this year. But I get ahead of myself. First, we drove to the Girdwood airport to check in for our flight and "outfitting" (proper dressing) - we were early, so met the very friendly staff, and then went back to the RV to give Sara one last good run - staff had told us "it's OK to walk down the runway on the right to some trails, everyone does it" - so we go under the "NO ADMITTANCE, Authorized Personnel" sign and walk down the runway. Several helicopters flew in and out and as we returned, a small private plane landed on the runway next to where we were walking - I was surprised at how quiet the plane was, and glad that Sara was close by! We then tucked Sara away in the RV with all windows and fans open, shades down, a bison bone, and a half tranquilizer (need to see how they work on her as I plan to use them for the ferry ride - she has been good in the RV, but gets anxious and drools/pants on the front seats, and one neighbor told us she barked the whole time we were out biking, so trying to avoid that!). Then we were off to our appointment with Alpine Alaska Air and the Seavey dog sledding tour on Punchbowl Glacier. They outfitted us in weather appropriate clothing (today being very warm and sunny meant waterproof pants, boots to cover our shoes, and windbreakers - we declined the gloves and provided our own sunglasses. We were joined by a Chinese couple but the heli only carried 3 people, so that meant 2 helicopters to get us all up to Punchbowl Glacier - I was a little afraid of my "height fright", but this was much better than zip lining! And what a gorgeous view of the mountains and streams/rivers!!! It was only an 8 minute flight to the glacier where they have a dog sledding camp set up - 60 dogs, each with their own house and about 6 tents for the 4 staff members who live on the mountain with the dogs all summer. That's where we met Pete who was the dog trainer and tour guide, soon to be Iditerod competitor - we promised to send good thoughts his way in March 2017! We had heard how excited the dogs get when they start to get harnessed up for a ride, but you can't believe their excitement - we were told to be ready to jump on when the last dog was harnessed because it's hard to hold them back, and that's what we saw as the harnessing began! All dogs howling, wanting to be chosen to go, and yipping in excitement, some rolling on their sides and playing, but all super excited! And I got the "musher's position first", standing at the rear, Linda was in "princess seat", the first seat, and the real musher, Pete was in second seat where he was actually in control of the dogs...except when he stepped out to take pictures for us, and asked me to stand on the break and don't move off that break until he got back to sled (there was a story of him being run over once and drug for half a mile before he could get the team to stop once they started!) - so you know I stood firmly on the brake!! But starting off was kind of like being on the old beginners ski tow ropes, where there was a start, then a jerk, then increased speed, and then we all used to cross our skiis, and all fall down - you know what I mean, Ken!! So I hung on for dear life, hoping I wouldn't fall off the sled, and it worked fine! It was only about a 30 min ride but we changed seats half way, and gave the dogs a break since they were climbing the glacier with 3 people and a sled! We even marveled at how they can pee and poop on the run, and that reinforced my desire to not fall off!! Linda did have to fall in the snow at one point, hitting her banged forehead from another angle, but at least she missed hitting the table ledge today so all is good, altho there was that head knock from the RV mirror yesterday while doing the dump - she just might need a head CT scan for good measure every week!! When we got back to camp, the special treat was we got to meet the 4 new puppies and their Mom that were just brought to camp when they were 4 days old. The dogs are mixed breed, mostly Malamute, Husky, and even a little hound but all pedigreed endurance dogs. We got to hold the puppies while Mom, Zen, looked on without a hint of jealousy. And then it was back out to camp to catch our helicopter back to Girdwood! All in all, a thrilling experience!! Especially standing on the back of that dogsled - look out, Sara - have I got plans for you and your Weim friends, and maybe even your Coonhound cousin!!! So we are back on the highway, looking for a new RV park - stopped at a natural place to get info on RV parks, the local ice cream shop, and she told us about Bird Creek Campground, so here we are. Eating our hamburgers grilled the other night, with spinach, pesto, tomato and ciabatta rolls - delicious! And our espresso ice cream waiting in the freezer! Another great day! And, actually hot today if in full sun - the shade and breezes and blue sky made it beautiful.