“Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.” -Anamika Mishra
Last summer, as Bonnie started teaching us about the sport of mushing, she casually mentioned that she would like to go see a good friend of hers race in January. At the time, her friend was watching borders to see if he could enter the US, so he had not yet decided which race he would be running. After he committed to entering the Pedigree Stage Stop Race in Wyoming, Bonnie made her travel plans and sent me her airline reservations. “You should go!” She encouraged. “It would be such a great opportunity for Ian to learn!”
Brinn and I discussed the possibility, and chalked it up to being too expensive, too far, too hard to plan, too long to take off of work, and on and on. But then I started looking up prices. Flights were only $500, and we had a companion fare we could use for Ian. And rooms in Jackson Hole were not nearly as expensive in the winter as the summer. So we talked again, and decided that maybe just maybe we could pull this off. My long-suffering, super star mother immediately agreed to take care of our menagerie of animals, and my work family enthusiastically supported the time off. It all hinged on Ian’s school, at this point, and his principal gave her approval and support for such an educational opportunity. It looked like we were actually going to be able to travel out west to watch our first sled race!
We booked our flights and started making reservations. Then Bonnie emailed me that the race committee also had a junior musher program! We looked it up right away, but found that the description limited this program to local children:
Select students, aged 9 to 13, from the Pedigree® Stage Stop race communities of Jackson, Lander, Alpine, Pinedale, Big Piney, Marbleton, Kemmerer, Driggs Idaho, And surrounding States are invited to participate in a sled dog race of their own at January 28th 2022 4:00 pm in the Jackson Town Square.
Bonnie decided to investigate exactly what constituted a “surrounding state” and went straight to the race committee. She called me right after to tell us to get Ian’s application in ASAP as they would be thrilled to have a child from TN to participate in the race.
Brinn and I elected to not share with Ian Bonnie’s feat of having him accepted into the junior musher program, so we agreed to keep that a secret until closer to our trip. We didn’t want to risk a huge disappointment if something fell through, but Ian had to write a personal essay and complete 10 hours of community service to qualify for the program. The essay was a little tricky to get him to write while keeping the secret, but fortunately the service hours were easy to get in as Ian already takes part in quite a few activities around home. Habitat for Humanity happily signed off on the volunteer paperwork from Ian’s participation at Cooking on the Square, and Sheryl and Missy signed for his days working the cart at IWPA weight pulls. After we received all the signatures, we turned Ian’s forms in and waited. Then in December we received the email. Ian was accepted into the program and assigned to a musher!
Christmas came and went, and then all of a sudden it was time to leave for our trip. Our bags were packed, reservations all booked, and deposits paid. Brinn loaded bags in the truck the night before we left, and came back later to find that he had a stowaway hiding behind our bags. The next morning we broke it to Jenna that she couldn’t come on this trip, but promised her that she would have big fun with Nana. Then we were off!
Our first leg of the journey took us from Nashville to Seattle. After landing in Seattle that evening, we turned our phones on to receive notifications that our next flight had been cancelled. Instead of leaving Seattle at 11:40 the next morning, we now had to board at 7:00 am and fly to San Francisco! After a 2 hour layover in California, we then finally managed to fly on to Jackson Hole.
We packed a lot of fun and adventure into just one week.
Day 1: Arrival, check in, eat, grocery shop, crash
Day 2: Explore Grand Teton National Park and Hike in Idaho
Day 3: Mushing/Skiing
Day 4: Skiing
Day 5: Ceremonial Start of the Pedigree Stage Stop
Day 6: Stage 1, Teton County
Day 7: Packing up, checking out, last day in the GTNP
I’ll be back later with a full description of each day!
Brinn has always wanted pop-up camper. I have never wanted a pop-up camper. Tent camper. Tent trailer. Pup. Fold-out camper. Call it what you will, it sounded like work to me. Why would I want extra work when we’re doing just fine with a tent? We have a large cabin tent for longer trips, and the smaller Columbia tent for quicker trips when we take fewer items. The canopy tent covers our chairs well enough that we can stay dry through a rain storm. For years, I put Brinn off that I just can’t see the reason to invest in a pop up. But then Ian got bigger and really got into camping, so we started going more. Like almost every other weekend from March 
through October. And Ian started packing more of his own stuff, and as he got bigger his stuff got bigger. And then I began dreaming of trips where we could roll into the campground with already made beds. What would life be without fighting with your husband in the rain while setting up a cabin tent, then sitting in a stuffy tent inflating air mattresses? How convenient would it be to not worry about checking the air pump’s batteries between trips? What if our camping gear didn’t take up half of the guest room anymore? And so I began the Craigslist dance of checking out camper sizes and prices, and I learned very quickly that the pop up pricing suited our budget much more than a hard sided camper would, and so Brinn finally got to go shopping and pick out his very own pop-up camper.
Brinn took his time and scoured all the usual sites (Craigslist, LSN, Facebook…) until he found a little Starcraft Venture in Kentucky. We made the drove on a chilly March day to view the 20 year old travel trailer, and found a delightful little camper. The young owner obviously hadn’t had the camper for much time at all, and had no idea how to assemble it, so he couldn’t answer any questions about it. Brinn pulled out both bunk ends, snapped in the supports, and went over the wood and canvas with a fine tooth comb. Obviously we found a few minor issues, as to be expected in such an old trailer, but we couldn’t find any major structural issues! As there was no where to plug in the electric, we took a gamble and trusted that it was all in working order. I even pointed out to Brinn that I had no need for electric. I couldn’t imagine using an air conditioner or refrigerator for the type of camping we do, and we have head lamps and lanterns for lights, so who cares if the electric works?
much I have fallen in love with the air conditioner. I didn’t realize what a game changer it would be to camp in muggy July, August, and September without having to wait until midnight for it to cool down enough to even think about sleeping. The dogs can safely hang out in the cool camper while we go rafting or kayaking during a trip. I can leave a crock pot going inside the camper while we’re on the water so we can come back to a completely cooked meal! We didn’t find a major flaw with the trailer until we tried to turn on its interior lights, but surely that must have been burned out bulbs, right? Nope. We ended up just using lanterns the last two years, until this year when Brinn had to make some repairs for water damage. While he had the panels pulled apart, he found that some of the wiring had been cut clean through! Luckily we have an electrician on hand these days, and Jeremy came to the rescue to make repairs for us. Now we’re fully functional with all forms of electricity!
I think Chaco has been the biggest fan of the camper. She’s always enjoyed camping with us, but her little pop up has lifted her status in the canine world. When we take her for walks around the camp grounds, she holds her head a little higher as if to tell the other furry guests that she’s no longer a tent dog, she’s a camper dog now. She gets more enjoyment from the air conditioner than I would think a short haired dog would like. She’s also pretty taken with the fact that the kitchen table and benches converts to her very own bed.
years. We’ve stayed in areas with full amenities, but also continue to frequent primitive camping areas. Even without the benefits of full electricity, the camper has made life tremendously easier. Before a trip, Brinn pops our little trailer up so I can make the beds on both ends. I stuff the cargo area under the bench seat with our pillows, and extra blankets for the dog bed. I don’t like to leave bedding out full time as my allergies can’t handle the mildew that occasionally accumulates. Our kitchen box and bathroom box now stay in the camper full time, so they no longer take up any space in the house. We’re also able to keep the assembly box (jacks, levelers, wheel chocks, and other fun stuff) in the camper, along with our general “camping” box, which contains dog runners, my homemade bug spray, head lamps, a hatchet, tarps, and other items that are handy to have in the woods. All of this storage has made a huge difference in the house, which helps me feel so much better. I hate clutter!
The pup came with a gas stove and a sink, but both took up quite a bit of room in the small interior. The whole camper consists of two full sized beds on either end, a table with two bench seats that can convert to a smallish bed (larger than twin size, but smaller than a standard full), a counter top across from the table, and a small counter beside the rear bed. The stove takes up almost the entire long counter, and the sink takes up the small counter beside my bed. After a couple of trips out, where we used neither of these appliances, they were pulled out and are now stored in our rear building. They can stay in storage until/if we ever sell the pup.
in during 2019, and we also spent quite a bit of time in barn construction. Now we’re several months into the Corona pandemic, and we’re thankful to have the pup so that we can get away from our home while able to practice safe social distancing.
So far this year we’ve been to 
He got his favorite pajamas wet and moved solidly into overly emotional kid meltdown. Brinn and I decided Ian may do better to sleep with me, so we settled him under the comforter and he finally dozed off. Which means that I finally got to doze off…except a husky and cur dog decided they should get to sleep with us. Then that same cur dog woke me up to let him out to pee around 2:30 am. When you drink that much Hiwassee water all day, you just can’t make it through the night. After Mogwai completed his business, I put him in Ian’s bed with Brinn, and put Balto on the converted table bed, and slid back into my own bed despite the windmilling arms and babbling sleep talk. I found that great sweet spot, where you’re perfectly comfortable and drowsy and sleep feels wonderful, around 6 am. By 6:30 my legs were numb and I felt too hot. As I pulled myself to consciousness I found Mogwai lying horizontally across my legs, Ian smushed against my left side, and Balto smushed against my right side. I finally admitted defeat and got up to go read outside in the cool morning air. Balto and Ian immediately wiggled towards one another and soon it was as if I’d never been there at all. I think it’s safe to say that they are both huge fans of sleeping in the camper.
So now you’re finally caught up on our account of moving into the popup camper life. To Chaco, it’s a doghouse on wheels. To Balto, it’s an ice box to cool down husky hair. To Mogwai, it’s another bed to sneak into beside mom. To Ian, it’s a place to plug in his kindle and watch a movie for 5 seconds before he goes to sleep. To Brinn, it is the culmination of a very delayed gratification. To me, it’s the admission that I was wrong, and Brinn was very right.
Sometimes it’s funny how things work out.
Ian has been more interested in riding with me lately, especially since one his best friends has been coming out to ride Reggie. The two would like to ride together some, but Badger seems to have reached his rider weight and height limit this winter. Ian tacked his pony up one afternoon while J was riding Reggie in the round pen. He jumped on his pony… and then proceeded to sit in the middle of the ring for J’s entire ride as Badger refused to move. The next weekend, I ponied Badger off of Reggie so Ian could ride with me around the field. After we started a very slow second lap, Ian asked if I could get him a bigger pony. He loves Badger, and has made me promise that we would never sell him, but he is getting a bit frustrated that he can’t really ride him any longer.
has a safe mount while he’s still learning to ride. He’s still not a horse crazy kid by any stretch, and makes it very clear that he’s not a horse-person –he’s a husky person– but he does enjoy riding with me and he loves Promise. He has trouble believing that I knew Promise while she was still a baby, but he is very excited to have his own horse to run out and catch when he sees me bringing Reggie in for a quick ride. Between Balto and Promise, it looks like red is turning out to be Ian’s color!
If you read along last time, you’ll remember that Ian now has his furry companion, 
early in his life as we learned that he must stay employed regularly to prevent him from destroying everything. Once we figured out how to keep his brain and his body busy, cohabitation got much smoother. Ian never wanted a husky as a pet. From the moment he met the breed, he’s been obsessed with their ability to work.
Baxter is only 15 minutes from our house, so I looked up the organization: International Weight Pull Association. Once I read the description on the 
left over from our last camping trip, and stopped by Dollar General to buy more ice on our way to the event. When we arrived, Ms. Sheryl greeted us warmly and helped Ian sign up for the novice division. We popped up our tent to create shade, filled Balto’s pool with ice, screwed in the metal spike to clip to his runner, and settled in to learn about this new world.
So here’s the basic concept: Dogs wear a special harness which distributes weight evenly across their bodies. The harness is attached to a flat cart with wheels, and increasingly heavier weights are added to this cart. After handlers clip their dogs to the cart, the owner goes to the end of a fenced chute and calls their dog to come to them. The dogs are timed to see how long it takes them to pull the cart across the line. Handlers are not allowed to use any type of coercion other than voice so it’s entirely up to the dog to pull the weight. The dog who pulls the heaviest load wins. If there’s a tie on weight, then the dog with the best time wins.
year old. Balto was six months old at his first pull, so he obviously started in Novice, and will stay there all year. Since Novice follows all of the sanctioned classes, we settled in to watch and wait. Balto laid in his ice pool until all his ice melted, but he splashed so pitifully in his pool of cold water that Brinn ended up running down the road to the closest market to pick up another 20 pounds of ice to refill Balto’s arctic tundra. Finally Ms. Sheryl called for a 15 minute break before Novice would start.
We finished the day with 4 goodish pulls from Balto, and one entertaining pull. During awards, Ms. Sheryl award Ian with first place in Novice Junior Handler, and Ian doesn’t seem to mind the fact that he was the only junior handler of the day. So far he’s content with “winning” and doesn’t feel like he actually has to beat someone. Some might complain about the participation trophy generation, but this award has lit a fire under Ian to practice and come back with more weight and faster times for the next event.
Yesterday brought us back to Baxter for Ian and Balto’s second weight pull. The group allowed Ian to try to help with the cart during several pulls, and all the trainers continued to offer Ian advice and training tips for Balto. Mr. Joe has invited Ian to come practice with the Knoxville group, and we are going to have Ms. Missy size Balto and sew his own weight harness if the behemeath will ever quit growing. Ian finished the day with some improvements from last time, including more weight and a slightly more agreeable husky. Once again, Ian finished with a first place award for Novice Junior Handler, with no other junior handlers in attendance, haha.
It all started December 25, 2017 when Grandpoppa said “Let’s go to Alaska.” If we hadn’t gone to Alaska, Ian would have never know what he was missing. But we did go to Alaska, and while there, he discovered that his life just isn’t worth living without a husky to share it. And thus began Ian’s obsession.
opportunities to remind his parents how much he wanted a husky of his very own. Brinn and I presented a united front early on, but our resolve eventually began to weaken. Well, mine did. And Brinn just kind of went with me.
Eventually we found ourselves conducting a lot of research, then looking at local options. We ended up calling a breeder for more information, and she invited us to come and view her litter to see if we wanted to put down a deposit on a pup. We planned to let Ian pick one out Easter evening, but the breeder called us that morning to share that the pups were ready to wean, and if we wanted, we could pick one out and take it home that day. Nana helped with the cost as this pup would be Ian’s birthday present, so we cut short our family camping trip, packed Ian and his bike up, and took off to pick up his early birthday surprise.
home, Brinn convinced Ian to close his eyes before he got out of the truck, and he carried him around to the back yard where the puppies were kept. Ian kept his eyes jammed shut until he heard the mama dog bark. His eyes flew open as puppies bomb rushed him, and he immediately scooped up the cream colored male. Ian discovered love at first lick, and knew that this was his dog. We tried to convince Ian to play with the other pups, and for 30 minutes Brinn tried to persuade Ian to consider taking home the adorable grey female, but Ian wasn’t having it. He knew exactly which puppy was for him, and thus the cream pup was christened Balto.
We brought Balto home and began the process of helping him adapt to his new life. The first evening was rough as he missed his brothers and sisters. He tried to curl up beside Mogwai and Chaco, but they weren’t thrilled to have a little brother. After taking Balto out for a last potty break, we shut him in his crate which we’d placed in Ian’s room. As soon as we left the room he started crying, and he proceeded to cry for the next two hours. We thought he had finally cried himself to sleep, but when we peeped in to check, we found that he had a new source of comfort. With our exhaustion combined with the cuteness, we just let it ride. This became the routine for several nights until Balto became more comfortable with his crate and sleeping on his own.
Balto had moved in with us right in the middle of stage 3 of barn 
building. He quickly had to evolve from husky pup to barn dog. Originally Grandpoppa had been strong with us on our resolve to hold out on waiting to buy Ian a puppy. He also supported the opinion that we did not need a husky in hot, humid middle Tennessee. Grandpoppa is usually the first one to cave to Ian’s wants, but on this one he was staying strong…until he actually met Balto. Not only did Balto take to his life as a barn dog, but he also attached strongly to Grandpoppa, who has grown pretty fond of the pup.
Ian spent his summer falling more in love with Balto. I don’t think there has ever been a more wanted husky on the planet. They’ve had quite a few adventures already as Ian has stayed busy teaching Balto to hike, kayak, play in the creek, drive the gocart, and work the farm. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, as Balto’s favorite chew toy seems to be human flesh, but Ian listened closely to the vet’s training advice and stuck with the program. Balto’s biting has decreased, but we still can’t break him of his 
pickpocket habit where he steals your shoe right off your foot without you noticing. I’m not sure if he loves my house slippers or hates them, but he puts quite a bit of effort into tracking and attacking them. Oddly enough, Balto doesn’t really destroy shoes or toys. He enjoys chewing, but doesn’t completely destroy objects the way Mogwai does. I’ve never seen a dog take better care of his toys!
Balto. Fluffy. Shark Teeth. Sharp Tooth. Fluff Fluff. Fluffernutter. Fluffy Teeth. Fluffy Shark. Nutterbutter. Pup Pup. No Bite! When Ian brought this many-named dog home, he only weighed 6 pounds. Now the 6 month old fluff ball weighs a whooping 60 pounds!
Appreciate the Adventure 