Iditarod and Other News

Posted Monday March 24, 2009

Last week my friend Shon, the Special Ed. teacher from Stebbins came up to visit me here in Unalakleet. Partly he was doing work, partly he was just here to hang out. So for about 8 days Shon and I were roommates. Pretty much we just watched a lot of movies and ate a lot of food. He's a pretty cool kid. This is Shon holding the Gold Coast Award which is awarded to the first musher who reaches Unalakleet, along with $2500 in gold pieces. Lance Mackey was the winner this year.



This week is spring break, and since the Iditarod started on March 7, the most likely time for the front runner to get here was the Sunday that Shon was scheduled to leave. Since Stacey is awesome, she let me borrow her machine. I had hoped to have a trip up to Old Woman, but I missed my window. Instead, Shon and I drove up river to meet Lance Mackey as he passed by on his way to our checkpoint.



It was awesome. We saw him several times, as we ran into Adrianna and Ryan on the way back, stopped again to watch him go by (again)...



...then passed him (again) on our way back to town where we watched him come in (again). That's this video.



Of course we stuck around to watch the Idita-thing at the UNK checkpoint. This is Lance Mackey himself, the 2009 Iditarod champion. It's his 3rd win in a row, just so you know. That's history, folks.



It was also cool because when he came in his dogs still looked mighty healthy. Don't know how he does it, but he has a good team going on.



Damon decided that he wanted to get some footage of Mackey driving his dogs up this particular hill north of town, so that night him and drove about 4 miles north of town, I saw a few shooting stars, we watched the satellite and Venus and an airplane and it was pretty dang cool. And then we watched Lance Mackey (again), and then we went home. :)

But there are some cool pictures to go along with the sweet Iditarod season.

This past week was our much-awaited Spring Break - the whole week. Although not as eventful as last year, it's been kind of a different pace to just sit around and really do nothing for a while. Adrianna, Ryan, and I went out for a ride up river. The weather has been unbeatable for playing outside - skiing, snow machining, walking, even biking. Yes, I got out my bike.

I probably wouldn't have gotten out my bike if I was still able to ski, but alas, I am not able to ski. I've had to put my poles away, go on hiatus (sort of) from extra-extrenuous use of my shoulder due to (yet another) stupid move by me. And here's how it went...

I was on my way to return Stacey's machine to her house on Wednesday morning. I cut across the lake/swamp (that is of course frozen) where I would meet the road. But there was a little steep hill that goes up to the road, and because so many people had peeled out at the top, there were ruts and juts and edges to be caught. While headed toward it I had a glimmering thought of, "I don't know, that looks pretty stupid... maybe I should-" but I cut myself off with, "Nah, you'll be fine." This, I've noticed, is my general answer for EVERYthing. "Nah, I'm fine. It'll be fine. Everything's fine." And usually I'm right. (Just saying.) So but well, as I approached it, I felt a little more committed, and decided that the best way to handle the situation was to just go faster. So pushed the throttle and up I went, and sideways I went, and down I went, full force onto my right shoulder, landing inches away from a telephone pole. I quickly stood up and, being cautious and mindful of my surroundings, looked around to make sure that NO one saw what had just happened. Feeling safe and alone, I turned the machine back upright, pulled it to face the road, turned it back on, thanked the Heavens that it started again, and drove immediately to Stacey's. When I got there, I presented her with the oil I had bought, then told her of the accident. It wasn't until then that I began to realize what actually happened and how badly my shoulder hurt. The adrenaline faded, and my body began to go into minor shock. I was consciously aware of my inability to form coherent sentences easily, so I tried very hard to concentrate. I don't think I was too obvious. Stacey agreed that I should go to the clinic. Because they were closed for lunch I didn't end up getting in until a couple of hours after the accident. I hadn't taken any medicine because I wanted to feel exactly where it hurt for a more accurate diagnosis. They told me I had separated my A-C in my shoulder, a fairly common injury. I was told to ice it regularly, take 800mg of ibuprofen 3x/day until I run out (and given a bottle), and to wear a sling. Well, I don't wear a sling. But I did rest for a couple of days. And then my muscles hurt and I was going crazy just taking random walks. I decided it was time to ride my bike. I've been going about 8 miles the past 3 days up the road and back and around town. It's good because I'm getting a decent work out, and it's not too hard on my shoulder. I should exercise it a little anyway so it doesn't get stiff. But I'm going to schedule an appointment for a follow-up to make sure that the injury isn't more than a grade 1 or 2. I don't think it is. At worst it will be a grade 3. But it's probably not. If it's a grade 4 or 5 then we'll have to discuss treatment options, but I don't think that will be an issue. I'm good. Everything's fine. :)

For those of you who are visual learners, here is an x-ray of what my injury looks like, basically. This isn't MY x-ray, so it's not actually MY injury, but this will give you an idea. The left shoulder (your right) is healthy. The right shoulder (your left), which is the one I also separated, is the injured one. You can see where the clavical bone, or the collar bone has been separated from the arm bone, giving way for whatever bone that other one that looks like a finger to push through. That is why I have a lump on my shoulder, and why it is constantly swollen, and why it hurts to move it sometimes. But it'll be fine, really. With time and exercise and other medical stuff, this will heal.



In other news... I got some new things! Since I am in preparation mode for the summer (i.e. why I'm starting to bike like crazy), I bought a tent. Woot! The first thing I did was set it up in my living room. Yes, I did sleep in it that night in my sleeping bag. :)



Also, to match my beaver hat, I bought a pair of beaver mittens from one of my students. Aren't they so cute???



My next Eskimo buy, for myself anyway, will be a pair of mukluks. But I think I will need to save up for those... for a nice pair, I'm imagining that they will be quite expensive.

So that about covers from then to now. I'm sure I'll have yet another adventure to report on in the next week or two. They never cease to pop up out of nowhere! Like happiness, there's just no accounting for excitement. For example, Mt. Redoubt, Alaska's long-threatening volcano, has finally erupted... six times!! Whew.