We read like crazy during the two weeks of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska, trying to read a page for every mile our mushers raced. To celebrate the end of the race, we welcomed local musher Christine Richardson to DES.

Lilly: I learned that being a sled dog is hard and dirty, but fun! It seemed hard to memorize that “gee” is left and “haw” is right. Being a musher is challenging. It is expensive. You also have to care for your dogs a lot. It requires lots of hitching up dogs, sleds, and more dogs. You would have to have a job aside from mushing or plenty of sponsors. You would probably have to own your house too because with twelve or more dogs and their hair and noise, not many renters would want you there. I thank our musher for bringing the dogs along for us to enjoy.

Morgan: I loved the dogs! Today I met a musher with thirty-two dogs. We got to hold the gangline and pull the sled like we were the dogs. We had to go left when she said, “Gee!” and right when she said, “Haw!” We also got a dog bootie as a gift from her. I am so happy because the dogs amazed me a lot. I loved Daisy the most, and I wish I were a musher too. My top three favorite parts of the visit were petting the dogs, meeting our musher, and pulling Ms. Richardson along on the sled.