New beginnings

It's time to start the ol' blog again. "Why?" you may be asking.

Well, I'll tell you: Mary Helwig is back into the world of mushing!

Many of you already know, but many of you don't know, so I'll give a quick run-down:

I did not mush this past winter.
I missed it.
Started looking for property of my own in the Spring of this year to start a team.
Searched and looked and scoured the internet, newspapers, magazines, and yes even Craigslist.
Found promising places, but none truly struck my fancy.
Then a glorious day in July where opportunity knocked and I quickly swung open the door and invited it in.

"What happened on this seemingly incredible day in July?" you say.

I responded to a random ad on FaceBook for an "off the grid" cabin for rent.

"Now why would you go and do that?!"

You see, this cabin is in Big Lake, one of the major mushing areas here in Alaska. It is owned by Kristin Bacon. What's so great is that she has a dog kennel, Bacon's Acres' Kennel. What's even more fantastic is that she has room in her kennel for another team of sled dogs.

"Wow! You're right Mary, that is pretty awesome!'

I know, right??

I quickly responded to the ad. Met Kristin. Saw the cabin and kennel. Got a feel for everything.

Sold. Done. Deal. I was in. However you want to put it.
In essence I thought it was a great fit for me. One of the major plus sides of this is now I will not be living all by my lonesome trying to start a kennel and run dogs...alone.

Now I have a partner in crime.
Two crazy ladies who decided to change their lives so they could pursue what they love.

"So when do you start this new adventure?"

I already have! (I intended to start my blog sooner, sorry for the delay)

I have made quite a few big purchases in the last month: mid-distance mushing sled, Alaskan Huskies, Honda 4-wheeler, harnesses, materials to make dog houses, dog trailer to haul the dogs around, and a LOT of equipment and pieces/parts that are too tedious and boring to list for most people to read, but are a necessity to mush dogs. Frankly, going to a hardware or mushing store for snaps, chains, bolts, rope, etc. for a musher (or at least me) is like a kid walking into a candy store. Wide eyed, counting out your change to see how much you can buy.

Never thought when I was 10 years old that at the age of 29 I'd be drooling over fancy rope.

So there you have it. I now live in Big Lake, Alaska with my very own small team of dogs.\


Today was our very first day of training, but I will post about that next time. Right now, I must go tend to my fantastic dogs.