SHHHHHH, read this very quietly... Karen is sleeping only a few feet away :)

Karen pulled into Unalakleet just as I sat down in the checkpoint to warm up. Everybody looked fine including Karen. She is fighting a bought of Salmonella, not fun when your wearing 10 layers of clothes and are 50 miles from the nearest toilet. She's busy eating soup and drinking Gatorade. 

I managed to kill most of the night catching cat naps and teaching the checkpoint personnel how to play "FreeCell" on the computer. I also spent a lot of time grazing, after a musher passes through they leave a big pile of goodies behind for everyone to have. I also had beef stew, but on my flight in I didn't see any place for cows to graze. The checkpoint people ordered a pizza and it cost $26.00, but I passed.

Karen told me a story that happened during her 24 hour lay over. While Karen was tending to her dogs, an elderly native gentleman came over and told Karen that he had been watching her team for quite a while. He told Karen that one of the dogs on her team was very special, Karen asked which one. He pointed at Grover. 

Later that day, Jack Niggemyer's wife came over and said that the elderly gentleman had only commented favorably on 6 dogs in the entire race, and that the man that Karen was talking to was the father of Carl Huntington, the winner of the second Iditarod. Karen had a big smile on her face, then burped and farted a bit.

Once I send Karen on her way I'll try and find a flight out of here either tonight or tomorrow morning for Nome, were I will wait for her to cross the finish line.

Any way, here come those kids again.

Later
Mark

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