Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Fall Training 2015 - Trailer Adventures



    You either laugh or you cry...it's something I find myself saying time and again as I run dogs. Why? Because there's a lot that can go wrong at any given time. Equipment gets used...and it breaks. Usually my dad or brothers rescue me...
    This fall, I found myself telling this to Emily (a local Jr musher) because - on her first run with me - we got to the trail head and I got out to smell something burning. The pictures above show what happened to the 4-wheeler trailer.
    I'm rather surprised Emily's parents let her come back - the first time she came running dogs was the first time I had a major accident with the dog trailer. Coming down our steep driveway, the trailer slid out behind me and flipped on it's side. God was watching over me, because the dogs were unhurt, the trailer only a bit dented and neither sled (on top) were damaged.
   That trailer, now retired, had a habit of blowing a tire every year we went to the American Dog Derby...on the way there. One year, when I planned a trip to MT to go run dogs with friends, the axle broke an hour from home...so I was stranded at a post office with a load of dogs in the dark. My awesome dad found the parts and got it fixed...so I could get home.
    But as I think about it, I'm glad Emily got to witness some jerry-rigging as we flipped this trailer onto another trailer, and with my brother's help got the 4-wheeler on top of it all and strapped down. Life rarely goes as planned, especially in mushing, and one of the things I'm learning is to stop being so uptight about things. It will work out in the end...or plans might change (for the better!).
    It's the same way with the weather. So many times I sit at home stressing because it's November or December and the trails are a sheet of ice causing me to be unable to run. Yet it works out - the dogs come back better for the rest (I tend to over train) with healed up feet and ready for more.
    It's just a thought: I wonder how much happier we would all be if we worried less about the things we can't control and just enjoyed the moments God gives. Laughing when the trailer breaks (it really IS comical how we got everything home in one trip) made good memories. After all, as I'm sure you've begun to see as we look at my mushing journey, it's remarkable I'm even here running dogs today...even on the bad days I'm blessed to be living my dream so do I have an excuse to be worrying about the things I can't control?



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