So much to catch up on: hopefully these pictures will tell some of the story

Downtown Newberry at night during the holidays is so pretty

Coming home is overwhelming. Fifteen days away playing with dogs in the snow is hard to beat. Not having my laptop to record all the festivities during that time made me nutty. So I will try my best to record all the beauty of the U.P. in a recap.

Looking back over the more than 500 pictures I shot from the last fifteen days, I am amazed at the stories behind the pictures. Like, for instance, this one:

One day Whitney and I took Reed, Ross and Ryland site seeing. They were up north from Vanderbilt and, if that weren't southern enough, they were originally from Dallas, Baton Rouge and St. Petersberg respectively. This great north was a new world for them. They wanted especially to see some wildlife. When wildlife appeared, in the form of a partridge, Ross accidentally hit it with his truck. We stopped to find feathers scattered everywhere and the poor dumb bird lying in the road. So, as I am wont to do, I snapped a picture.

Or this one:

A fire pit at the check point melts the edge of the snow

Or these...

Sophie visits one of Rodney Whaley's dogs

Brutus, a favored Jeff King dog at Sled Dog Lodge, enjoys the sun one afternoon

The Sled Dog Lodge checkpoint of the Seney 300

Dr. Tim Hunt (the bigger of the blue blobs) rests with his team at the Sled Dog Lodge checkpoint of the Seney 300

Whitney Warren getting love from Duncan

Sleeping sweetie at the Sled Dog Lodge check point

Dr. Gustafson checks a resting dog at the Sled Dog Lodge check point

Another resting dog at the Sled Dog Lodge check point

Jim Wellert booties his dogs, preparing for departure from the Sled Dog Lodge check point

An enormous amount of work goes on behind the scenes of qualifiers like the Seney 300, and the dogs are cared for like top athletes. Mushing requires the ultimate team work between the dogs and the drivers, as well as volunteers, organizers, vets, judges, and....of course, photographers :-)