I still feel the excitement. Fort Kent is just an awesome place with wonderful people. With an estimated 8000 spectators, you can well imagine the atmosphere. It was a great spectator day as it was unseasonably HOT, okay.. not so great for our furry traveling companions, but the weather certainly brought in the crowds. At night they truck in snow and cover at least a half a mile of Main Street for the 30, 60 and 250 mile teams as they leave the down town starting area and head under the International Bridge and onto the railbed. With a hint of the Iditarod (okay, perhaps not quite the same but it starts in the same manner and certainly lends itself to being a truly one of the best races outside of Alaska)...... Snow gets distributed around town as mushers and their trucks park at designated parking spaces all over the center of Fort Kent. It is so well organized except, well... my parking space lacked snow!!! As you can, I also had a rather tight and not so easy access tot he corridor of snow. Knowing that under no circumstances would I be able to hold or brake my team once detached from my truck, I requested the help of an ATV to secure me and the team and allow us safe passage to the start of the 60 mile race.
