Ben and I ventured to Alaska last month to watch part of the Iditarod Dog Sled (http://www.iditarod.com/). I can't really say what sparked our interest in watching part of the race, but we have been thinking about going for the last few years. It is an amazing event to watch, as the dogs are just fantastic.
We spent approximately a week in Anchorage, enjoying a lot of sun and temperature between 10 and 30 degrees. We attended the ceremonial start in Anchorage where the 68 teams of dogs begin their 1,049 mile adventure to Nome. The next day, we headed to Willow Lake (North of Wasilla) to see the real start. We were able to see more of the action up close than in Anchorage, and hang out on a frozen lake all afternoon. 
The last of our Iditarod activities, besides constantly checking in on the online standings of the mushers, was a bush flight to
the checkpoint Rainy Pass, which is located on Puntilla Lake. The plane was pretty small and was flying approximately 500 feet above the ground. It was quite an adventure to get there. We met a few of the mushers who were resting at the checkpoint and were able to interact with several of the dogs.
In addition to the Iditarod, we were able to experience alot of the other wonderful activities Alaska has to offer in the wintertime. Other highlights included a day trip to the Mount Alyeska ski resort and our sidetrip to Fairbanks, where we got to see the ice sculptures from the World Ice Carving Championships and took a dog mushing class. Despite the cool temperatures, it was a great time to visit and we had a ton of fun. Hopefully, I will get some more photos compiled to share online soon.
