Meet Smokey Sills.
Yup. He is a pretty cute dog! Last Christmas, my college-aged son tried very hard to bring Smokey up to USF/San Francisco with the hopes of walking this adorable puppy around in his neighborhood and attracting women of all ages with his sure-fire aphrodisiac. Read my blog www.getparentalsupervision.com for all the salacious details.
My son named him Smokey. Sadly, for my son, the landlord said “no way” so Smokey stayed behind in Malibu. I gave my gleeful 60 year old husband carte blanche to walk this “alleged aphrodisiac” around Point Dume to see if it really worked!
It sort of did but not in the way my husband was hoping.
MY husband FELL in love with Smokey. So did our 15-year-old son who is still at home. And, I guess you could say…grudgingly, I have become Smokey’s lover, too. Our whole family, including the two college kids in SF, has joined the Siberian Husky lovefest!
So in trying to find a quick vacation to accommodate my husband’s really busy work schedule, I booked a trip for the three (college kids stayed in school) of us to go see where the real huskies flourish…
The Iditarod! You got it. Beach people in Alaska during the winter!
In preparing for this bucket list trip, I scoured the main race website and clicked on all the bios of 60 or so mushers. (I was beyond intrigued with each one…some were right out of central casting for mushers!) Many of them are connected to causes and so I nearly fell over when I found one who had been involved with taking her team of dogs to meet children with disabilities. She also had a nephew with Asperger’s Syndrome, just like our 15-year-old. Get the down coats out…we were off to Alaska!
With a tiny donation from The Malibu Special Education Foundation and our family, we sponsored musher Jodi Bailey, who is currently in 25 position (as I write this) as she nears the final stretch of the race! She is carrying the Malibu Special Education Foundation banner for all to see as she flies through all the checkpoints and brings awareness for children with special needs all the way to Nome (AK)!
Jodi was very touched to get to know Danny and hear all the stories about what The Malibu Special Education Foundation does for so many families touched by disabilities! Danny even had an opportunity to get a ride on her sled! It was an incredible opportunity and the beginning of a new relationship! We hope that Jodi will come down to Malibu and share her Iditarod experiences with all of us and enjoy taking a walk on the warm sunny beach with Smokey himself!!
You can follow the final stages of the Iditarod on iditarod.com and we are always happy to take a donation at Malibuspeicaleducationfoundation.org
And that is how Smokey the Puppy led us to the Iditarod!
Editor’s note: Jodi Bailey ended up placing 23rd out of 66 mushers. The Sills received a dog sled ride from the dogs and sled owned by this year’s Iditarod winner, Dallas Seavey.