We Bought a Kicksled!

Hey Tribe,

We bought a kicksled!  I am so excited about it; I don’t even know where to begin this post – Fly is excited about it too.

Fly says, "Woo wooo!" 

First, you might be thinking, “What is a kicksled?” so I will begin there.  Essentially, it is a chair with handlebars that is mounted to two runners: a person holds on to the handlebars and stands on the runners and kicks the ground to make the contraption move.  A passenger can sit on the chair.  They are used most commonly in Sweden, Norway, and Finland as a means of transportation and are called “potkukelkka” or, directly translated from Finnish into English, “kicksled.” Wikipedia has a good overview if your curiosity is piqued.  There is one company in Finland making a very fine kicksled: Esla.

Initially, I wanted to buy one from a little local company that is a vendor from the manufacturer in Finland – shop small and support local business, right?  But, when I reached out to the Kicksled business in Alaska, they didn’t have time to meet with me and said they would get back with me to schedule a time (they do not have a physical store).  I waited.  Nothing.  I had been forgotten.  Apparently they do not value my business, so I headed to the internet.  After some sifting, I hit upon Kickbike Worldwide and discovered that their price, after currency conversions AND shipping charges, was cheaper by over $100 than buying local.  For the same product.  I’d have to build the kicksled myself, but for a savings of over $100, I’d happily do that.  I recommend you do the same.

I even love the packaging.

Nine short days later, a large package arrived at my front door.  Imagine my shock at the speed at which the package traveled across continents and an ocean – shorter than the length of time I waited for the local company to remember I wanted to buy their product; Amazon and REI don’t even ship packages to Alaska as fast as this Esla was transported to my eager arms.

Everyone must investigate.

I digress.

The long, black plastic cocooned package had minimal wear and damage to its exterior, keeping in mind its journey, and it was displayed in my living room floor for us to marvel at for a few moments while I rummaged for a box cutter.

Not a small package, that's for sure.

Opening it was straightforward and easy.

The Karelian Bear Dogs helped a little bit.

Fly firmly believes that all packages are meant for her; she had to be involved at every step of the build.

Finnish dog, Finnish sled.

Freed from its packaging, I was saddened to immediately find one of the seat slats was broken.  I took photos and emailed the company – the sled came with a warranty.  Those folks over at Kickbike Worldwide were so nice and promptly got a new sled seat in the mail to me.  No fuss.  Great customer service!

It was broken so I set it back in place, but you can see it will fail.

Minimal tools were required for the build, mostly the sled unfolds and only a few nuts have to be secured in place.  It took less than 10 minutes.

The KBDs help select the correct socket (in millimeters not inches, fyi).

The most challenging part was determining where to put the footrests, based on how I would stand on the runners; a lot of standing and scooching closer and further from the handlebars ensued and I must have been a ridiculous sight indeed.

Is she helping set runners or does she want to eat the mallet?

I bought snow runners as well and decided to attach them right away, since we will mostly be running on snow, instead of ice.  They easily squeeze onto the bottom of the runners and are held in place by two simple zipties.  Basic, easy, and cost effective.  I don’t have to fret if I want to run on snow one day, ice the next, and back to snow after that. 

Rex helped read the runner installation directions.

So, there the kicksled stood, in all its gleaming red painted birch glory, right in the middle of my living room.  Hem, now what?  Not to worry, the thing only weighs 20 pounds, and actually feels light as a feather, so it was simple to lift.  Navigating through doorways was less easy, because the long runners, though flexible, needed to be maneuvered in and through the space.  Nothing got whacked, and we all made it outside in relative ease.

Go team!

Naturally, we had to take it for a test run, which went splendidly, but I was too eager (and it was too cold) to document much of that stage of the kicksled’s blog debut.

Finnish dogs pull my Finnish kicksled.

Here is a video clip of our -10F (-23C) run into the sunset.  Marvelous, right?!

Stay tuned for many more posts about our kicksled adventures; if you now need your own kicksled, do check out Kickbike Worldwide!

(No, I was not paid to promote Kickbike Worldwide, nor do they have any idea I have written about them here.  I just really appreciated their customer service and think you will too.)

Fly and Rex: In the Pink

This is the first installment of a new series of 'Fly and Rex' stories I am trying out this year.  I hope you will enjoy the writing style, as well as the content.  Here we go...

Set free from the confines of the truck, Fly and Rex eagerly entered the field and raced across the glittering snow to get to their new favorite mouse hunting spot.  It was late in the afternoon and they'd been cooped up in the truck for forever while Humom ate lunch with the other SAR team handlers.

Search had gone well.  Taiya's handler mysteriously got buried under snow at the bottom of a hill, but Fly used her avalanche skills and easily found, dug, and barked for Humom to hurry and help Taiya's handler get out of there.  Fly remembered that she needed to bark to summon Humom, who is usually far away and never seems to know what's going on.  Humom was very pleased and Fly got a lot of fish treats for being helpful.  Later, a man in a beaver skin hat ran away, right there in front of the team, but Rex knew where the man was, so he took Humom to the spot and she told Rex he was such a good boy.  He knew this already, but it made him happy to hear it and he wagged the white tip on his tail as he ate his fish snack reward.  Then, Fly and Rex sat together in the back of the truck and watched the sun finally rise above the mountains and slowly warm the air.  Humom said she was cold, but the -22*F temperature didn't bother the double coated Karelians in the slightest.

So, there they were in the field, finally able to hunt the new mouse population that had moved into the area last week.  The scent of them wafted up through the snow, especially around the clumps of grass where the mice paused to chew on the frozen stems; the smart Karelians focused their efforts in these areas.

However, the cold temperatures were keeping those soft bodied rodents nesting deep within their burrows and none could be found by the searchers.  Even though the air was frigid, the trees and mountains looked as snug and warm as the hiding mice: the sunset painted such a wonderful pink glow on the frosty trees and nearby mountains.

Fly was too busy hunting to notice the scenery.

Rex, a more sensitive soul, did make note of the glowing moon as he took a brief break from all the pouncing and bounding he was doing.

All too quickly the light and the pink faded and with it went the slight feeling of warmth, according to Humom, who announced it was time to return to the house and have some tasty dinner.  Reluctantly, but obediently, Fly and Rex left the field with a glance that told any onlooking mice that they had better not even think about moving into the warm house - or they would regret it.

Welcome New Year 2020!

Hey Tribe,

Welcome to a new decade!  How exciting to be in 2020, a year that once seemed to only exist in science fiction.  What isn't sci-fi is the fact that this little blog is now two years old; I am so very thankful to you for visiting and reading and saying hi, either here, on Pinterest, or on Instagram.  I like it when people say “hi.”

Bye bye 2019!

There are several highlights from our 2019 year worth mentioning:

• TheMother, TheAunt, and I hiked the Camino del Norte in Spain (those posts are coming, I promise).
• We visited Portugal and made some wonderful friends.

• My sweet baby Rex joined our family!

• Little Chappie also became a part of our pack.

• The Scamp made itself useful on several Alaskan and Canadian road trips.
• Fly earned her Barn Hunt Champion title!
• Rex also made history in Barn Hunt.
• Search and Rescue trainings continue and kept us busy each week.
• Rex is shaping up to be a great search dog.

• We bought a little Kayak for water adventures.
• On Instagram, we now have 1,758 followers.
• three specific hashtags to keep an eye on: #paperflyexplores, #kbdsflyandrex, #armandosalazardavillasaloia
• Fly became a model for Alaska Goldens Co
• For work, I no longer have to commute 100 miles per day (whew).

In 2020, we have more exciting adventures planned, including:

• Dog sledding and urban mushing (totally a real thing).
• Getting certified for SAR.
• Operating an AirBnB.
• Figuring out show dog stuff (I'm clueless and need a mentor).
• More kayaking and hiking adventures, of course!

We are so ready to jump right into 2020.  I hope you'll continue follow our journey.