The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: August 8, 2010

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Team Ineka in Alaska August 8, 2010

I have been in Alaska for seven days. As I sit here in my new home I can only conger images of DIY Network’s Renovation Reality show. It is a show that follows the exploits of homeowners as they “try”, yes the operative word is TRY to renovate their home often with disastrous results! I am living it every single day. Nobody told me it doesn’t get completely dark until midnight in Alaska and then light again at I think 4 am!

I am here, 3400 miles from my family in, what at best would be called a ‘Musher’s Cabin’, if not torn down completely and start from the ground up, and I am amiss at all that I have to do. You see, I have no home improvement skills what-so-ever, not to mention no construction experience at all. My idea up to this point on home repairs: WHERE IS THE PHONE BOOK! Does that make me less of a man? No, way! I just chose to take a different path and skipped the shop-type classes in high school.

I am making a wee bit of progress. I had a six yard dumpster delivered (realizing that I should have ordered the biggest size they have) and I have filled it to the rim with junk. The people that lived here before lived like they didn’t have a care in the world. There is at least ten or fifteen dumpster loads to go and that does not include any of the debris from the home improvements. There are piles upon piles of old wood and windows and kids toys and old beds and a moldy couch in the kennel building and things buried in chest high grass that I have yet to see.

I have been told that I think big and jump into things with two feet without stepping back to see the big picture. This is one of them.

My plan is to take the next 12 months, well, at least until the snow hits and I cant work outside in the blistery cold, making this place livable. It can be done and I know I can do it. I will learn as I go. This is my dream home actually. Something my wife and I have thought about every day for at least a decade. Now we have it and it is up to me to make it happen. No problem right?

Not to mention I travelled here on the plane, thinking if I fly up I could get a head start while my stuff is delivered and my truck is driven up. I packed what would fit into six suitcases. Two of them held a 27” flat screen that UPS was going to charge me 350 dollars to ship (I paid twenty five bucks as a checked bag) and the other suitcase held my Direct TV receiver. Hey, a have to have DIY Network right?

I don’t have a nary tool. Not even a hammer or a screwdriver. I had those shipped in a flat rate Priority Mail box just the other day. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive with my truck at the end of the month. I have too much to do!

I plan to update this blog every day and chronicle my exploits, adventures and (hopefully) progress. Have you seen the movie: Julie and Julia? A bit like that. I hope you will follow along and I welcome any advice that you can give! I look forward to hearing from you!

Time to paint the front doors. A deep shade of red to match the roof.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio | Dog Doctor Radio | Denver Dog Works

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Dr. Robert Forto is a musher training for his first Iditarod under the Team Ineka banner and the host of the popular radio shows, Mush! You Huskies and The Dog Doctor Radio Show

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