Musk Oxen

After a very bouncy night battling the Bering Strait, we arrived in Nome, Alaska early this morning.  About half the passengers disembarked here and headed home, while the rest of us are staying on board for another two and a half weeks or so until we reach Vancouver, Canada.

Today we headed into Nome for a very interesting tour.  Almost the moment we set foot onshore, we came across this family group of Musk Oxen grazing on the tundra near the center of town.  I loved how protective of their little one they were -- shortly after I took this photograph, the adults formed a circle around the baby to protect it from the strange group of red-coated animals grouped on the hillside staring at them!

We also met a man who has a team of sled dogs who run in the Idatarod every year.  He demonstrated how he hitches them up, and then he ran them for us.  It was so wonderful to watch them, and how excited they were when they knew they were going to run!