True to tradition, it was a snowstorm when the King-Kong-dogs (aka the Polar Huskies) set out on their final leg in the dog truck driving to O'hare Airport in Chicago. But, it was barely noticed considering all of what else was going on. With less than eight hours until the plane took off, one major obstacle was still in our way for departure. An obstacle that was truly the magnitude to fit King-Kong! Despite eight months of working on it, we still did not have the required Polar Husky passports in hand when we arrived at the SAS cargo terminal with the Polar Huskies. 

On Friday when Mille, as planned, went to pick up the paperwork stamped and signed by the USDA Veterinarian, the paper work was not done as it had not been prepared probably at the various stages bye the veterinarians involved. Seven frantic hours followed where the phones were ringing non-stop in an attempt to solve all the involved issues within the time frame of the Polar Huskies departing Tuesday morning.  Questions arose such as: Should the Polar Huskies return to Minnesota for work to be redone? Was it possible to attempt for a veterinarian to work with us and see all the Polar Huskies in Michigan? Could we drive somewhere, anywhere, in the United States to make this happen in time? By late Friday afternoon a plan was in place thanks to the wonderful people at the USDA in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The paperwork was now to be picked up by Mille on Monday to be brought to the airport in Chicago with her on Tuesday morning.  Monday came around and as Mille went to pick up the paperwork she was told the unfathomable: the 2 inch stack of paperwork was once again missing in action for the USDA veterinarians to complete it. 

It seemed there were no options. We would have to delay, at an impossible expense with no obvious path to how we would rebuild the puzzle to get us to the expedition starting point with all needed supplies. It was a tedious puzzle involving many individuals spanning across oceans with room for only a narrow margin of error. 

On Tuesday morning Mille rebooked her flight from Minneapolis to Chicago delaying her departure by 90 minutes. Within 45 minutes of her boarding time a courier arrived at the airport entry with a package for Mille containing all the necessary papers sufficiently handled thanks to Dr. Frank at the USDA office in Minneapolis. A huge thank you to Dr. Frank who worked into the early morning hours to make it happen! At her gate with just four minutes to spare, Mille settled in the plane for the 1 hour 21 minute flight to Chicago, leaving no more than 125 minutes for the absolute cut-off time for the delivery of the paperwork. It was literally with only minutes to go that Mille ran to the Scandinavian Airline cargo hangar handing over the thick envelope of paperwork.

With Polar Huskies loaded in the plane belly below, we leaned deep back into our seat in the plane: hugs, many thanks and goodbyes later, we were finally, on our way to Stockholm!

At about the same time, across the ocean in southern Sweden, world renowned trotting trainer Preben Kjœrsgaard jumped off the sulky and into his horse trailer accompanied by his friend Bjarne, for a seven hour drive to meet us at the Arlanda airport. A few weeks ago, when the arrangement for Scandinavian Airlines to transport the expedition to the starting point in northern Sweden fell apart with a 300% cost increase, Mille called upon Preben. "It is probably 12 or more years since I last spoke with Preben," says Mille. "I volunteered in his stable in Denmark from when I was twelve years old. That is really where I learned to work hard and for long hours as we would travel around the country and in Sweden to races at other trotting tracks. Being on the road with the horse trailer working with the big trotting horses are some of my fondest memories growing up!" Considering the Swedish rules and regulations, Preben quickly determined it was very late to find any viable solutions and he kindly offered to set out on the 2000 miles round trip himself. That was as long as he could be back no later than early morning this Saturday for him to make it to a race with his Danish derby winning horse Frœkke Frederik! 

With our feet on Swedish ground, the first exploration in Sweden was to get on the bus and make our way to the cargo terminal. It was not minutes after we finally walked up to the gated facility in pouring rain that Preben jumped through the door. Now, in the next few hours we had to get the Polar Huskies cleared by the veterinarians, be cleared of customs, pick up the cargo (sled, equipment and food), and meet Mille's mother back at the passenger terminal where she was flying in from Copenhagen with 35 lb of cheese, 15 lb of butter, 3 large salamis, bacon and boxes of mashed potatoes mix. 

It was more than 10 hours, $2200 and much frustration later when we finally got the Polar Huskies and were able to let them out of their boxes!!! The 2-inch pile of Polar Husky paperwork became a 6-inch pile as the veterinarians filled out one form after another. We had never been informed of the  $200 'on-the-spot' surcharge for each dog. However, now standing at the 'Spirit Cargo' office in Sweden with the Polar Huskies held by the veterinarians, we were left no option but to agree and the Polar Huskies were finally checked for their identification chip. The chip is so tiny that it can travel around the inside of the body of the dogs once it has been injected.  Thus, the 'chip check-up' prior to leaving the United States. Andstanding here we felt liberated by each "BEEP" for every Polar Husky being scanned. However, there was no beep for Khan. The chip could not be located! Khan could be put in a four-month quarantine and not be released to us!? To our greatest possible relief, the veterinarians determined that it was a fluke and Khan was indeed on the cart with the rest of the Polar Huskies when they were all rolled out of the cargo building at last. At the same time the people at 'Spirit' who we had been working with, kindly decided to lower the surcharge. 

Finally heading north, the rain had turned to snow and the roads were like skating rinks. Carefully inching our way forward at 40 miles per hour (60 km/h), Preben and Bjarne drove tirelessly in two to four hour shifts through the night to make up for lost time - and for the horrendous road conditions. Towns became smaller, the boreal forest denser and we made our way across the Arctic Circle at 66°33' parallel. The planned 15-hour one way trip had become a 22-hours drive by the time we finally took a right 'at the sign for the ice hotel' as told by Kenth Fjellborg who was awaiting us at his home and kennels. 

Nine generations of Kenth's family has lived in this area for more than 400 years. In 1771, Nils Fjellborg homesteaded in what was then the beginning of the Jukkasjärvi village. Being Swedish territory, yet in the heart of Sápmi - the land of the Sámi people - and on the river-way so close to the borders of both Finland and Norway, the region is unique in its mixture of many cultures. Kenth's father was born Swedish but spoke only Finnish as he grew up on the homestead! While salivating at a delicious dinner of "torsk and kartofler" (cod and potatoes) with Kenth and Ann, their three little girls and good friend Nils Andersen Blind, Kenth explained how fish was traditionally the stable of food in the Fjellborg household while reindeer meat was the delicacy. A tradition in this area, the Sámi families traveling throughout the reindeer year, had a 'host family' with whom they would stay while in the community. When the Sámi left to follow the movement of their reindeer, the Sámi would often leave their goat behind for the host family to take care of, and they would be given a reindeer. Nils is Sámi and a reindeer herder who was born on these lands. Today, he works at the Sametinget (Sámidiggi) in Kiruna leaving the tending of the herd to his son.

"During one of this year's first student chats I was asked by a student how I felt about traveling to the region of the world where I am from?" says Mille. "Sitting in Kenth's living room is an incredible mixture of homes to me." Kenth ran the Iditarod in 1994 and has spent lots of time in Grand Marais on the very road where Expedition Basecamp is, and also with our mutual friend Tim White who introduced us to one another. We find ourselves sharing stories of people from Minnesota to Alaska and across the North to Sweden. We had to laugh when we saw the bedspreads in our room and the kitchen chairs and table, which are the same as what is at Expedition Basecamp. "It is all stuff from IKEA, which is a huge Swedish furniture chain that can also be found in the US," explains Paul, "and with Mille being from Denmark much, if not most, of what she has bought for Expedition Basecamp is from IKEA!" Mille says, "I grew up with IKEA, so to me the design and the feel of their furniture are a bit of home. But what really gets to me is being here with Kenth and Ann and how it all comes together. Like yesterday morning, I was sitting writing with the radio playing the small local station in the background. First they played 'New Way to Fly' (a country western classic much played back in the US by Aaron who will join the expedition later on), followed by 'Jazz på Svenska' which is a piece of rarely heard music that I grew up listening to with my Dad. When next, 'Ingen Kan Forhindre,' a Danish pop song from my time in High School came on, I just burst out laughing. It is like even the music mix on the radio here, mixes cultures in a way that makes me feel at home!" 

An opportunity to talk about Globalization and "all Arctic" is during this week's chat on Tuesday 3/4 at 10 AM CST with our own GoNorth! Cool Scientist Henry Huntington.  Please share your explorations on people and culture with the rest of us in the 02: Culture Zone. What makes your home home? 

We realize what makes us feel so at home in the Arctic is how the Polar Husky sled dogs continue to open doors making us new friendships to be treasured. More than 5000 people come to Fjellborg Arctic Journeys to catch a sled dog ride every year. Today alone, more than 60 people climbed on the large beautiful sleds covered with traditional reindeer hides. Kenth was a bit shorthanded and asked Paul to join him and his crew taking out the Fjellborg Huskies. "It was a hoot - these little Alaskan Huskies sure can run fast!" he says with admiration. "One might say the experience is a bit of a different 'sledding culture' than that of the long heavy haul with the Polar Huskies" - the "King-Kong-Dogs" as introduced by Kenth and what was the last he could be heard saying to the customers on his sled when they came flying by the Polar Husky crew, his dogs in a full-out lope following Paul down the hill. 

Within days the "King-Kong-Dogs" will set out down that same trail, and probably at about the same speed for the first mile or so as they are roaring to go. Studying the maps with Kenth, we have laid out the route to begin the expedition heading first north downhill out of his kennel and then east out onto the lake. Thus, we are changing the starting point on the expedition route from the planned Abisko Research Station to 67º83'N 20º61'E. Note the E at the end! We are now east of the meridian line so the lines of longitude on our map reads east instead of west. Though we wish we could have started as planned, it is time to get going on the trail and we will rely on one of the world's most respected scientists, the station manager Terry Callaghan, to answer your questions about the station in the Climate Chaos chat, April 22nd. 

Actually this week's chat speaker Henry Huntington was just on the station a few weeks ago working with Terry, so make sure to ask him any questions you might have!

Speaking of Henry, he is truly an all-around expert as he has not only traveled throughout the Arctic experiencing Arctic cultures and the effects of globalization and cultures meshing; Henry is one of the 300 scientists that authored the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment in 2005 and he is one of the pioneers of introducing traditional ecological knowledge to the science community. Last but not least, Henry knows the "King-Kong-Dogs" up close and personal as he traveled with the Polar Huskies as a team member of the GoNorth! Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 2006 adventure learning expedition crossing 5000 feet up and above the Brooks Mountain Range in Alaska. 

That was the first expedition for both of this week's Polar Husky Superstars. With all this talk about "King-Kong-Dogs," Jupiter is this week's first Polar Husky Superstar. Jupiter is one of the tallest in the Polar Husky kennel, and as you might have guessed, he is named after the largest planet in our solar system.  The planet Jupiter is 2 1/2 times as big as all the other planets in our solar system combined! When you look at the night sky (have you uploaded your sky maps and discoveries to the Explore Zone yet?), Jupiter is the fourth brightest spot in the sky and the planet is known for a storm that has lasted more than 175 years, named the 'Red Spot' for its red appearance when seen through a telescope from Earth.  Fittingly perfect with his name, or is his name fitting perfect with him?  "Jupi," as he is nick named, is indeed a huge Polar Husky with a very bright nature that loves to "storm around." Jupi would like to run, play, run, play, get petted, play, run, all the time! 

This week's other Polar Husky Superstar, Baffin, is Jupiters's brother. Baffin today is the heaviest dog in the kennel and one of the hardest working. Baffin can seem somewhat intimidating with his massive size, solid calmness, slight slyness and a deep growl if some other Polar Husky steps too close. However, he is really quite affectionate and playful, though once in a harness, Baffin is nothing but power and concentration. As a puppy, Baffin spent a few months living in the Northwoods with Teacher Explorer 2007, Jeff Sipper. Jeff's daughter Kelly  took Baffin and his great-aunt Polar Husky Fuji for long walks from early on in their lives. Baffin now is a steady-kind-of-guy who lives to pull hard with no time for distractions and barely even bathroom breaks! Baffin actually pulls so hard that we dare say he is the only Polar Husky that when we have our break for lunch, he is most often found sound asleep from the second we stop right until when he hears Paul's voice calling "hop!" to go again.  At that time, this giant jumps to attention to lean into the harness along with the rest of the King-Kong-Dogs...