Roads Less Traveled

Travels with Heart, By Annie Martin Bowler Volume 23, March 1, 2025

This story reminded me that we humans are capable of incredible good, as well as of

the importance of medical research….

February 2nd, 2025 marked the 100th anniversary of the Nome Serum Run, a historic dog

sled relay that saved the remote town of Nome, Alaska, from a diphtheria outbreak.

Twenty mushers and more than 150 sled dogs transported an antitoxin 674 miles

across harsh terrain in just 127.5 hours, battling temperatures as low as minus 85

degrees.

Nome in Summer Nome in Winter

In January, Nome's only doctor diagnosed diphtheria, a highly contagious and often fatal

disease, in several children. With the town inaccessible by boat and air travel deemed

too dangerous, sled dogs were the only viable option for transporting the serum across

the Alaskan wilderness to prevent a potential epidemic.

While lead dog Balto gained international fame—and a Disney animated film—for

completing the final 55-mile leg, another dog named Togo and his team actually covered

the most the most treacherous 264-mile stretch. The serum run utilized parts of what is now known as the Iditarod Trail, although it wasn't the direct inspiration for the modern race.

Balto with his owner, 2025 Iditarod Sled team

Gunner Kasson

With so little rain in the month of January, John and I thought it would be fine to camp at

Bodega Bay. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for a good bit of rain, but the early

February weather sure changed our hiking plans!

It was low tide when we arrived at Bodega Bay. We walked a long stretch of shoreline

but with the storm coming in and the winds howling, we headed to the bay which is

more sheltered.

They let this shark go after photos

I was walking peacefully along, enjoying all the birds, when suddenly I started sinking

into super wet sand. The more I struggled, the deeper I sunk. I felt like Artax from The

Never-Ending Story. John rushed to help me but I yelled at him to stay back; I didn’t

want him to end up stuck in the muck along with me. Luckily, I wasn’t too far from more

solid ground so with a few lurches and a loss of one shoe I got myself out.

I went to tell two young ladies to avoid the mucky section that caused me so much

trouble. One of the girls said, “Oh you don’t need to worry about us; we’ll be careful. A

while back, I got stuck up to my waist. I lost my shoes and almost my pants but I didn’t

even care because I was happy to be alive. I had to crawl to get out. That’s why we’re

not wearing shoes now.”

I was covered in sand and my walking shoes were filthy, and then the hard rain began

along with lots of wind. Fortunately, there were warm showers and our van is super

cozy.

This is Bodega Bay at low tide. Be wary of the mucky looking sand

So instead of hiking along the shore or the bay, we explored the interesting towns of

Sebastopol and Sonoma, we worked out at a gym, and ate at some lovely restaurants.

We cooked some good food and enjoyed a relaxing weekend in our van, too.

John preparing dinner The Hitchcock movie, the Birds, was filmed in front of this old Bodega school house. That movie gave me nightmares as a kid!

Sonoma is a charming town!

The drive home was an adventure! Most low parts of the beautiful green fields were

flooded; we were detoured twice because of flooding and washed-out roads, but the

roads we were sent down were pretty well flooded as well. All in all it was a solid

adventure!