Palmer Alaska

Stan: July 2, Palmer Alaska

Finally found a fast, reliable internet connection, so I’ll post some more on our trip. First, I’ll fast forward from June 28, my last post.

Tuesday, June 28:

We took a walk on the cultural side and spent some two hours taking in the galleries at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. The museum has a good cross section of the culture and artistry of native Alaskans, and exhibits, mostly a pictorial history, of the changes brought on by the discovery of gold.

Big brown bear.

Native Alaskan artifacts exhibit the artistic talents of their makers. Every day objects, like knife handles, needle cases,  clothing, almost all objects, are decorated with motifs drawn from nature or religious beliefs. We were very impressed by the basketry on display. The weave is extremely fine and intricate. An Aleut grass basket, for instance, may contain more then 1,000 stitches per square inch. Alaskan natives are inventive, and very capable craftsman. Every activity, by necessity, is geared to surviving. But they still manage to craft  tools and every day implements that perform a necessary function and are works of art as well.

Grass Baskets

I’m always interested in the level of technology achieved by cultures striving to survive in harsh conditions. It’s amazing how humans will adapt to the environment rather than move to easer circumstances. We’re just too aggressive, and tenacious, I suppose.  Alaskans, natives and new comers, are perfect examples of these human traits. Individuals and groups have  decided to make this their home, ignoring, or overcoming, the obstacles.

Contemporary products.

Wednesday, June 29:

We went shopping at the local farmer’s market in Fairbanks. It’s not a large market, but there were booths with fresh produce, home-baked bread, jams,  honey, and craft items. The market is open twice a week through the summer months. Johnna bought a pot of “live” basil to carry around with us; I bought some salad greens for dinner, and snacks to consume while shopping.

We drove around Fairbanks quite a lot, going to the museum, farmer’s market, out to breakfast, and searching for a Hot Licks home made ice cream outlet. I can say with absolutely no fear of contradiction. The streets and access roads in Fairbanks, are about the worst we have encountered any place.  This is not a complaint, just a statement of fact. When you hit a frost heave area, you had better have your seat belt on tight. On a positive note, the atrocious road conditions, force most people to drive about 50 mph.   

Thursday June 30:

We wanted to settle somewhere for the July fourth weekend.  Since we seldom spend our time setting around the RV park, we looked for  an area with attractive side trips. This will be a long holiday weekend, Friday through Monday, so we have four days to fill. Palmar seemed to be close to scenic areas that would interest us, but wouldn’t be too crowded.

The drive from fairbanks to Palmer was 340 miles, a long day for us. Our only complaint was the weather, low clouds and smoke.  Once again, like driving through Jasper National Park, we knew we were missing some great scenery, like Mt. McKinley, for instance. Our intention is to do Anchorage, Seward, and then back to the Denali National Park area. We hope that two weeks from now, the weather will clear up enough to see what we missed. If we wait long enough, the clouds are bound to lift.

Saturday July 2, Palmer Alaska:

Palmer Alaska is a nice, clean community.  Yesterday, after the clouds moved away, we took a drive around town. A couple from Oregon are in the spot next to us and they have been to Alaska four or five times. They found a source of fresh produce the last time they were here, an LDS farm that also has a pick your own program. We followed them to the farm, but there produce was two weeks from being ready.  So, we took in the crafts show in town,  and shopped for necessities before coming back to the trailer.

Next to the RV park is an organic farm selling produce from 5 to 7 PM every Friday. We walked over and bought some stuff there. It is really an operation. They have about 3 acres under cultivation, a few goats, and some ducks. They’re a commercial operation, but the Friday sale attracts a fare number of locals that know about it.

Organic Garden.

We’ll do our usual sight seeing thing today even though its cloudy and threatening to rain. The problem in Alaska, is that everything we want to look at, and admire, is often obscured by clouds. The mountains in Canada, and here in Alaska, seem to jump straight up out of the ground. For instance, this RV park is situated right at the base of a mountain peak with no in between foot hills. There aren’t many roads that go into the mountains so we have to view them from a distance. It was frustrating Thursday, driving from Fairbanks knowing that, to the right of us and, over there to the left, were some spectacular mountain ranges. If we didn’t have the time to come back and wait out the weather, this trip would be a bit disappointing. We’re hoping for an improvement. It’s my understanding that the drive to Valdez, is by far, the most awe-inspiring trip of all.

Mountain View RV park. Photo taken at 10:00 PM.

It's hard to go to bed around here at night. Nobody will turn out the lights.

Just a hop, skip and a jump up the road from the RV park. Photo taken 10:00 PM.

Johnna: July 2 Palmer Alaska

June 27, 2005

Drove up the Steese Hwy. until the pavement ran out. This was a nice drive with the road following the Chatanika River after crossing the Cleary Summit. Long distance views of the White Mountains were obscured by forest fire smoke. On the return trip, stopped at a pull out to get a closer look at the river and lush vegetation along its banks. Also, checked out the burned over area just across the highway. Stopped to look over the old gold dredge across the highway from the Chatanika Lodge. The structure of this dredge is not as large as the dredge on Bonanza Creek near Dawson, but the tailing piles it left in its wake is more impressive. These tailing piles are omnipresent to most of the stream beds in this area. Many of them have been leveled off and used as building sites for homes and businesses. Good use for them. Takes away some of the ugliness of the destructiveness of this method of mining. Ate our picnic lunch at the Felix Pedro Monument. Felix Pedro was the prospector who discovered gold in the Fairbanks area.

At the junction with the Elliot Highway decided drive up it for a while. Atmosphere was getting smokier the further we went, so decided to turn around at about mile 18 where the experimental trenching site to study the feasibility of constructing a natural gas pipe line from Alaska’s north shore is located. Back on the Steese Hwy. stopped at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline view point to get a close up view of this famous project. The visitor center is at mile 450 of the pipeline. Returned to the rv park to relax for the rest of the day. Heated up leftovers for dinner.

The Riverside RV Park is in a quite location next to the Chena River. Ten foot grass lawn between each site. It is surrounded by 50 to 60 foot spruce, tamarack, birch, and poplar trees. Some of the poplars are of the cottonwood variety. White fuzz is all over the place. Fort Wainwright Army Base is just to the west. The only disturbance happens at about 5 to 6 PM when a few small two engine airplanes fly over to land at the base.

June 28, 2005

Visited the Museum of the North located at the University of Alaska. Spent almost four hours viewing exhibits and learning about Alaskan history. The exhibits about the native peoples of Alaska were especially compelling. Exhibits of wild life both prehistoric and modern was interesting. Considering the importance of the mining industry in Alaska, found the minerals exhibit skimpy and disappointing.

Had lunch at the Lemon Grass; a Thai Restaurant located in a strip mall southwest of the University. It has been a while since we have had Thai food. The food was pretty good, seasoned well, but a little overcooked for my taste. Before going back to the rv park, stopped by a Hot Licks Ice Cream outlet for an ice cream cone. The afternoon turned out to be hot and muggy with temps in the mid 80s. Was more comfortable after taking a shower and changing into short pants.

June 29, 2005

Atmosphere is still smoky and dismal. No incentive to explore any more of the country side. The weather forecast shows no end in sight. Guess we will move on tomorrow. Have a feeling of discontentment in the belief that we are missing many of the interesting sights of north central Alaska due to the forest fire smoke.

Decided to check out the farmers market which is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the summer. Picked up some fresh green vegetables (mixed greens, green onions, radishes) and a loaf of fresh baked bread. The lettuce, bok choy and napa cabbage where really tempting, but already had some in the frig. Several bee keepers where there offering their wild flower honey. Again already had honey in the pantry, so passed their offer by. Purchased a couple of basil plants. Will see if I can keep them growing to perk up salads and pasta dishes while on the road. The handy craft offerings were amateurish; nothing worth picking up for a souvenir.

June 30, 2005

On the road by 7:00 AM. Road construction for 25 miles between Ester and Nenana slowed us down a little. The smoke was so dense that we could hardly see the outlines of the hills and mountains. By the time we crossed Broad Pass south of Cantwell, clouds had formed and mixed with the smoke to further decrease visibility. No scenic views this day. Rolled into the Mountain View RV Park in Palmer about 3:00 PM. The surrounding mountains were obscured by clouds with an occasional sunny break through to remind us that they were there. Learned that there is a forest fire on the Kenai peninsula which is causing hazy air conditions in the Mat-Su (Matanuska and Susitna Rivers) valley. The Matanuska flows from the northeast and the Susitna flows from the north. Together they make a wide valley as they almost join before emptying into the Cook Inlet. Some rain showers during the evening.