Back North (Sunday, August 16, 2009) We left the Kenai Peninsula this morning, heading back north through Anchorage, then east to Palmer in the Mat-Su Valley, short for Matanuska. The Mat-Su Valley was the location of a Roosevelt New Deal resettlement of families from Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and also is home to really giant cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. We arrived at the Homestead RV Park about 2:30 PM, set up, “rested”, and had a lecture-type PowerPoint program on the history of the Mat-Su Valley by the RV Park owners. The park owners were former teachers from the Lower 48 who came here on summer break in the 1990s, began work camping the following year, and ended up retiring, selling out, and buying the place. The presentation was very interesting. In fact, our wagon master, Les Potteiger, has done an excellent job of arranging outstanding presentations at each of our stops.

Day 2 in Palmer (Monday, August 17, 2009) Kay spent a good part of the morning checking with Ford dealerships with respect to the loose ball joints we were diagnosed with on Saturday, and whether or not it was covered by warranty; no one could/would give us a second opinion because of the weight of the RV, and she finally called our selling RV dealer. We jointly came to the conclusion to continue as is until we reached the Lower 48. We met the bus about 9:30 AM today at the park for a tour of Palmer, which included a stop at the Visitor Center, viewing old resettlement houses and barns, touring a resettlement house and complimentary community buildings like the female nurses’ and teachers’ dormitory, church, etc. In fact, we had lunch in the dormitory. As we saw all the accommodations provided for the resettled families, I couldn’t help but think of the tough times Mom and Dad had during the same period, and how the resettled families lived so much better—oh well! Following lunch, we visited a musk ox farm where musk ox were being domesticated (they are 50 years in a 250-year process); the underfur is used to make scarves, blankets, and such, and is much finer than even cashmere, and more expensive, too. We returned to the park and “rested” again. Fourteen others from our caravan took a planned excursion to Hatcher Pass and an old mining town; we regret that we missed it, but were too tired to make it. We had Pam Flowers, adventurer, as our evening speaker and she was awesome. Pam was the first white woman to walk to the magnetic North Pole, took a dogsled and dogs solo across the northern Arctic, a 2500 mile journey, and just recently hiked the Appalachian Trail. She has written several books, and been on PBS. Not only did she have interesting stories to tell, but she knew how to tell a story, holding the audience spellbound. It was definitely one of the best talks we’ve ever heard.

Day 3 in Palmer (Tuesday, August 18, 2009) As the days are getting shorter (only about 15 hours of daylight now) we are sleeping longer, and today was no exception. After coffee, Kay opted to wash a couple loads of laundry. We decided to use our free day to do some shopping, return to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, have lunch, and visit Hatcher Pass and the mining town. We made it through shopping (buying an air compressor that has the capability to air up 80 psi tires) and the Alaska Native Heritage Center, but got hungry and had a hot dog at Café 150 (Costco’s $1.50 hot dog and soda special). We opted not to visit Hatcher Pass and the mining town, leaving it for our next trip to Alaska! In the evening, we enjoyed a great wine and cheese party for caravan members, hosted by Jean and Les, our wagon masters. We returned to the RV, hooked up the Saturn, and prepared for our departure to Valdez, AK, tomorrow.

Our Recommendations for Palmer, AK Palmer was a pleasant surprise. The history lesson was well worth the time spent, and the lectures were outstanding. If you ever get the chance to hear Pam Flowers speak, take advantage of it. (She visits schools, etc. in the winter in the Lower 48). Definitely visit the Visitor Center, the resettlement house, church, dormitory, and other buildings left over from the experiment. We regret we didn’t go to Hatcher Pass and the mining town. Also, we just didn’t have the energy to visit the Iditarod Museum in Wasilla and will do it next trip; Wasilla is the official start of the Iditarod Race. (Note: Speaking of Wasilla, during the last election in which Palin was the republican VP candidate, the media made Wasilla out to be a hick town; it is not. It is a modern mid-size city.) There’s lots of hiking and fishing in the area, and we didn’t make the time to do either; again, next trip. The musk ox farm was interesting, but I’m not sure we’d do it again.

Campground Homestead RV Park was very nice, lacking only sewer which was fine with us; many of the beautiful trees would have to be cut to have sewer. The wi-fi was excellent, the park was clean, laundry was reasonable and clean, restrooms spotless, sites were large enough to accommodate RVs and toads, and the 30-amp electricity was better than average. There was no cable, but we had several HD TV stations via antenna. The park had an enclosed pavilion with audio-visual capability and our caravan used it every night; this was definitely an asset. Absent the caravan, they have activities such as square dancing, ice cream, etc. there most nights. On the down side, the Glen Highway was less than 100 yards away from our site, and road noise, particularly semis, on the highway was loud, and could be distracting; this was not an issue with us. The owners were delightful, had more than a passing interest in their guests, and were integrated into the Palmer community. We would definitely stay here again.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 14,363.5
Beginning Time: 8:00 AM Alaska DST
Ending Mileage: 14,561.9
Ending Time: 2:30 PM Alaska DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 198.4
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 5,170.4