PALMER, ALASKA

PALMER, ALASKA

We left Seward in the rain for a 166-mile drive to Palmer.  It’s always a little hard to get motivated on a rainy morning, very easy to sleep in, but we needed to be in Palmer by 5:30 for a Tracks BBQ. 

Everyday we are surprised by the scenery, we think we have seen all that Alaska has to offer but there is always more.  We stopped at Jerome Lake to admire the view and stopped at Summit Lake Lodge for brunch.  What a beautiful site….the weather was still rather dreary but the buildings were very rustic, beautifully constructed and decorated.  The view out the windows of the lodge dining room and of course the gift shop were great.  Bill had an omelet (it actually contained some reindeer sausage) and I had “Paris Toast Ooh la la” (fancy word for French Toast).  The food and the atmosphere were excellent. 

We stopped at Bird Creek, Chugach State Park, the Turnagain Pass Recreation Site and Beluga Point for a some quick stretches and photos.  We had traveled part of this road earlier but had missed a few interesting stops.  It was still rather drizzly but we decided to stop at the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, commonly referred to as “Potter Marsh” and then again at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  The latter is a 140 acre drive-through animal park, dedicated to the rehabilitation of orphaned and injured animals.  They work year-round with state and federal agencies, providing wildlife emergency treatment, rescue and care.  The center features bears, caribou, moose, musk-oxen, bison, elk, Sitka black-tailed deer, eagles and owls.  The day we were there they also had two bears and a porcupine (Bill was especially excited about the porcupine).  My family loves to go to the zoo … this is not a zoo, but you get the drift.  It was fun.

 

We did arrive in time to set up, freshen up and finish up the dessert for the BBQ.  Each rig has a number (we are #10) so the even numbers were assigned a dessert and the odd numbers a side dish.  Tracks would provide the burgers.   I had baked the “Better than Anything” cake the night before, just needed to put the cool whip and crumbled heath bars on top to have it ready.  Now about the cake --- I prepared it as usual, lit the oven and in went the cake.  When I went to take it out it was really lopsided, seems as if the “automatic levelers” of the motor home lost their “memory” and the motor home was NOT level.  Nothing I could do but decide that I would just explain it was a “mountain cake”, starting at ground level and sloping upwards.  Anyone who did not want a big piece could take one from the ground level and those with bigger appetites from the highest slope.  Oh well, it tasted good anyway and everyone wanted the recipe.

The next morning the bus was picking us up for a tour of Palmer.  We headed to the Visitor Center/Museum and gardens.  There was a very interesting video of the history of Palmer with interviews from the original settlers and their families telling their stories.  In 1935, Palmer became the site of one of the most unusual experiments in American history, the Matanusak Valley Colony.  The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, one of the many New Deal relief agencies created during Franklin Roosevelt’s first year in office, planned an agricultural colony in Alaska to utilize the great agricultural potential in the Matanuska Valley and to get some American Farm families – struck first by the dust bowl and then by the Great Depression – off the dole.  Social workers picked 203 families, mostly from the northern counties of Michigan, Wisconsin & Minnesota, to join the colony because it was thought that the many hardy farmers of Scandinavian descent in those 3 states would have a natural advantage over other ethnic groups.   The colonists arrived in Palmer in the early summer of 1935, and though the failure rate was high, many of their descendants still live in the Matanuska Valley.  Palmer gradually became acting headquarters for a farmers’ cooperative marketing organization and as the social and business center for the state’s most productive farming region.   But the video had a different slant on this experiment.  They offered families a certain amount of land and promised them new homes, adventure and prosperity.  Sound too good to be true?  As usual this was the case and many families did not stay.  They arrived to find they had to not only build their own houses, but had to cut down the trees, cut the planks and clear their land all before winter.  There was no time to plant any crops so the winter was very rough.  The government controlled everything the farmers grew, how and where they could spend their money, the whole nine yards.  It was almost like Socialism.  Palmer managed to survive but today other industries have taken over as primary economic forces.  Okay History lesson is over …. On to the next stop!

The bus then took us to a Musk-Ox farm.  We had never really been too interested in the Musk-Ox, guess they were a misunderstood animal.  The young lady who led us around the different pens was the granddaughter of the owner and came back every summer (college breaks) to work on the farm and give tours.  She had been with a couple of the mothers when their babies were born and was very knowledgeable.  By the time we left she had actually convinced us they are wonderful, friendly creatures.  Most of them were happy to eat the grass out of our hands.  I fed a Musk-Ox!   But, the most interesting thing is that this native cooperative uses the fine wool (qiviut) to knit beautiful and warm wares.  It is lighter in weight than wool and very, very soft.   Thought about buying a scarf or ski hat for our girls (Jennifer, Mandy & Megan) but we couldn’t quite do the $275 price.  Sorry girls!!

Next stop, the Reindeer Farm.  Again, we had a woman give a very informative talk about the reindeer, their behaviours, their antlers and such.  Do you know what the difference is between a Reindeer and a Caribou (other than that one of them flies and pulls Santa’s Sleigh)?  Nothing except the Reindeer are in captivity and the Caribou are in the wild.  We did get swarmed by them as we tried to pet and feed them….Bill had a real challenge, I got several pictures of him feeding the reindeer.  They also had 2 moose and several elk and deer, which we were able to pet.  I did not know that the moose’ coats are very oily.  I was surprised at that and headed back to wash my hands again.

Oh and did I mention the sun had come out --- YEA!  Turned out to be a fun and interesting trip.  Back to the RV, dinner and downtime.  Next day off to Valdez, Alaska, lots of fun excursions planned by Tracks for us there.  Only 260 beautiful (but long) miles to Valdez!