Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

(Read part one here)

(Read part two here)

TALKEETNA

Our last morning in Seward began under slightly overcast skies. I thought for sure that the rain was going to come back, but by the time we had the camper packed up and were on our way to Talkeetna, the sun was shining brightly and quickly warming the air.

I didn’t take many photos on the way to Talkeetna. The only brief stops we made between Seward and Talkeetna were at Tern Lake (photo at left) and at Bird Creek to top off the gas tank and the gas cans.

However, we also stopped to meet up with a friend - Mike in Eagle River. We met him at PizzaMan Pizza, where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch and great conversation.  I met Mike online in the Alaska Living Group. He moved to AK from Miami back in 2005, I believe.  It was good seeing him.

Traffic was slow in places, but fortunately there are quite a few passing lanes so Steve was able to get to the front of the line without causing me to have a heart attack.

Talkeetna is a railroad town. Most of the town is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s full of cabins and railroad buildings. According to the Bearfoot Magazine for the Parks Hwy :

…Talkeetna is McKinley’s mountain town. The best professional climbers from every country in the world come to Talkeetna to use it as their jumping off point. Their influence is everywhere, on the streets, and in the National Park visitor center. Talkeetna is both surprisingly international and down-home. You’ll see Tibetan prayer flags, as well as Korean banners, grizzled trappers, and Alaska huskies, all in one place.

Talkeetna is a railroad town that was isolated from the road system for many years. It has served for decades as a staging area for Denali climbers. The town has an active social life, and a strong sense of fun and community. People here love to celebrate the Alaskan lifestyle. They say the TV town of Cicely, Alaska on Northern Exposure was based on Talkeetna.

After setting up the camper, Steve and I took a nice walk through town. The 5th annual Moose on Parade is currently going on. This event was inspired by the spirit of Wild Salmon on Parade (Anchorage) and Cows on Parade (Chicago). (The moose will participate in the July 4th parade and then be auctioned off to benefit the Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce, the Talkeetna Artists’ Guild, and the Talkeetna Historical Society.) I just had to grab some photos of some of the unique moose on display. They were everywhere!

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As usual, I took so many photos, that I’m going to break down the account of our recent travels into three separate blog entries:

Part One: Fairbanks - Palmer - First Days in Seward

Part Two: In Seward: Exit Glacier, Sea Life Center, Wildlife Cruise

Part Three: Talkeetna and Home

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FAIRBANKS - PALMER

We were on the road by 10am - which is our target time when we travel.  We don’t bother rushing around in the morning, because we’re not at risk of running out of daylight when traveling in the summer months.  Towing the camper, it takes about seven hours to get to Palmer, even longer when there’s road construction - and there is always road construction in the summer months.

I love the summer months, and I love that Alaska attracts so many tourists at this time of year. The roads are full of RVs of all sizes.  And with such gorgeous scenery, you can be sure that travelers aren’t always maintaining the speed limit.  Steve has a real issue with not being able to see the open road ahead of him, so he always passes the slowpokes. Doing this while towing our own trailer, on a two lane highway, with sometimes limited visibility, stresses me out!  I’m always happy when we finally get to our destination, as I can breathe again.

We drove through several areas of construction requiring a flagger. One of the longer stops was at least 20 minutes, if not longer. And we were at the end of a long line of RVs and boats, etc.  I dreaded to think about all of the passing we had ahead of us. Yikes!

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(Read Part One here)

The house was lovely, with spectacular 180 degree views from the living area and deck. The deck wrapped almost completely around the house, and there was a doggie door for Eli, even though he wanted no parts of it.

The neatest feature of the house (besides the incredible views) was the hanging fireplace in the middle of the living room. In the evenings, we would open the doors to hear the ocean and smell the salt air, and light a fire in the fireplace to stay warm. It was like having a bonfire indoors.

Once unpacked, we opened the first bottle of wine (of many) and toasted each other and our stay at the beach.  France made some awesome music CDs and we got the stereo cranking almost immediately.  The views from the deck were breathtaking, and we found ourselves spending almost all of our time outside watching the tide change, and the sun move across the sky. France and I wandered around taking photographs. France is also an avid photographer and there was plenty to keep both of us clicking.

There were deer everywhere, and in the morning and late afternoon, they would come out and graze on the lush grasses everywhere. Eli alerted us to the first one, but after seeing a few more of them over the course of the day, he seemed to get used to them.

France prepared dinner for us the first night: savory chicken breasts, with a side of bowtie pasta topped with sun dried tomato alfredo sauce. It was so delicious! After dinner, we retired to the deck sipping wine (Scotch and a cigar for Steve), and watched the sky turn colors as the sun began it’s journey down to the horizon.

After dark, Steve started a fire in the firepit, and we retired to the warmer living room. Periodically, we’d go back out on the deck to gaze at the stars. I took some long-exposure photographs in the dark with the moon illuminating the ocean.

These two photos sum up our time on the coast pretty well:

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