Jerry and Dee's "Ramblings": Palmer– Where We Would Live……..

Got your attention? This little marmot lives near Palmer.

Dee and I agree, if we were to live in Alaska, year round, Palmer would probably be the place. Palmer is about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage. This is still a little close to the big city, but puts you in easy distance of any “stuff” or services you might need. As well as a flight to the “outside”, if necessary. But that is not why we like Palmer.

That’s our Trek tucked in the flowers and grass. Alaska??

We stayed four days at the Matanuska River Park, a very nice, clean city park. Once again the folks around town were very friendly, just a comfortable town to hang out in.

Palmer has some unique heritage. In 1935, during the height of the depression and a huge drought in the Midwest, the US government selected 200 families to be shipped here to colonize the Matanuska Valley. They were like the original settlers, living in tents until they could clear the land and build cabins and barns. The hardships and challenges they had to overcome were huge. If you want to read much more about those times and events, just Google it. Needless to say their stories are quite a saga and inspiration. Future generations of these families are still here today. Ultimately this valley became, and still is, the agricultural hub of Alaska. We have always liked, rural, agricultural locations so that is probably one of the main reasons we are attracted to Palmer.

We were lucky to be around for the weekly Farmer’s Market. A well attended market with a lot of great veggies, crafts and of course people out having fun on a nice sunny day.

This is Arlene Hayward. Arlene hand makes these pottery Ocarina Flutes. As she says, “all you need it breath and fingers”! Being the accomplished musician that I am, I am working on the DO-RA-ME scale as well as Mary Had A Little Lamb! Cool, huh?

We talked with this young lady for quite a bit. She just happens to be completing graduate work at Ohio State and wants to move to Alaska. It seems that the little agricultural land that Alaska has, is being sought after by developers. Being this close to Anchorage it is a real local issue. Sound familiar? We hope the farmers can/will hold out.

In case you can’t read this T-shirt…I wasn’t born here but

I got here as soon as I could

Dee loves to take photos of flowers. I think she get’s her love of flowers from her Mom, and my Mom. Here are a few shots from the nearby garden:

Palmer is the home of the Alaska State Fair, held in late August (too bad we will miss it). Over 300,000 people flood into this little town for the twelve days of the fair. One of the highlights, which unfortunately we don’t have photos of is the giant vegetable competition. How about this….127 pound cabbage, 10 pound onion, 2 pound radish and 125 pound pumpkins. The local farmers who grow these huge veggies have often been doing it for generations, keeping their cultivation and fertilizing processes very secret.

A few miles east of Palmer is the world’s only domestic musk-ox farm. They were hunted almost to extinction during the early 1900’s but have been reestablished in northwestern and arctic Alaska. The wool from the these unusual animals is said to be eight times warmer than sheep’s wool and much finer than cashmere. Also VERY expensive.

They are very docile, except during mating season. But we didn’t try to buy one because they probably wouldn’t do well in Arizona And hauling one in the Trek would have easily put us over the weight limit.

One day we took a drive up to Hatcher Pass and the Liberty Mine. When we started out it was a pretty bright day. As we climbed it got foggy and we got into the clouds, we could hardly see in 30 feet in front of the Jeep. So the wonderful views we were promised, stayed hidden. We did spend a couple hours touring the Independence Mine Site. The hard-rock gold mine opened in 1908 and closed in 1942. Over that time a network of over 21 miles of tunnels we dug under the mountain. Twenty some buildings are in various stages of ruin and refurbishing. The guided tour was very interesting.