Spending time in Governor's home town

This entry is a bit backwards, because that is the way the pictures came out!

In the Palmer-Wasilla area, there are a couple of golf courses, so we took the opportunity to play 18 holes. We had a really good time, and played around with some "locals". They had been out playing most of the afternoon and had "hydrated" more that a little, so it was pretty interesting. Remind us to tell you how not to drive a golf cart across a sand trap!

Earlier in the day, we drove up to Hatcher Pass to the Independence Mine. It is no longer a working mine, but they tell us that there is gold in the mountain. So old Sourdough Jim tried his skill at panning. It doesn't look like the proceeds are going to pay for this trip. Maybe if he had had more time, but it started hailing and we ran for cover!

The mine is very interesting, and you can ramble around the buildings as much as you want. There are also tours, and a visitor's center. The mine will never open again as it would be far too expensive for the amount they would get, and there would be too many safety regulations in place now.

When we arrive in a town, one of the first stops in the Visitor's Center. In Wasilla, we found out that there was going to be a Scottish Highland Games on the weekend in Eagle River. What a great time we had! There were bagpipe bands, dancers, good food, and the games themselves. We had never seen the caber toss, hammer toss, and the stone toss, and it is really amazing.

Big strong men in kilts!

Also in the Palmer area are Musk Ox Farms. So we went out to see these left overs from the Ice Age. We learned about the way people comb their fur to collect the soft undercoat that is spun into yarn and sent to some of the Native Alaskans in small villages to knit into clothing. It is incredibly soft but not a very colorful yarn. And expensive! One skein which would make one scarf costs $90.

Each Friday in Palmer, there is a Farmer's Market, called Friday Fling. We stopped over to see if we could find any good produce, but found that BP Company was providing a free lunch for everyone that day! We know there are several of you that would be very proud of us! We spent some time at the Visitor's Center learning all about the Colonization of Palmer. FDR used it as a way to help out during the depression by sending 100 families here to start farming. Unfortunately there was little preparation done ahead of them, and the first years were extremely hard because most of the land was forested. In order to farm they to clear the land which took a considerable amount of time and energy. Many of the first families left within a year and had to be replaced with other families. Probably Palmer wouldn't have made it at all accept that during World War II there were men in Anchorage that were lonely and hungry and were "adopted" by the families in Palmer.