ALASKA

HATCHER PASS

LOCATIONS

• Independence mine historic site
• Archangel mine
• B-29 Bomber downed bomber wreck
• Gold Courd lake
• Various mine shafts and caves some closed off
• ALL parks require a $5 day pass parking fee

TALKEETNA

One of my favorites, very very small historic town located just below Mt. Denali. Lots of small shops and cafés and local made arts and crafts. There are also historical sites located all over the town....literally. The towns basically a living monument. Some food and items may be pricey because it's a remote town and its Alaska. The city is nestled just below Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America.

SEWARD

Seward as well as Kenai and most cities on the coast are fishing towns and are BOOMING over the Summer with commercial fishing. This means you may be able to go halibut and salmon fishing and these make bass look small. Halibut can be almost as tall as a person! It may be costly to go on a ship, never been but I do salmon fishing with you will need a out of state tag to fish but if you search around you could find some exceptions. Key fishing areas are Willow Creek, The little Su river, Russian River, basically most places that lead to to ocean. Also do visit the beaches which are beautiful around sunset and are free to visit. On the beach you may be able to spot seals...yes...seals and I'm not lying, they like to play peek-a-boo near the shallow shores of Kenai.

Seward has small shops in the downtown areas and a wildlife refuge with starfish, puffins, and other wildlife of the coast. A nice place to eat is the Seward brewing company. Most cities have their own breweries which are nice places to eat.

ANCHORAGE

Anchorage is more or less a developing city that is slowly modernizing. A bit of caution, do NOT go out alone when it gets dark and watch out for shady people, the state especially in anchorage, has a drug issue beyond belief. There is a mall, but it's not very large but I digress. There are historic monuments to captain cook, and explorers. There is also a reindeer farm where you can go and pet reindeer! I am unclear on prices but it is easily researchable. Along anchorage and into eagle river and Chugiak you can go and explore some of the mountains around the area as well as a abandoned missile silo from the Cold War, I have never been but do look into it.

There are also many souvenir shops there, but that's a tourist hotspot so look around on prices, a cool place is once in a blue moose. There's more native made and Alaska products in Wasilla and palmer. Places to eat would be snow city cafe, moose tooth pizzeria, bear tooth food and movies, and sea galley. Sorry, we don't have chic-fil-a sadly...but sweet tea is common at restaurants.

WASILLA

Wasilla is the heart of the Matanuska-Susitna valley also known as the Mat-Su borough, we don't have counties.(say that three times fast). Wasilla has boomed in size and continues to grow. Key places to visit are the Palmer hay flats and thunderbird falls where you can go into the marsh and into a waterfall. There are also glaciers you can visit all over the area however the MATSU glacier charges an arm and a leg but there are others around the area to look into. Be careful, there are crevasses and you do not wanna fall into them. The Iditarod trail sled dog museum, Alaska transportation museum, matanuska experiment farm, are places to look into.

PALMER

Like Wasilla, Palmer also has a municipal airport but much larger. You can possibly see several DC-3 aircraft on the runway but I am unsure of tours, it's not very protected because I accidentally drove onto the Tarmac..oops. Vagabond blues is a very nice local coffee shop in the heart of Palmer. Other places to eat are the Noisy Goose the valley hotel and the Palmer Ale house. Across the street from vagabond blues there is a boutique and several shops in the area kind of like Downtown Brandon. There is also the Palmer history museum to walk through. On the outskirts of Palmer you can hike Lazy Mountain (4 hour hike so pack light and in Summer wear, somewhat difficult) the view is amazing! If you'd rather hike a smaller hill, the Butte is a easy 20 minute or so hike. The musk ox farm is also a place to visit.

WILLOW

There isn't a whole lot to do that I know of in willow. However there may be a Iditarod museum as that is where the international dog sled restart beginswhich attract people from all over the globe. Willow is not very popular until the snow hits and the races are scheduled, however I'd suggest touring the Dr. Seuss museum which looks like something you'd find in one of his books.

Alaska is known as the land of the midnight sun for a very good reason, we get sunlight the majority of the day/night. You may find yourself out and about one day and get carried away and realize HOLY COW ITS 10PM! Most of the hikes I've been on provide outstanding views and sights of nature so do pack your camera for some great shots. My life gets hike so far has been Pioneer peak, which takes al, day and requires a early start. The trailhead is absurdly unnoticeable but is located between mile marker 3 and 5 on the old Glenn highway. This hike provides a clear view of a glacier and most of Palmer and Wasilla and the knik river. Beware this is a hard hike so pack a days worth of food and water, it features some ridiculous hills and altitude gain but I implore you to push to the top. You won't exactly be able to get to the very very top without climbing gear as it it somewhat unsafe towards the top.

Carry bear spray...but if you or whoever you go with owns a rifle or revolver (revolver in .44 or .357) bring it, there are bears in the area. Other than that you may see moose which are territorial and WILL charge and attack so make your presence known to not spook them, also drive safe, they can total a car and sadly cause fatalities frequently because their eyes do not reflect light and are hard to spot. You can see Doll sheep as well which are very docile from a distance.

There are lots of places to go kayaking up in Alaska and you should look into them. I'm sorry to say but most of the fun things are somewhat pricey and so is gas ($2.60+ 2017) and really nice places are out there on the road. There's plenty of hikes to take around the Palmer and Wasilla area. Our summers are fairly cool, full of sunlight, and quite a few things to do. Events in our area do change so by 2018 there may be more things to do, like one year we had a air show with the Blue Angels, the new F-35, military planes and vehicles, demonstrations etc on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.