Friday, July 10, 2009 – Palmer, AK to Talkeetna, AK
I usually get up with the sunrise, and that is a problem when the sun barely sets. Although I tried to let the sun rise a bit before I did, I was still up before everyone else. Everyone else except my grandmother,“Gami”, of course. She is an early riser like me, or more accurately – I am like her. She and I got up and walked halfway around the lake while everyone else was getting up. Before we left one of my aunts said she wasn’t worried about the 82 year old, she was worried about the rest of us trying to keep up with her. My aunt was right!
We broke camp (not much of an event in the RVs) and headed off in separate directions. Six of our party took one RV and went to a Musk Ox farm. Our family of four took the other RV and went to the Dream a Dream Dog Farm (Link Here). Aaron studied the Iditarod in school the year before and the class followed the race, so he was very excited to visit the farm. Plus we are dog-lovers anyway, so this was sure to be a great experience. And it was. We met the musher and owner of Dream a Dream, Vern Halter, and Aaron got his autograph. We saw a video about the Iditarod, checked out the equipment that they use, and (the best part) visited with the dogs and walked the puppies. Aaron picked out a dog (or did it pick him?) named Mocha that he spent a lot of time with. We were all dirty by the time we left, but especially Aaron after Mocha jumped all over him.
Part of the tour was a “sled” ride. In the summer they pull a motorized cart instead of a sled and due to the heat they ran the engine to help the dogs along. But as soon as the harnesses came out the dogs went nuts. They all wanted to run and pull. It is what they do and they love it. If anyone is concerned about the well being of these dogs, I encourage them to go visit. They are very well cared for and clearly enjoy pulling the sleds.
When we left Dream a Dream we stopped at a farmers market and I bought some home-roasted coffee. We stopped at a lake for a picnic lunch, then met back up with the others at a campground just outside of Talkeetna. We timed it so we were there for the annual Moose Dropping Festival. Little did we know that we would be present for the last Moose Dropping Festival.
The festival ran annually from 1972-2009 and was centered around varnished moose droppings. Each dropping (yes, turd) was carefully varnished and numbered and folks could buy a number. The droppings were then dropped from a crane onto a target on the ground below and prizes were given for a bullseye and other target locations. It expanded from a simple, fun fund raiser to an entire weekend festival – more on that in the next two posts. It grew a little larger every year until 2009 when the town decided the crowds were just too much and they voted to end the festival. It was crowded, a little crazy, and I respect their decision. I would love to go back sometime to see what the town is like under normal circumstances, but I’m also glad we got to experience the festival.
We spent Friday afternoon walking around the town, buying our tickets for the dropping, and buying tickets for a glacier airplane tour. Our family of four plus my brother decided to take a tour from the Talkeetna Airport up into the mountains and land on a glacier. More on the tour in tomorrow’s post, but when we bought the tickets the agent asked my brother if he or his dad (me) was paying for his ticket. I think she knew right away what she had done. She started a family joke that persists 11-plus years later. Andy is now my third child. He jumps in family pictures with my kids, and they often call him big brother. Good stuff, and I am glad to be the butt of that joke.
We had dinner Friday night at the West Rib. Great food on a recommendation from a cousin who had been to Talkeetna before.
Where Are We Going Now? 