Sunday, July 13, 2014

A Stop in Wasilla

SARAH'S HOUSE AND GOLD PANNING TWO!

We were sorry to leave Kenai Peninsula...a most enjoyable set of days!  Seward on the east side, then Homer on the south side, and Kenai/Soldotna on the northwest limb!  All most pleasant stays!  We all said we could have stayed longer on the Kenai Peninsula!

But our travels beckon, so we headed off to the north in the direction of Denali National Park.  We elected to stop over near Anchorage for some "Big City" shopping needs, so our choice--not our first one!!--was a RV park not all that highly rated in Woodall's up to the north of Anchorage in Wasilla.  Oh yeah, if you are clever, you know that name:  Sarah's home town!!!

Sure, you know we had to ask:  "Where does Sarah live?"  The lady at the visitor's center was discreet but did show us how to find a road to the south side of the lake on which she lives from which we could see the house across the lake!  So, yeah, we drove out there!!  Well, there are lots of houses "across the lake"!  Like I said, the visitor's center lady was discreet!  But hey, we had Jack and his mini-iPad!  He does a few flicks of his fingers, and voila!  He has a picture of her house from about where we are standing on a dock on the south side of the lake!!  Here is my rendition:

Sarah Pallin's house in Wasilla, Alaska--the one with the heavy white trim!!  [Are those agents in that boat??]
Of course, you know Jack is going to be impossible to live with for a day or two--or whenever he remembers that he corroborated the sighting because of his Internet prowess with his ever-present mini-iPad!  Well, we did thank Jack for his efforts, of course!  Quickly, and earnestly!  But not every time he brought it up after that!

GOLD PANNING REDOUX!!

Up above Wasilla and Palmer is a worn-out gold mine dating back to the early 1900's.  The name of the mine was Independence Mine. 

We had driven out to the Mat-Su Valley Visitor's Center to the east of Wasilla for information about the valley--it is home to the gigantic vegetables one sees on the news from time to time, like Charlie Brown's "giant pumpkin"!!  Since we were already a good distance east of our campground, and since it was still early in the day, I suggested we drive up to the exhausted mine for a bit more gold panning experience!  I mean, after all, if you are going to pan for gold, why not be near a place where it was mined for real, eh?  We did have boots and pans in the car, so up we went.  And sure enough, the mine structures are pretty dilapidated!!
Not much left of this old mine complex!
Some of the original structures are still standing.
So it was into the back of the car for wading equipment (boots) and pans and off to the stream!

Those that had boots--wear 'em!!  Let's go get some gold!
"Looks like a good spot over there!"
Betty and Tam sluice and wash and hope!
There wasn't much luck in that first soft water area, so the "gold diggers" moved downstream a bit!

"Hey, Ray, c'mon over here and try your luck!"

"Ah, man, there must be a few flecks here!!"
Well, they thought they had a flake or two, but when we got back to the campground, the consensus was that what they had picked out of the pans was not really gold!  A disappointment, for sure!  Here we were in natural gold country--just down from an old mine!--and our pans yielding not one true flake!!

HOME OF THE IDITAROD HALL OF FAME

For some reason, Wasilla has become the home of the Iditarod's headquarters and Hall of Fame.  We had visited the Seavey kennels in Seward and taken a sled dog ride!  Rich is really taken with these dogs and the challenge of the race--the last three champions are Seaveys:  Dallas, Mitch, and Dallas again this year [son, father, son]!!  The youngest to win, the oldest to win, and a repeat champion!  So, we had to visit the Hall of Fame.

Here we are, strolling into the Iditarod Hall of Fame and Headquarters

A monument to Joe Stephenson, Sr., deemed "The Father of the Iditarod"
Rich is sure that he will want to make at least one more visit to Alaska, perhaps in late February and early March for the Iditarod.  Of course, securing proper winter clothing will be a challenge:  I mean, why buy a whole wardrobe to wear just one time??  OKAY!  Hey, we will come back several more times, maybe!  No kidding, y'all:  I am in love with Alaska!  And I grew up in South Dakota where the winters can be Alaska-like!  So maybe a blog next winter from the Iditarod???

Next blog post will be from Denali--"The Great One" in Athabascan--more commonly known as Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America!
Lovin' this 49th State!  If you haven't been here, put it on your bucket list!

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