Background: Originally published July 12, 2006.
With a population of 5,474, Palmer Alaska on the surface appears to be a bedroom community for Anchorage, 40 miles away. Even though it's smaller than Sutherlin, Palmer has a Fred Meyer. I didn't know what to expect on my first trip to Alaska, except I knew that prices would be higher. Even though my sister was paying my expenses, I still wanted to be frugal.
Surprisingly, gasoline was cheaper in Anchorage-Palmer than it was here in Douglas County. Around $2.90 two weeks ago for regular unleaded. Everything else was through the roof. My family refused to buy oranges at the Tillamook, Oregon Fred Meyer for $1.39 a pound on Wednesday, June 21t. But we reluctantly gave in and paid $1.99 a pound two days later at the Palmer Fred Meyer. Instead of half gallons of milk and orange juice at TEN for $10.00 like they're advertised at the Roseburg Fred Meyer, the Anchorage Daily News insert lists their Fred Meyer coupon special at EIGHT for $10.00.
The Palmer McDonald's doesn't have a $1.00 value menu like their Oregon counterparts. Sandwiches that sell for a buck in Oregon cost $1.50 at the golden arches in Alaska.
High prices aside, I was looking forward to visiting the land of the midnight sun for the first time in my life. Before our arrival, I was browsing the Alaska Airlines June 2006 magazine on board the flight, trying to get a sampling of the local atmosphere. An advertisement for a pub in downtown Anchorage called Darwin's Theory boasted the best popcorn in town, as voted on by the Anchorage Daily News.
Hmmm....good popcorn was certainly a deciding factor for me in visiting Alaska (not!). An alternative bar called Mad Myrna's was hosting a fundraiser for a local diabetes organization. And, Ketchikan General Hospital was recruiting doctors to their team of "32 top-notch physicians." Too bad television stations never have to desperately recruit reporters the way the medical profession is always recruiting.
After touching down in Anchorage and departing the airport, I made a wrong turn on Northern Lights Boulevard. But that misfortune turned into a pleasant surprise as we discovered a moose strolling across the road, inside the city limits and still within view of the airport!
I was in no hurry to grab my camera, figuring if we saw ONE moose inside Anchorage, then we'd see an entire herd out in the country. Naturally, we never saw another single moose during our four-day visit.
We stayed at the Valley Hotel in Palmer (www.valleyhotelalaska.com); a renovated three-story building that features a 24-hour restaurant. Even though we arrived for a late night dinner after 11:00p.m., the place was packed. It especially seemed to be a popular hang-out for the teen-age crowd. I wonder if their marketing strategy could be applied here in Oregon (where everything closes at 9:00 or 10:00p.m.), or if it's just an Alaska phenomenon?
The one phenomenon I couldn't shake was the midnight sun. It never got dark. I never knew when to go to bed. Consequently, I went into Anchorage one evening to look around. Despite my run-ins with drivers who were out to kill me (see "Alaska Journal, Part 1" blog entry), I had an enjoyable time. I didn't visit Darwin's Theory, but there were plenty of other sights to see in Alaska's largest city.
There aren't any moose around Palmer, but there's plenty of other wildlife places to visit. Within a few miles of town, there's one of the world's only domestic musk ox farms (www.muskoxfarm.org), there's a reindeer farm (www.reindeerfarm.com), and there's also a wolf sanctuary. I learned the reindeer are simply domesticated caribou.
We didn't see any Dahl sheep on Sheep Mountain, but it was still worth the 60-mile drive from Palmer to visit the Sheep Mountain Lodge (www.sheepmountain.com) for a piece of their berry cobbler and a drink of their natural water.
Driving a rental car with Alaska plates, I tried to "blend in" and not look the part of a tourist. While I was in the Musk Ox Farm gift shop, I couldn't believe how demeaning a couple of tourists were from Arizona and New Hampshire. They were asking the clerk for driving directions to Talkeetna. The clerk politely gave them detailed information, but revealed he had never been there before himself. The two ladies asked the clerk "where did HE come from?" When he told them he was born and raised in Palmer, they grilled him further by saying "and YOU'VE never been to Talkeetna?"
After the two lady tourists had left, I told the teen-age boy not to feel bad. I was born and raised within a hundred miles of one of the scenic wonders of the world, but I never visited Crater Lake National Park until I was in my twenties. It's often the same with people everywhere. You never see what's in your own backyard.
I spent my last allowance money so that I could visit Brazil's capitol city, Brasilia, when I was a Rotary foreign exchange student. But I don't know when I'll ever have the chance to visit my own country's capitol, Washington, D.C.
I returned to Oregon sad that I didn't have the time to explore more of Alaska, but very pleased that I had been fortunate enough to see as many places as I did during my four-day visit. If I ever return, I'll have my camera in hand the moment I leave the airport, ready to shoot any wayward moose (meese?). And, I may even bring a ten for $10.00 Fred Meyer coupon with me from Oregon, to see if they can be redeemed in Alaska..??..
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