Mat-Su Valley

I completed my Alaskan explorations with a low key day in the Mat-Su Valley,  which is a name based in shorthand for the two rivers that make up the region.  I started with a visit to Independence Mine Historic Site, which was above the valley in Hatcher Pass.   It was a similar to Kennecott, but smaller.  The biggest difference is they mined gold & not copper, but of course that was not evident to me on the surface.

Dropping in to the valley proper, I spent thebetter part of the rest of the day near Palmer. It was settled during the depression by transplant Midwestern farmers as part of a New Deal program.  It is still the agricultural heart of the state, but is small compared to Lower 48 standards.

My first stop, the Musk Ox Farm is of a more recent vintage.   Founded in the 1950s to domesticate that animal in order to harvest the soft underwool, it moved to Palmer a couple decades later.  At the Colony House Museum, I toured a relocated home of one of the original pioneer families.  Next at the visitor center, I started to watch a video I expected to be a short film, but was actually a full-length documentary.  It was a high quality production, but I only watched the first half before wanteingto move on.

Earlier at breakfast, a fellow B&B guest gave me a ticket for the state fair which had opened that day.   Too good an opportunity to pass up, I used it.  The fair was a lot like any other, but the setting between the Chugach & Talkeetna Mountains was unsurpassed.  Oh & I doubt many other fairs show 700 pound gourds. 

Save for killing about 20 minutes at the botanical garden before I needed to return the car that pretty much ended my time in the 49th state.   I spent pretty much the rest of the day getting ready to head to my next destination.