Since we had already seen everything we wanted to see in Anchorage, we didn't want to stay long. We had to chores to attend to and then it would be time to move farther north. Our campground of choice was the Sam's Club parking lot near JBER (joint base Elmendorf-Richardson). That would give us easy access to everything we needed to do. Since we knew there were other Boomers in the area, Connie put out the word on Facebook that there was going to be a Boomerang. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that we would all meet at Longhorn Steakhouse--about 100 yards from where we were parked! The time was set for Tuesday evening. Larry, Connie, Bob and I needed to get our 'chores' done before then.
Monday afternoon, Bob and I checked out some items in Sam's so we could compare prices in the commissary. Then, I went and got my hair cut really short because it would be easier to wash and dry in the RV. Tuesday morning was laundry time. After our laundry was done and put away, we went to the commissary. We bought most of our groceries at the commissary and then went back to Sam's to get milk, eggs, and peanuts because there was quite a difference in price on those items.
Tuesday evening, we met the other Boomers at Longhorn. We had a good time, but due to the size of our crowd and the way the tables were set up, four of us had to sit separately from the other eight. It was a fun night of sharing stories and learning more about things that happen in Alaska in the winter as four of the Boomers summer in Alaska.
Wednesday, it was time to move on toward Fairbanks which is 358 miles north. That is much to far for us to drive in a day! Our first stop was Wasilla to see the Iditarod Headquarters.
I had to get my picture with the statue of Balto, the dog who saved Nome.
Originally, the dogs ran the Iditarod without foot protection. The race has come a long way. The dogs now wear booties to keep them from having foot problems during the race. This tree shows some of the booties used in the Iditarod.
Connie wanted to ride behind the dogs. It is amazing to see how excited the dogs get when they know they are going to run. One dog that wasn't running, kept pacing around his doghouse and barking to let everyone know he wanted some of the action.
From Wasilla, we continued on to the small town of Talkeetna which has become a bus/train stop for cruise sea and land adventures. Of course, we were there while some of the cruise buses were in town.
After walking around the town and visiting the Talkeetna Denali National Park Ranger Station (where Mt. McKinley climbers check-in), we drove back to Denali Brewing Company and sampled some of their craft beers. Since it is a brewery, not licensed as a restaurant, they can only serve 36 ounces of beer a day to a single customer. We each had 12 ounces and then returned to our pull-out boondocking site closer to Talkeetna.
Bob almost forgot to get a picture of our site. Larry and Connie had already left and we were about to hook-up the car when he got the picture.
We were still quite a way from Fairbanks and would spend one more night on the road before arriving in Fairbanks.
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