So, we went to see Merrill, Shanna, Corban, and Collin on Friday, August 22. The flight took forever and we didn't get there until 1:00 am Alaska time, which was actually 4:00 am our time. We barely slept on the plane so needless to say we were exhausted! Merrill came to pick us up then it's an hour and half drive to their house in Willow. I slept the whole way back while Baker kept Merrill company. Shanna woke up when we got there and we got to kiss the boys "goodnight". We slept late the next morning, to be awoken by Corban and Collin wanting to see their Aunt Jana and Uncle Baker! It was so good to see them! They'd both gotten so much taller! We planned to drive around the Willow/Wasilla area to get a feel for AK.
AK is beautiful, but strange. Some people live in shacks...with no running water and no electricity. It's crazy! No one really cares about their yards or upkeep on their houses, but I guess I can't blame them since it snows more than 6 months out of the year. There are not many "neighborhoods" per say, just random housed stuck everywhere. And there are definitely not building codes!
In Willow, the "area" where Merrill and Shanna live, there is really not much going on. They have a couple of gas stations, a bank, post office, general store, and an espresso shack. Alaskans love their espresso! Willow is not a "town", but a community. They live right beside the church where Merrill preaches so that is very convenient, and they can walk or ride bikes to the post office, library, or general store. It's very quaint. They live right off the main highway to Mt McKinley, Denali National Park, and Fairbanks. In fact, you can see Mt McKinley from their house on a clear day!The temperature was cool...50s during the day and 40s at night. It did get up in the 60s a couple of days and it was only sunny the last 2 days we were there!
Wasilla is bigger and is actually more of a city, complete with a Target, Lowe's, Chili's, and Carl's Jr. Little did we know at the time, this is where Sarah Palin is from! After driving around Wasilla and getting something to eat, we decided to drive east up into the Hatcher Pass Mountains. They were not huge mountains, but definitely bigger than anything in the south! They had beautiful mountains streams (rivers) flowing through them and the air got colder and colder as we went up. At first we didn't think we would go all the way over Hatcher Pass, since the road becomes very rough, but we kept on driving! At the top was a volcanic crater filled with water, called Crater Lake. We got out and took pictures and then continued our way down the other side. Further down was the old mine that is still up and running. You could look halfway up the mountain and see the holes where the men were mining for gold. I would never want to be in that claustrophobic space! It was really cool though. We hoped we would see a moose or bear on our way down but we didn't. When we got home we boiled halibut for dinner...it is so good! You dip it in melted butter...mmm!
After dinner Merrill, Baker and I went to the state park down the road from their house to look for animals. It didn't get dark until 10:00 pm so we were definitely tired by this time. We saw several moose and a porcupine! It was great!
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