Masters of RVing Adventures

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Mark promised time to visit the Musk Ox Farm and to check out the Alaska State Fair. We left Seward in a drizzling rain (it is now rainy season in Alaska) but was excited to arrive in Palmer to a late afternoon sun.

This week has been a long work week for both Mark and myself, and we still had a bit of work to finish after setting up at the new campground. We only have one full day, Friday (8/30), to get in our sightseeing.

Mark has 8am East coast calls, which means getting up at 3:20 to be ready for the 4am virtual meeting. Luckily, Adventure Genie allows me a little more grace on the morning meetings.

So, after finishing up our work week by 1pm, we set out to find this local bakery a few folks in the campground raved about, a nearby produce stand, the Musk Ox farm, the post office (to mail some of you an Alaskan greeting!) and time to finish at the state fair! See a few photos below.

Musk Ox Farm

Several people told us we would smell the animals well before we would see them, but we found this to be quite false on this farm. In fact, the animal barn at the State Fair smelled much worse!

Our guide explained they are a nonprofit organization dedicated to gentle musk ox husbandry, simple collection of their qiviut, and education to their public visitors. They raise the animals in multiple fenced pastures on 75 acres. Realizing these animals have natural wild instincts, they have as little interaction with them as possible, other than feeding and care. In the spring each year, they bring the herd through modified bison chutes and comb the shedding qiviut from each animal that is cooperative. Otherwise, they pick it up from the pastures. They have mostly local companies spin and die the qiviut into yarn, which they sell from their shop. They told us it is very sought after by knitters, almost as fine as silk, and that they sell out every season. A one-ounce skein seemed quite expensive at $120.

State Fair

The Alaska State Fair is more like a county fair in “the lower 48.” Not nearly as big as what we expect of a state fair, but still the usual winners of largest produce, best baked or canned fruits and vegetables, best livestock, cutest bunnies, etc. They also had tons of fair food, some rides, spend-your-money on games, and the oddity of shops.

Hatcher Pass

We had time to stop by an interesting land formation that a lot of locals use for four-wheeling, biking, and hiking. We stopped at an overlook to take the picture.

And that, my friends, is all the time we had to take in the quaint town of Palmer, AK.

Our next stop is Valdez, famous for the 1989 Exxon oil spill.