Day 12 - Tok, AK to Palmer, AK

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What a fantastic day! The sun was shining all day, the afternoon temperatures were in the mid-60's, the top was down on the Miata all day, the fall foliage was abundant and colorful, the drive to Palmer was amazing and my new B&B is the best yet! If I could only spend one day in Alaska and today was it, then I'd be a happy man! (Sorry about the gushing, but it really WAS a special day).

It's getting more difficult to decide "what" to take pictures of. At some of my stops I could stand in one spot and point my camera in 10 different directions and get 10 great shots. I always try to be conservative when taking scenic photos because, years from now, it's the shots with people in them that will be the most desirable. Anyway, I'm "trying" to be selective in my photo shooting, but it's very difficult to NOT shoot a picture when you see something special around almost every corner.

Being the beginning of Labor Day weekend, I saw HUNDREDS of pickup trucks pulling flatbed trailers with two or more ATV's (All Terrain Vehicles) on board. Some of them are heading for the hills to romp through the wilderness for fun and others are going hunting/camping with their ATV's. My favorite rig was sitting in a rest area and I pulled over to check it out. I call it the "uber-ATV" (see photo). The owner had it custom built by another guy and this weekend is the big trial run. He said that he was looking forward to trekking into the wilderness with his monster rig to go hunting and then "not having to sleep in a tent".

After checking in to my B&B in Palmer, I called Mike at the Alaska Miata Club. I met him through their web site on the Internet and we made arrangements to meet before I even started this trip. Mike drove up from Anchorage this evening and we had dinner together. After dinner another club member, Blake, joined us and we gabbed about Miatas and Alaska and my trip. We had a good time. I'll probably be joining Blake on another day this week for a drive in our Miatas to an old mining site that I've been wanting to see.

I'm bushed, so I'm going to grab a handful of photos from today and post them here and call it a day.

More to come!

Jack

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Comments

[Scott]

Hey Jack, is it true you can see Russia from Alaska?? Anyway, glad to see you are hitting some good weather and enjoying the trip!! Be safe!

[hht]

Definitely your best side! ;-)
Are you shooting jpgs or something like Camera Raw? When you get all finished and pick your most, mostest favorite, send it on in the highest possible resolution. Niels bought a new 'toy' and it will print up to 44" wide and however long. He did a 40" x 11' photo panorama just to try it out, pic from our Grand Canyon trip this spring. I'll make you a BIG picture! ;-) hht

[Mike]

It must be getting too cold for the "Cubic Compass" cap. Maybe it'll re-emerge in pics on the way back :-)

[Jessica]

And more, and more........
Hello there! I just happen to stumble on your blog through random searches. I just moved back to Colorado from Juneau, AK(GORGEOUS place), and am looking at the possibility of going back to Alaska at some point, possibly Canada. I couldn't help but to breathtakingly notice your pics above titled more, more, more, and more............you know the ones! :) How close to Palmer were you when you took these?? I wouldn't mind one bit making a move near this area! Did you see Skagway and Haines? What's your take? I'd be curious of your opinion of the places... Thanks so much, and thank you for posting such beautiful photographs that spurred my writing to you! Jessica