Wasilla, AK

Here it is, Wednesday, 6/4, and I haven't updated lately.  Guess I'd better try to catch up!!

I meant to put this in the Glenallen blog but forgot, so here goes.

The Copper Valley, in East Alaska, around Glenallen, also known as the Copper River Basin,  encompasses approximately 20,649 square miles and is bounded by the Chugach National Forest to the south, the Alaska Range to the north, and the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve to the east, and the Talkeetna and Chugach Mountains to the west. This vast region includes the Wrangell and St. Elias Mountain Range, which has nine of the 16 highest mountain peaks in North America. This map should help to show the area that we are in.

You can see that Mt. Blackburn is 16,390 ft and Mt. Sanford is almost as high.  Further down the map in the right corner is St; Elias at 18,008 ft.

Not sure which mountains these are, but they were pretty impressive...

 To the left of these mountains on the map, you can see the little red dot for Glenallen.

We left Glenallen on Thursday morning, 5/28, and headed down the road to Wasilla.  This is called the Glen Highway (Highway #1) and is another scenic road. (Actually, I think they are all pretty scenic)!

Anyway, The Glenn Highway was recently named a “National Scenic Byway.” It runs along the Matanuska River Valley, and is surrounded by glaciers, mountains, and broad vistas.  Many of these mountains are  unnamed.  So, just enjoy the scenery:

Tried to find out what these poles are for, but haven't got an answer yet. They run for about a mile on both sides of the road.

Nice sign, but no moose!

The Matanuska Glacier is the largest glacier accessible by car in the state, as well as one of the oldest. Looming 13,000 feet high and 27 miles long, it is a majestic example of Alaska's natural wonders. It originates from within the Chugach mountain range. 

Not sure where the schools are, but we did meet a couple of buses.

And, yes, dandelions are in abundance here as well.

We found our CG for the weekend.

We stayed here in 2011 and liked it so we came back.  They do a good job of keeping the area landscaped nicely.

These blue flowers are called Artic Lupine.

Today was a short trip - about 140 miles - so after we got setup, we headed to where else - Walmart - to stock up again.

All in all, it was a good easy travel day.

Unfortunately, the whole weekend was overcast and drizzly.  Never rained hard, but always something coming down.  We did drive to Anchorage on Friday (about 40 miles away) to visit the local JCP store and stock up on some clothing.  Went into numerous gift shops but (fortunately for me) Judy didn't find anything that she needed!!

We did take our picture in one store:

This was a mural on a wall at one of the tea/gift shops.

Sunday we went to church in Wasilla - Grace Lutheran - very nice service and people were very friendly.  

We did see a train go by - the Alaska Railroad with only Holland American and Princess Cruises observation cars on it.  Guess they were headed to Anchorage.

That's about all to report from here  (No, we didn't see Sarah!!).