We go to Talkeetna

Jenny celebrated a birthday at home while Liesel and I were in Anchorage. I’m sorry we missed the party, but there’ll be plenty more later on. Happy birthday, Jenny!

Meanwhile, having been south to Juneau for a couple of days, it was now time to head north. We paid a return visit to Talkeetna, where we had our wedding party all those years ago.

The drive was uneventful, and sadly, one of the most notable features was the after effects of bush fires. Burnt trees from last year, or maybe several years ago. Despite the damage, some trees were trying to come back to life.

We drove through Willow, which at one point wanted to become the state capital. We stopped at Wasilla (famous for Sarah Palin) for coffee and use of WiFi (I went to Kaladi) and some shopping (Liesel went to Carrs). Nothing special.

In Talkeetna, we drove straight to Diane’s log cabin, where we stayed for a couple of nights. It’s secluded, in the woods, close to a pond (large pond, or small lake?) Surprise, surprise, Jyoti appeared!

The grebes on the water were determined not to swim too close to us. Maybe they had chicks to protect, but we’ll never know for sure. It was still warm and sunny, and we couldn’t believe how lucky we were with the weather.Diane,

Diane came by and we made our way into town. Well, Jyoti drive us into town.

Talkeetna itself was much more busy than we’ve ever seen it. There was the Arts Festival, there was live music and I’m sure some of the people were here to climb or explore Denali, the highest mountain in north America. Unfortunately, the Roadhouse has been closed since the pandemic. We were unable to go inside to check that the bottle top commemorating our marriage was still in place, nailed to the doorframe.

It’s always exciting to see wildlife but I wasn’t convinced by this moose. We spent some time looking at the various artworks on display. Would we like any of it in our flat? Yes, of course, some of it was really clever and attractive. Did we buy any? No. On another level, it’s just more stuff.

The live music was great though: I enjoyed listening to Lauren Crosby. She was meant to play the previous evening but, like us, her flight from somewhere extremely remote had been delayed. The organisers let her play a few songs this afternoon. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes an appearance on my next radio show… watch this space!

Also: Ukulele Russ played ukulele versions of rock songs such as Van Halen’s Jump. Did I think to record it? Not until it was too late, sorry.

While the girls were looking at more stuff in shops, I went for a quick walk along the main street, in search of coffee. I’d heard about the world famous espresso milkshakes offered by Conscious Coffee and of course, I tracked it down after visiting the wrong emporium first.

There was a sporting event in town too: softball. This is a variation on baseball, which is a variation on rounders, and there was quite a crowd watching the game. Including Jim, Diane’s husband, who she tracked down by locating his bicycle.

Back at the cabin, we sat beside the pond for a while. Did I go in for a swim? No: I dangled my feet in up to my ankles and told myself, it’ll still be here tomorrow!

We ate dinner outside too and it was nice to have a long, light evening, by the pond, without being bothered by mosquitoes or midges.

The pond doesn’t have an official name, but all the local people refer to it in their own way, referring to previous occupants of their property, or to the men who built our cabin.

In fact, it didn’t really get dark all night. For the usual reason, I was up at about midnight and again about 2am, and it was light enough to read by. Did I mention mosquitoes? Well, one did manage to find its way into the cabin.We heard the high-pitched whine, but we never managed to track it down. On the other hand, it didn’t track me down either.

I’ve missed Jytoi’s fried eggs on toast so I was delighted when she offered to cook my breakfast in the morning. In fact, I probably accepted the offer far too quickly, before it had been fully vocalised.

Liesel is working for lawyer Amrit. Amrit and her husband Siri also have a cabin near Talkeetna. Jyoti drove us over to see them. Cabin? It’s huge! It’s a big barn that, at one point in its history, could have been turned into a boarding school. It’s a fascinating place, full of stuff, it’s not for me to call it junk, but lots of old books and hundreds of boxes of other… clutter, yes, that’s the word.

In a feat of strength, I helped Siri carry a huge DeWalt saw to the back of his car. This is probably the heaviest item I’ve lifted for many years. Muscles and back were OK, but that 30 seconds of exercise were enough to leave me short of breath for a few minutes.

After showing us around the cabin/barn, Siri took us for a hike through the woods. I thought we were headed for nearby Sunshine Lake, but we didn’t find it. Maybe we were walking the boundary of the property, like we sometimes walk the parish bounds at home, but there were no stakes marking the different properties.

Eventually, what drove us back was the devil’s club, a really thorny, prickly, aggressive looking plant that was growing at the edge of the trodden path, but occasionally on it. No need to scratch our delectable legs more than necessary.

If it had started walking towards us, I wouldn’t have been surprised. I’m sure it was partly the inspiration for John Wyndham’s triffids.

When away from the others talking, it was so peaceful: the only sound was birdsong, but other than the large American robin, I didn’t see any birds here.

This birch bark felt like thick paper and it gave me the idea of maybe pulping wood, and turning into paper. It would be ideal for writing on and maybe even for wrapping birthday presents.

Back at the cabin, I thought about going for a swim in the pond. It would be refreshing, after the hot, sweaty walk in the woods.

Just jump in, they all said. No, thanks. I climbed down the steps very slowly, getting used to the temperature. Or, letting my lower legs grow numb with cold. The water was refreshing yes, but just a little too cold for comfort.

In the end, I swam for just a few minutes. When I climbed out, I lied that it wasn’t the cold water that beat me, but remembering the dead fish we’d seen floating by yestertday.

Jim told us that it really was worthwhile going on a flight around Denali. You land on a glacier and have a quick walk and a quick gawk. We didn’t have time on this visit, although the weather was ideal for such an adventure.

But near Talkeetna, is a fantastic lookout point, so this was the best sighting we had of the mountain.

After tea and crackers, we bade farewell to Jyoti, who was heading back to Anchorage prior to flying to Portland.

It was Diane’s birthday, and she invited us over to her place for cake. There, we met Stacey and Troy, local artists, woodworkers and generally all-round good guys. They were off to Portland soon, too!

Everyone in Alaska has dogs. And in any group of people, everyone else is fond of the dogs and one of us isn’t that interested. So guess who the dogs come over to bother every time? They sniff and puff and pant and sit by my feet and beg for a stroke and I’m thinking, you’d get far more attention from everyone else in the room!

It’s been dry lately, almost a drought in Alaska. So there’s lots of dust in the air. And it’s far less humid than at home. I suspect this change in conditions has affected my fingerprints. I rely on this biometric to start my phone a hundred times a day. But just lately, it hasn’t recognised my fingerprints at all. And after five attempts, I get locked out for 30 seconds.

There’s a 9-hour time difference between Alaska and home, so that meant Liesel had to attend an online WI meeting early in the morning. I think she enjoyed showing off the cabin and the pond to the ladies of the WI, before getting down to WI business.

We packed, locked up and drove back to Anchorage, again stopping briefly in Wasilla. In Anchorage, we visited Kohl’s where Liesel bought some shorts for our next little trip. She hadn’t brought any with her from home because, seriously, who expects heatwaves in Alaska?

Of course I had to take another picture of the mountains. And of course, I had to share it.

Just be grateful I didn’t take pictures of the game shows we endured on TV, Wheel of Fortune, Double Jeopardy, and another one whose name escapes me. There are some vey excitable, excited people in America!

I slept pretty well, albeit with some strange, vivid dreams that shall remain private.