What do Freepers know about Alaska? (Gov. Palin's home state)

9/20/2008 | syriacus

[Swampmarine]

Isn’t the same true of Honolulu?

[Jet Jaguar]

I was stationed at Eielson AFB from 99-02.

I enjoyed riding my mountain bike on the pipeline trail.

[Mashood]

How true! When deep sea fishing, we would agree that the first salmon caught was “one for the boat”. The deckhand would cook it up and we’d all eat fresh salmon at 7:30a while bobbing on the water.

[Issaquahking]

The Spell of the Yukon

I wanted the gold, and I sought it;
I scrabbled and mucked like a slave.
Was it famine or scurvy, I fought it;
I hurled my youth into a grave.
I wanted the gold, and I got it --
Came out with a fortune last fall, --
Yet somehow life's not what I thought it,
And somehow the gold isn't all.

No! There's the land. (Have you seen it?)
It's the cussedest land that I know,
From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it
To the deep, deathlike valleys below.
Some say God was tired when He made it;
Some say it's a fine land to shun;
Maybe; but there's some as would trade it
For no land on earth -- and I'm one.

You come to get rich (damned good reason);
You feel like an exile at first;
You hate it like hell for a season,
And then you are worse than the worst.
It grips you like some kinds of sinning;
It twists you from foe to a friend;
It seems it's been since the beginning;
It seems it will be to the end.

I've stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow
That's plumb-full of hush to the brim;
I've watched the big, husky sun wallow
In crimson and gold, and grow dim,
Till the moon set the pearly peaks gleaming,
And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop;
And I've thought that I surely was dreaming,
With the peace o' the world piled on top.

The summer -- no sweeter was ever;
The sunshiny woods all athrill;
The grayling aleap in the river,
The bighorn asleep on the hill.
The strong life that never knows harness;
The wilds where the caribou call;
The freshness, the freedom, the farness --
O God! how I'm stuck on it all.

The winter! the brightness that blinds you,
The white land locked tight as a drum,
The cold fear that follows and finds you,
The silence that bludgeons you dumb.
The snows that are older than history,
The woods where the weird shadows slant;
The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery,
I've bade 'em good-by -- but I can't.

There's a land where the mountains are nameless,
And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody reckons;
There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There's a land -- oh, it beckons and beckons,
And I want to go back -- and I will.

They're making my money diminish;
I'm sick of the taste of champagne.
Thank God! when I'm skinned to a finish
I'll pike to the Yukon again.
I'll fight -- and you bet it's no sham-fight;
It's hell! -- but I've been there before;
And it's better than this by a damsite --
So me for the Yukon once more.

There's gold, and it's haunting and haunting;
It's luring me on as of old;
Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting
So much as just finding the gold.

It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder,
It's the forests where silence has lease;
It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It's the stillness that fills me with peace.




Home, but the winters are starting to take their toll...

[AmericanMade1776]

In the altered words of President George W. Bush Don't mess with Alaska!

[4everontheRight]

My family and I first visited AK about 10 years ago and have gone back twice since. We love that state! It is unexpectedly beautiful...I say that because before I went, I knew nothing about it. Once I arrived I found a beautiful lush green state with the most amazing scenery I have ever seen! The people are down to earth and as nice as can be considering we were tourist and having grown up in a tourist area, I realize what a pain they can be some times.
I would live in Homer AK in a heartbeat...such a beautiful town. Seward is beautiful and we spent a lot of time in Eagle River! We went deep sea fishing and still have halibut in the freezer from that trip! Anchorage is probably the most visited area due to the airport which is where we flew into. But I will go back and see more that I have not yet seen...I can't wait! And I might add, it is not that expensive to travel there as most people would think....plane tickets were less then $500 each and we rented an RV while we were there and drove all over!

[jazztrptman]

I lived there when it was still a territory!
My father was Director of Material at Eielson A.F.B.
I LOVED Alaska.

http://www.alltrumpet.com/alaska

[syriacus]

Thanks for telling about your experiences, 4everontheRight!

[syriacus]

Neat! Thanks for your input.

[syriacus]

Indisputable facts, Phantom Lord. Thank you.

[syriacus]

Don't mess with Alaska!

Thanks!

[dfwgator]

Seems to me they didn’t pick on Arkansas when the Bent One was running for POTUS.

[syriacus]

Thanks for the image, Damifino!

[syriacus]

Thanks for relating your experiences, USMA 92!

[syriacus]

Seems to me they didn’t pick on Arkansas when the Bent One was running for POTUS.

You're right!

[Stayfree]

Our oldest daughter and her husband live in Eagle River which is a residential community between Anchorage and Wasilla. For several years she was branch manager of a regional bank in Palmer which is next to Wasilla. Not only do we know a lot about the area, but our daughter has been involved in numerous community meetings with Sarah Palin. I spent about 6 weeks with our daughter helping our son-in-law build a deck on their home among other projects at the time that Sarah was running for governor...her signs were everywhere, in almost every front yard. More about Sarah later.
In the winter, everything including the fences, phone poles and wires are white because the moisture in the air freezes on everything. The roads are covered with about 6 inches of frozen hardpack ice...not black ice, although there are some patches of it-dangerous stuff, we have it here in our mountains. Everyone uses studded tires, not chains. Winter temperatures run between -15 and +22. The sun rises very low on the horizon about 10 am and sets by 3...the lighting is like a prolonged dusk with lots of golden reflection. The daylight turns into a prolonged twilight that basically lasts all night. Many nights, I would be working on our daughter's house and just getting exhausted only to find out it was almost midnight. Arora borealis is visible most nights, and the color I have seen has been mostly green. It's like WOW.
Alaska is incredibly green because during the summer, most of the days are cloudy and misty. The forest is mostly what appears to be spruce (like Colorado) and the dirt in between the spruce is chock full of alder (which they consider a weed) which when cut back to the ground just grows right back and fast. Their state flower, Fireweed, is everywhere. It is multi-stemmed about 2-3 feet high covered top to bottom with majenta-colored blossoms.
It is quite common to encounter moose wandering the streets of downtown Anchorage and along the highway between Anchorage and Eagle River. Anchorage has over 250,000 people with Home Depot's, Loew's, Borders, etc. Anchorage is encircled by the Chugach mountains and the mountains in Denali, including Mt. McKinley, are visible from the hillsides around Eagle River and Anchorage...it is beautiful beyond belief.
Salmon fishing on streams is called "combat fishing" because you are shoulder to shoulder and those salmon are about 3 feet long. Average halibut catches can easily be 150-250 lbs...if I remember correctly the record catch for halibut is over 400 lbs. More soon...Sample picture

[syriacus]

Thanks very much for providing so much information, Stayfree!

[supercat]

I wonder if Governor Palin has ever been to the easternmost parts of her state (179°59'59.999" E Longitude)

[Stayfree]

Airline tickets are seasonally very expensive. Several years ago, we got Alaska Airline visa cards and we use them to purchase everything including our property taxes and utility bills. We accumulate about 100,000 air miles each year which pays for several trips each year. We love it up there any time of year, it is incredibly beautiful out in the country there. Some areas in Colorado like the Conejos River valley around Platoro are similarly Swiss-like, but I have to admit that even Alaska does not match Kandersteg and Grindelwald in Switzerland...maybe its the cow bells and dunkel bier.

[sasportas]

“Most folks live in the southern portion of Alaska. The pacific keeps things fairly temperate. They do get a lot of rain (the rainfall in Ketchican is measured in feet) and snow in the winter, but along the coast much of the snow is melted on a daily basis. Inland and to the north, it can be ungodly cold.”

True, except for the part about snow melting on a daily basis. You find that in southeast (Juneau, Ketchikan, etc.), and nowhere else. I live in Valdez, last winter every snowflake that fell during the winter was still there by spring. We average around 30 feet of snow per winter.

Trust me, for those who are not overly fond of winter person, Alaska is not the place for you. After you have been here a while you come to realize that is what Alaska is all about - winter.