Scenes From The Alaska State Fair, 1

We always do state fairs whenever they cross our path, and Alaska can now join Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Montana, and others. The state fairgrounds are in Palmer, near Anchorage. It was only the 2nd day of the fair, and thus we missed much of the livestock and farm offerings...Alaska grows some enormous fruits and veggies, but they appear only in the fair's latter days, after soaking up as much daylight as possible. Nonetheless, we found much that was interesting, much that was characteristically Alaskan, and much that was amusing. We took nearly 150 pix between us, which we have edited down to this and the next post.

With Smokey

Kiddie water-zorbing

Sign of the times

Copter rides

Sculpture

Crab cage

Axe-throwing

Tundra dogs

Still growing...

Save the grizzly bear

Haven't seen these in years...

Street scene

Mostly beers and porters and such

Vicki's was better

In one of the aisles of the huge crafts building

Personal favorite

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Lace-making the old-fashioned way

Library quilt, Vicki's favorite

Bottle cork art

On Through The Yukon And Back To Alaska

After Skagway we drove the 50 or so miles back to the Alaska Highway and continued on up through the Yukon, stopping for a night in Whitehorse. And then another night at Beaver Creek. And then back into Alaska, and another night on the Matanuska River, 20 miles or so short of Palmer, site of the Alaska State Fair, already underway.

Nice scenery along the way

Huge expedition rig seen in Whitehorse; we used to think these rigs
were cool...

Most photographed church in the Yukon; see below; very similar to 
one we saw in the Orkneys...same vintage

Standard Pacific Rim signage

No end to the ugly Black Spruce

As we entered Alaska, some of the really big coastal mountains emerged
through the clouds

Tongue of the Matanuska Glacier, 2025

Same, in 2002

We went out walking on it in 2002

Compare the retreat with the 2025 shot

Lives in a minivan down by the (Matanuska) river

Seen at a parking lot in Palmer, Alaska...near the end of a trek from 

Argentina...in a '77 truck

S

Skagway

Skagway is at the top of an inlet (fiord?) (fjord?!) and is notable historically for being a major debarcation point for the 1897 Yukon Gold Rush. It is in the US, on that curious narrow strip of land that separates Canada from the sea all the way to Juneau and beyond. We shall see more of this strip later on. We had not stopped at Skagway in 2002, but knew of it from cruiser lore, and decided to visit it to break up the Alaskan Highway monotony. Skagway would be a ghost town but for the US National Park Service presence there and the many Alaska cruise ships that, for a few hours, put in there. The town shuts down immediately after the last ship departs, about 5PM. Seriously. Really. If  you want a quart of milk you'd better find the grocery store before the ships hoist the Blue Peter. We stayed in the local campground. 

The road to Skagway became fairly scenic

Tourist train; a must if you're a cruiser: only way to see the beautiful upper 
canyon

Ghost signs on a canyon wall

"What do you mean, there are no doggie biscuits?!"

In the excellent Park Service visitor center

The Canadian government required all the gold-rushers
to carry a year's worth of provisions and equipment...1,000
pounds or more; I guess a carry-on and a day pack would
not have cut it

Two of the four cruise ships in town the afternoon we arrived

Industrial-sized snow blower; also makes hamburger

Popular saloon

Now on a hike, up the canyon a bit, beyond the giant faux nugget

To see the waterfall

And the gold rush era cemetery

Sort of a Haunted House feature

We'd see more of the Klondike as we continued on through the Yukon
and back into upper Alaska