Talkeetna Alaska

In a way this is a tale of two Alaskan towns. The first part of the week we were parked outside of the town of Hope. Yesterday we moved to Talkeetna.  Neither of them are very fancy, as you can tell by the welcome sign above. Homes in both towns are fairly old and have wooden frames.  The home below is located in the town of Hope. Actually, many of the homes do not have yards that well landscaped. But flowers are everywhere, either growing wild or in planters and hanging baskets; only way to grow them in this climate!

In both of the towns there are older cars and trucks scattered everywhere. My brother Wayne spotted this old vehicle sitting on Main street in Talkeetna. It was made by the Checkercab Company. Not far from this car is located an old soda pop truck from the 1940s, made by Mercedes Benz.

In both of these towns there are plenty of gift shops, restaurants, old cabins and museums. Quite often a building can be found to have multiple uses; as a visitor center and deli, a general store and museum, or a yoga dance studio and an ice cream parlor.  There is a certain charm to both of these towns, which seem to draw many other tourists besides us. Museums are fantastic in both of these towns. The museum in Hope focuses on the town's history of mining and agriculture, as well as the devastating effects of the earthquake of 1964. At this museum I saw a barrel stove of which, according to the locals, there are many lying around in the nearby countryside. Those stoves were commonly used in the early part of the 20th century. The curator of the Hope art museum was really proud of his find as that barrel had an oven cut into it!

The museum in Talkeetna in located in several old historic buildings of the town. The focus in one of those buildings is on Mt.Mckinley and stories of people who have climbed it. More on that in my next posting.