We wondered what we would write about with rainy days in this "nothing" area. Well, the r
ain clears in the afternoons and there is plenty to do. Busy beavers not only built a dam visible from the highway, but on closer inspection we realized that a dam surrounds half of the pond in front of it. It seems they have been working for years & made their very own swimming hole! Next up wa
s a stop
at Wal-Mike's, which must be seen to be believed. This guy has everything you need & nothing you want, all piled into a series of ramshackle buildings & tents. Barb had heard some kids talking about it on the shuttle bus in Denali and just thought it was their nickname for Walmart. A little culture was
on tap next at the Live at 5 festival in Talkeetna's center square. It seemed the whole town turned out, the musician was pretty good & it was especially fun to watch all the
kids running around. We spotted a fox on the way out of town & taught him to sit & stay. This gorgeous float plane harbor offers flight seeing trips, but was closed when we came by. We also spotted a "junk car clean up" sign and just had to look. Tu
rns out
they were picking up & crushing cars for free and we spent nearly an hour talking to the tow truck driver & watching the spectacle. Yes, we are easily entertained! Now, if you've ever been in
our
scratched-up, creaky Jeep you will understand that we were a little worried that we may end up scooped up and thrown into the crusher, but we managed to escape that fate. As if all of this hoopla wasn't enough, Mt McKinley d
ecided to make its b
est appearance yet. We raced up to the side road that we knew had the best views and were amazed by the sheer size of this mountain. Finally made it back to the RV for dinner around 9PM. So much for "nothing to do", right?? Rainy day 2 gave us a chance to do laundry, reserve our upcoming Kenai Peninsula sites, read & relax. Our RV park neighbors pulled in with 2 nasty breaks on their windshield and made us realize how lucky we have been...so far! We stopped on the
way
out of town to learn about birch syrup. The place we visited produces half of the commercial birch syrup in the world, so this is not a large market! They produce 1.000 gallons per year by tapping about 8,000 trees. 40 gallons of maple sap yields 1 gallon of syrup. The birch ratio is 100:1, last year 117:1. The sap runs for just 3 weeks and the processing for 4 weeks. It must be a crazy busy time for them. The worst part is that they have to wash 4,000 sticky buckets once they're all done. We tasted the pure birch syrup and it is strong. The
man who gave us the tour said his family has gotten hooked on more & more condensed syrup. We preferred the table syrup that had been cut with sugar. They had other tasty treats that just had to come along on the trip with us.
ain clears in the afternoons and there is plenty to do. Busy beavers not only built a dam visible from the highway, but on closer inspection we realized that a dam surrounds half of the pond in front of it. It seems they have been working for years & made their very own swimming hole! Next up wa
s a stop 
at Wal-Mike's, which must be seen to be believed. This guy has everything you need & nothing you want, all piled into a series of ramshackle buildings & tents. Barb had heard some kids talking about it on the shuttle bus in Denali and just thought it was their nickname for Walmart. A little culture was
on tap next at the Live at 5 festival in Talkeetna's center square. It seemed the whole town turned out, the musician was pretty good & it was especially fun to watch all the 
kids running around. We spotted a fox on the way out of town & taught him to sit & stay. This gorgeous float plane harbor offers flight seeing trips, but was closed when we came by. We also spotted a "junk car clean up" sign and just had to look. Tu
rns out 
they were picking up & crushing cars for free and we spent nearly an hour talking to the tow truck driver & watching the spectacle. Yes, we are easily entertained! Now, if you've ever been in
our 
scratched-up, creaky Jeep you will understand that we were a little worried that we may end up scooped up and thrown into the crusher, but we managed to escape that fate. As if all of this hoopla wasn't enough, Mt McKinley d
ecided to make its b
est appearance yet. We raced up to the side road that we knew had the best views and were amazed by the sheer size of this mountain. Finally made it back to the RV for dinner around 9PM. So much for "nothing to do", right?? Rainy day 2 gave us a chance to do laundry, reserve our upcoming Kenai Peninsula sites, read & relax. Our RV park neighbors pulled in with 2 nasty breaks on their windshield and made us realize how lucky we have been...so far! We stopped on the 
way 
out of town to learn about birch syrup. The place we visited produces half of the commercial birch syrup in the world, so this is not a large market! They produce 1.000 gallons per year by tapping about 8,000 trees. 40 gallons of maple sap yields 1 gallon of syrup. The birch ratio is 100:1, last year 117:1. The sap runs for just 3 weeks and the processing for 4 weeks. It must be a crazy busy time for them. The worst part is that they have to wash 4,000 sticky buckets once they're all done. We tasted the pure birch syrup and it is strong. The
man who gave us the tour said his family has gotten hooked on more & more condensed syrup. We preferred the table syrup that had been cut with sugar. They had other tasty treats that just had to come along on the trip with us.
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