Camping FAIL....

Loaded up the truck and was on the road by 10:30 pm....which in summer, in Alaska, not so bad.  It was still plenty light and continued to be.  In fact, I didn't even pack a flashlight!  It had been raining all day, but I was optimistic as it quit around 7.  We had wood in the back, a back pack, and a fishing pole, so the hopes were high that it wouldn't start raining on the way.

We went north to Talkeetna, why?  I needed a magnet from there....  An hour away (it was a three hour drive) it start to sprinkle.  We pulled over, and rearranged the truck so that the backpack and fishing pole were also in the already packed cab and the wood was positioned so it wouldn't get wet. 

We made it into Talkeetna around 1:30, there wasn't much there, but the bar was still hoping!  We found a campground (if you could really call it that), with a semi private site (away from the bongo playing hippies) but next to a couple of  tents with some very loud snoring men in it! 

Talkeetna was a quaint little town with sidewalks painted onto the streets.  There was a "tow away zone", but I dont' think there was a tow truck in town.  We didn't see an single officer.  There was a kickball game at 8pm.  It was adorable!  It was modeled after the show Northern Exposure...

I had camp set up within a half hour (pretty good for a girl that doesn't ever real camp!).  I had my beer cracked and hot dogs cooking by 2:30-3:00.  I should have just went to bed, but I was starving!   I didn't think about an air mattress.  Bad idea!  Between the bongo drums, tambourine, dudes snoring louder than the drums, and the never ending tree roots I was sleeping on....I didn't get much sleep! 

I woke up, realized I forgot a spatula, so once teeth were brushed and pajamas were changed, it was time to look for something that would flip eggs!  The town was swarming with people!  The train had come in.  I decided that going to breakfast was going to be easier than finding a spatula in the souvenir shops.  We went to the "Roadhouse Inn" which was a bakery/restaurant/hostel.  There were three tables with lots of chairs.  You were invited in and told to sit wherever, it was "Alaskan roadhouse seating".  This basically meant, you sat with strangers and made new friends.  We sat with  a couple from Ohio (which reminds me of the country song that goes, "What brings you to Ohio? and he said, 'God if I know'").  I had the apple/rhubarb sourdough hot cake.  The half order was bigger than the plate!  It was amazingly tasty too! 

We walked around the town, visited the gift shops, talked to locals.  Made a trip down to the river and finally saw some mountains.  Up until that point, it seemed like I was in Northern Michigan.   There will hills and trees, but no sign of mountains!  I guess I saw Denali, but it was still pretty cloudy and I couldnt' see the top, so I didn't think I saw it.  I ended up taking a nap in the truck because I had slept so poorly the night before.  Had a kosher hot dog, and some corn free s'mores and headed back into town.

We went to the Talkeetna Brewery, where the guy assured me the beer was corn free....he lied to me!  While the beer was delicious, it gave me a migraine.  I was not looking forward to sleeping on roots with a migraine.  So, at 10:30, we packed up camp and headed home.  I did see Denali in the rear view mirror on the way home....  Oh yeah, we got everything packed up just in time for the rain too!

Made it home by 2:00 and it made me miss my dog even more!  Oh yeah, I also became a god mommy while I was on vacation!  Yay!  I have the most precious little/big god son in the world!  Now that I have had my vacation, I can go back to work, but I am playing hookie from Fast Fix...my tummy still hurts!