After 4 nights, we are finally headed to a new place. I feel like we have been here forever!

We are headed up to Talkeetna, and of course, we have to go back through Anchorage… There are very few major roads and highways Alaska, and I really think Mike and I could drive to Anchorage with our eyes closed 😂 The views were just as beautiful but it was crazy to see how much more green there was today versus four days ago. The temperature change has been insane… from 50’s to high 70’s in less than 24 hours!

And check it out – a Mom’s Cafe location now serving the Wasilla, Alaska area!

On the way to Talkeetna is Wasilla, Alaska. Wasilla is famous for 2 things… being the home of Sarah Palin and the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. One of these interested us, wanna guess which one? 🤭

In all seriousness, the Iditarod Trail from Seward to Nome was originally a mail route, then a gold avenue and then the way folks received diphtheria serum during the 1925 epidemic. But in 1973, the first Iditarod Dog Sled race was run – 1,049 miles from Seward to Nome, and it’s been going strong ever since. Initially the winners and their sled dog teams took up to 20 days to finish, but with advances in sleds, dog breeding and care, and supply delivery, the winners are completing the race within 8-10 days. (And how do we know it’s true… because we read it on plaques! 😁)… and we watched a video, Why They Run, about the history of the Iditarod dogs in the Iditarod Headquarters.

But the best part of the Iditarod Headquarters was meeting Riley Dyche, a 6-time Iditarod Musher, and his dogs! We got to check out his sled and he showed us some of the training equipment and medications that they used along the trail. When they’re on the trail, they stop every 6-7 hours, and take a 4 hour break. After caring for the dogs and getting them bedded down, he said he got about 45 minutes sleep for every 4 hour stop 😳 As interesting as it was to talk to Riley, the best part was getting to pet and be a part of their off season training by riding the pull cart.

But ultimately, no matter how well trained and athletic, they are still puppies who love scratches and a good belly rub!

After loving on the pups a little more, we loaded back in the car and headed for our latest cabin in Talkeetna, Alaska.

Our new cabin is a tiny home that maximized every.single.inch.of.space. Seriously, you can sit on the toilet and load the washer 🤪 But hey, at least there is a washer and dryer! The boys loved that we have a yard – or at least common space to play soccer. ⚽️

Our guide from yesterday told us if we made it to Talkeetna get 2 things: Caribou Kabob and a cinnamon roll from the hotel in town. You can’t commercially sell Caribou meat but when we checked with ChatGPT, we learned that usually Elk is marketed as Caribou. So once we unpacked we walked to the funky little downtown area to find these famous kabobs. Turns out it wasn’t hard to find. Skewered North is a pretty famous place in Talkeetna for meat kabobs. The Elk kabob was delicious! Michael decided to try the Mexican food truck and tried reindeer quesadilla, which Leo kept calling a Rudolph Quesadilla. 🤣

After our 5pm dinner (Talkeetna shuts down around 7pm), we decided to check out the downtown shops.

The Wooden Spoon Co. owned and operated by the maker of the spoons. He was born and raised in Talkeetna and made some of the coolest wooden spoons, bowls, spatulas etc. Guaranteed for life. He sold right and left handed spoons angled specifically for skillets – perfect angle to get into the crease of the pan. Ax handles, wooden utensils, pasta measurements bowls, platters, cutting boards, you name it. If it was made out of wood, he made it. We were also tickled to meet a couple from right outside Danville, Va. so only 30 minutes from our house!

Talkeetna’s downtown was full of shops and restaurants, and plaques documenting the history of the town. We also loved the photo-ops… well, I liked the photo-ops, and the boys tolerated my love of them 😂

Talkeetna is also known as one of the best spots to see Denali (the mountain or Mt McKinley). So we grabbed some ice cream and walked to River Park to see if we could see Denali. Only 30% of visitors are able to see to the top of Denali due to clouds, so we were hoping to be part of the 30%… BINGO! It was so pretty that it looked fake, almost like someone propped up a fake background.

We decided to walk home along the Denali View Historic Walking Tour… actually we just started walking this path and figured with 5 streets making up the town, we would find our way home. The “walking tour” was beautiful and gave some insight into the town founders. And gave one more peek at Denali.

We made it back home by 7:15 and with plenty of daylight left, the boys enjoyed more soccer, we got all the clothes washed and repacked, and enjoyed a night just sitting on the porch. The famous Alaska mosquitos haven’t been bad so far, but definitely see them more that the temperatures are rising.

The little cabin doesn’t have a television, but does have wifi, so boys are good. We finished the day with a few hands of Garage and checked off a pretty great first week of vacation (despite a rocky start).

Tomorrow, we head further north to Denali National Park but not before we find that Talkeetna hotel with the cinnamon rolls in the morning…