Monday, July 6, 2015

July 5th - ATVs, Gold Panning, and Target Practice

We took the Homestead ATV tour. After a brief lesson and test drive, we headed out on ATVs with a family from China. We took a tour of downtown Talkeetna. We stopped by the VFW - the site of the annual bachelor auction. We watched a plane land on the town air strip. Then we headed out to Dennis' homestead. We had to cross a couple bridges. It took a bit of concentration as the bridge is 46 inches wide and the ATVS are 43 inches wide.
Dennis showed us the original homestead of his family.  His family moved to Alaska in the sixties and took advantage of the Federal Homesteading Act to secure a deed to  mile by half mile plot of Alaskan wilderness. He still lives there and took us to his cabin for lunch, target practice, and panning for gold.
It was a lot of fun. The gun was huge and used for protection against bears. It was so loud! Glenn and I both go within an inch of the bullseye. The parents in the Asian family both got bullseyes. They were so excited!
After the tour, we were very dusty. We headed into town to enjoy the gorgeous weather. It was in the seventies and sunny. We sampled some Alaskan beer at Whispering Cafe. Then had fried artichokes and pork belly at Twisted Creek. We finished with salmon at Latitude 62 - a more spot popular among the locals. They have four tables outside. When we entered the restaurant and asked to sit outside, the bartender said, "Sure, but I'll probably forget about you." We laughed. Gotta love a restaurant with with a warning.
We headed back to the cabin to chill out for the rest of the night.

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