Sharp's Travels

Off we go---headed for Palmer, Alaska. We only had about 75 miles to go today. We made a stop in Wasilla at a Wal-Mart for groceries and then on to Homestead RV Park on the Glenn Highway just outside of Palmer. We got in about 1 pm, set up camp and were off again. We wanted to check out the Musk Ox Farm about 15 miles on up the road. The farm was established in 1986 and they now have 59 Musk Ox. The main focus of the farm is to raise tame healthy Musk Oxen for the production of qiviut, the rarest of fibers on earth. It is combed from the oxen’s fur and spun into a soft and lightweight yarn. Oiviut is 8 times warmer then sheep’s wool, yet finer than cashmere. It does not shrink in any temperature of water.

It benefits Alaskan natives, through a cottage knitting industry. Over 200 Alaskan Natives members are mailed the yarn as needed. They knit from their remote homes, far from the major cities of Alaska. It allows them to earn a supplemental income. When the knitting is received at the co-op, the members are paid for their work.

Our guide took us to the pens and told us about the oxen by name. This spring they had 4 new little oxen. They’re now 4 mo. old. The next 4 we saw were 1 yr. old and then we were taken to see the adult oxen. There were lots of balls in the pens. They all love to kick them around. They even have a huge one they jump up on.

In the spring when the weather warms, they begin combing the oxen for the qiviut. They are brought into combing stalls and combed twice a week. Some of them love it and others don’t like to stand still to be combed. If they can’t comb them they let it shed naturally and they pick it up from the fields.

The items made with the yarn range anywhere from $135 to $595. It was and interesting tour.

It was about 3pm when we left the Musk Ox farm and we felt we would have time to drive on up through Hatcher Pass to the Independence Mine in State Historical Park. It was one of Alaska’s largest gold mining camps. It employed 204 men between the years of 1936-1951. More than 181,000 ounces of gold were extracted from the Independence. Many of the buildings are falling down and others they are working to restore. One of the volunteers of the project took time to give us a little history of the mine.

We stopped back in Palmer to check out a book store and quilt shop. Gay asked what they would recommend for a restaurant in town and they said Turkey Red. It was an Italian restaurant. It was a bad choice. We had their special for the night and it had no flavor at all. We were very disappointed.

We headed back to the 5th wheel and got our pictures and blog ready to upload.

For pictures of the day see album: Talkeetna to Palmer