We found out the Alaska State Fair was going on during the time we would be passing through Palmer Alaska, so we went to see giant vegetables and eat deep fried everything. It was fun, but we got there a few days before the giant cabbages and pumpkins were brought in which was a bummer. We did see some large veggies, but nothing I have not accidentally created in my own garden in California (when you go on vacation zucchinis can get HUGE!)

24 hours of sunlight does a garden well

Here was the giant cabbage winner (I stole this of the state fair web site)

In Palmer we also stumbled upon a camping spot that was unexpected next to a lake. Never knowing where you will end up sleeping is both exciting and sometimes stressful. Some nights we are parked on the side of an ugly road or at a WalMart, some days we are looking at stunning sunsets like the one below. So far we have had much more beautiful than ugly or sketchy camp spots. The luxury of our camper is that we are totally self contained, we can camp anywhere, it is great.

Camp spot near lake in Palmer, Alaska.

From Palmer we had a few very long days of driving some more beautiful highways in Alaska (I am not sure if there are that many ugly ones in this state). The Glenn Highway from Anchorage to Tok is a national scenic byway and was full of jagged snow topped mountains, glaciers, and fields of tundra and wild blueberries.  After a day of two border crossing into Canada and back into the US, we finished up the last stretch of the Alcan we missed when we did the Top of the World Highway. The road from Tok to Haines was stunning when the rain stopped and the clouds lifted (that is why we have no pictures, it was very grey). Kluane National park in Canada definitely will be visited by us again, it was so remote and reminded me of the landscape of Denali.

One of the things I will always remember about driving the Alcan highway is the beautiful red and pink flowers called wildfire, they are everywhere. There was something so surprising about seeing fields of these colorful flowers in rather harsh landscapes. Throughout the weeks we spent in Alaska the wildfire kept changing and now it has gone to seed. The locals told us this is their first sign that fall has arrived. When it goes to seed it forms puffy light seeds that blow all over the highway like snow, foreshadowing the weather that will soon arrive.

Wildfire along the Alcan

Wildfire after it has gone to seed, you can see the fall colors starting