The Valley

As I was uploading my pictures to my computer from my trip to Nome, I realized that there are some things that I need to update you all on of my recent sights and experiences.  So I've decided to separate my posts based upon the pictures that I've recently taken.

I'm starting with "The Valley". 

Other names are:

The Mat-Su Valley.  

The Matanuska Valley.  

Palmer.  

Wasilla.

One of the reporters that I work with lives out in "The Valley" and two weekends ago she invited me out there to visit her.  The Valley is about 45 minutes away from Anchorage, and is very, very rural.

The two towns that make up the Valley are Palmer and Wasilla.

I liked Palmer better than Wasilla.  Palmer has a quaint and modest downtown area, with town offices a courthouse and several churches. Most of these pictures are of Palmer.  They were all taken from within a car, so they aren't super artistic or involved.  I hope to visit the Valley in the springtime and walk around a bit; I'll be able to take some better pictures then.  Wasilla is more commercialized and spread out. There wasn't much to either community, but everywhere you looked, you had a gorgeous view of all of the mountains.

This, I believe, was the downtown of Palmer. Take a look at that light. I thought it had a lot of character, so I snapped a couple pictures of it.

We have the "Valley Bureau" at KTUU, and it is just one reporter and one photographer who are there. The Valley Bureau is located in Wasilla and is run out of a radio station. 

The reporter and photographer are in constant communication with the station in Anchorage, as they gather and put together their story of the day that has to do with the new goings-on in the Valley.  

The reporter is a great gal, and I've been hearing nothing but great things about her work ethic, passion and drive, from people at the station.  She's been doing a great job!!

 She's also been very good to me, inviting me out with her friends, and helping me get socially accustomed to life in Alaska. She just moved here within the past year, so she knows what I've been going through.

On this particular day, the reporter and I just drove around the two towns of Palmer and Wasilla.  She showed me some beautiful scenery and updated me of some news around that area.  Any information about Alaska is good information for me!! The more I learn about this unknown place, the better off I'll be.

These pictures were taken because, as the reporter was informing me, there are people in that area who have nothing better to do that shoot guns at road signs...  Do they do things like this in New England?? Anybody??    Some of the signs are so bad you have a hard time making out what they used to say!!

...I hate that I can't figure out why this won't post correctly...sorry guys...

So that's a quick glimpse of The Valley.  There are only two roads that leave Anchorage. One is the Glenn Highway (headed North), the other being the Seward Highway (headed South). The Glenn Highway takes you to The Valley.  It isn't very well-lit and there are supposedly a lot of Moose in that area that like attempting to cross that roadway. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed every single time I have to travel that road...especially in the winter. 

Temperature update: 35 degrees and cloudy in Anchorage.

Alaska trivia:  Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.