Jeanne from Alaska

It was our final full day in Alaska. We walked to the coffee shop right next door. Have I mentioned that Alaska seems to have more coffee and espresso places than Seattle? They are everywhere! Lots of drive-up little huts along the road and at least 4-5 cafes in every small town. The friendly barista asked us where we were heading – Anchorage and then to Eagle River we told her. “Oh! You should stop and see my mom in Town Square Park, she has her hot dog cart parked there and she makes the best reindeer dogs.” We were going to need lunch at some point and we wanted to try reindeer so off we went!

It wasn’t the clearest day – the clouds were really low but at least it wasn’t raining. We had a little time to kill before going to see Jeanne and Larry so we stopped at the Eagle River Nature Center to hike. It didn’t take as long as we thought. Now what?! Jeanne and Larry weren’t expecting us until 4:00. A quick google search and we discovered a brewery close to her house so off we went.

Odd Man Rush was a brewery that belongs in Minnesota! It even had a Golden Gopher hockey jersey hanging on the wall – the only hockey jersey in the whole place. Since we were there on a Tuesday afternoon it wasn’t busy so we talked to one of the owners/brewmasters. Turns out his father-in-law played for the Gophers. Almost everyone we’ve met up here has some connection to Minnesota. (Oops forgot to mention the reindeer cart lady lived in Farmington as a little girl.)

Jeanne and Larry live halfway up Mount Baldy in a beautiful house with views of the mountains and Anchorage.

Her daughter, husband and 2 kids joined us for dinner. We had a wonderful time. Jeanne and Larry have traveled all over the world so we spent the evening talking and telling stores about our travels. Since it never gets dark it’s easy to lose track of time. That’s why I’m writing this blog after midnight!

An unexpected gift: They have a fishing boat slip in Homer. The whole family loves to fish and has a freezer full of halibut and salmon. Larry packed up a cooler full of ~25# of halibut for us to bring home.