Chapter 8.  Chicken and Central Alaska

Day 58 - July 11, 2002 - Chicken, AK (Milepost 3955; today 78)

(Shari) The sourdough pancakes taste better than they did in 1998 and believe it or not they are cheaper. Competition must be brewing in the small town of Tok. All eight of us drive to the small restaurant at 7:30 for a breakfast of pancakes and reindeer sausage. The pancakes are so big; two is too filling. This is the place I got the sourdough starter in 1998 and I notice this year they have the recipe printed on the menu. My starter has been to many of the states in the Lower 48 plus all of Canada from Labrador to the Yukon, and Mexico and Belize. Those little yeast cells are now an international bunch and I notice my pancakes do not taste as sour as these do. I wonder if there is some hidden meaning here. We depart for our 70-mi. drive at 9:10 and arrive in Chicken at 11:30. We probably should have left an hour later, to give some of us more beauty rest. We still would have had plenty of time to make the 1:30 tour of Old Chicken. The original buildings from the mining days of the early 1800's still stand, some even have artifacts left inside from their last occupants. The book "Tisha", a true story of a girl who comes to teach is set here and we see her "schoolhouse" and boarding room. After the tour we walk to beautiful downtown Chicken consisting of a café, a tavern, a salmon bake, a gift shop and a liquor store. That sounds like a lot, but it is all one interconnected building with one proprietor running from place to place. Tonight after our travel meeting we have our famous "pudgie pies". This is always a special treat for Bert and me and it is one a regular caravan certainly would not get. With only four irons, a group of 8-10 people is all we can handle. I think everyone enjoys them and I see many go back for seconds. Virginia made a tossed salad to go with them, Nancy had hot crab dip for an appetizer and Pat made a dessert that doubles as Virginia's birthday cake. After we eat, we sit under the pavilion and talk awhile before we realize we have to get up early tomorrow to travel the "worst road" in Alaska.

Next Chapter  Table of Contents