My Trip To Alaska

During my brief time in Alaska, I met many people that were very proud of Sarah Palin. It was so refreshing, after all of the vitriol that had been displayed towards her in the eastern part of the Nation.

Two days into my trip, I ran into an older man, in a small town, who was watching the gift shop for his wife. As it turns out this man owns most of the town. He was a great person. Very religious and very conservative. When we pulled in to our parking spot, we noticed old boots hanging from a decorative fence with flowers planted in them. As we entered the gift shop, a hysterically funny sign was stuck on the door which read..."The Coldest State with the Hottest Governor".

This fellow asked us where we were from and we told him "Pennsylvania". Turns out this man was born in Hershey, PA, not far from our house!

Naturally, we started talking about politics, and he said he couldn't believe how the lower states had treated Sarah Palin. He couldn't understand why. There (really) was a tear in his eye...what should I tell him...why DO they hate her so much?

I told him that there are also many people down here that love her. He was so happy to hear this.

His daughter came in, and he introduced us to her, beaming, as he told her that there are people outside of Alaska that like "Sarah"!

It turns out that this man knew "Sarah and Todd". Unbeknownst to us, we were in Todd Palin's home town.

As we drove towards our next destination, Paxon, we passed houses with "Palin for Governer" signs still posted on their lawns. I wondered if they were there as some meloncholy reminer of a prouder, happier time.

We met many other people during our 10 days in Alaska, and they were all very kind. It seemed everyone either knew Sarah or Todd, and if they didn't, they knew their parents. As we sat in restaurants, or filled our car with gas, pictures of Sara Palin hung at many businesses. It was a sentiment not often seen in my town. Everyone we met were very proud of their former governer.

On our 4th day, on our way out of Denali, I met a lady that mentioned she had stayed at the Best Western in Wasilla. She told me that you could see Sarah's house from there. I mentioned I would be spending the night in Wasilla, on my way to Seward.

It was a strange feeling, as we drove closer to Wasilla. I was having emotions I did not anticipate having. As we drew close, we passed towns that suddenly became familiar names to us....in particular "Willow",the town her daughter had been named after.

I was nervous entering Wasilla, but also ashamed. I was ashamed of where I came from. A place full of hate for this woman. I wondered as I passed the coffee shops and hardware stores if the Palins shopped there. But my thoughts quickly changed to the hordes of lawyers that descended on this quiet little town to do their dirty work.

Palin's house was a normal house, on a lake, with other houses around the lake as well. Nothing special. Just a nice house, on a dirt road, a couple of doors down from the Best Western. You could have walked up and knocked on her door to say "Hi". But of course I did not. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of her house. Her and her family had been violated enough already.


I left Wasilla with a feeling of relief that the Palin's lived in an ordinary house and were ordinary people. They really were "one of us". Not like the corrupt politicians that we continue to put into office.

And I left Alaska happy. There is a place in the US where people love their neighbors, stand by each other, and are proud of their leaders!