Thursday, June 17

On Thursday, we said good bye to Fairbanks and headed to the airport at 6:00 am, to fly back to Anchorage. Then it was on to the Mat-Su Valley where we visited a Musk Ox Farm and toured the farming town of Palmer. The Musk Ox Farm is a private non-profit organization dedicated to the development and domestication of the musk ox. The musk ox is an ancient species of arctic mammal currently found in remote areas of the far north, including Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.

Both cows and bulls have large horn bosses and pointed curving horns. For the bulls, these thick and well developed bosses serve to protect their skull during the head smashing that occurs during dominance fights and fall rut. The horn boss can be up to four inches thick and as much as a foot wide on adult males. The curving, scimitar-like horns on both the males and the females serve as a deadly defense against predators. When a herd of musk ox is attacked in the wild by wolves, the adults will form a defensive circle by aligning themselves side by side with their impressive horns and heavily muscled necks facing out and their vulnerable behinds and the young calves protected inside of the ring.

The goal of the Musk Ox Project, begun in 1954, is to introduce a gentle, non-intrusive form of agriculture to the Arctic. These animals form the basis of an Alaskan cottage industry for natives living in remote coastal villages. The soft under-wool of the musk ox is harvested once a year and delivered to  an Alaskan native knitter's co-operative. The knitters work at home in Eskimo villages throughout Alaska creating scarves (Eskimo smoke rings) and luxurious caps. Each village has it's own signature pattern derived from traditional designs.

The animals are not good for meat and are only used for the fiber they produce. So, steers are kept on the farm for harvesting of the fiber and the females are kept to breed once they are mature. Animals reach sexual maturity at about 5 years of age.

Musk Ox, animal from the Ice Age	View of Herd under the show cap mountains	Complete with red barn	This cow has produced 13 calves	Part of herd with young calves

Lunch was at Best Western Lucille's Inn. We had a buffet meal of halibut, roast pork, vegetables, salad and raspberry pie.

Lucille's Inn	Group at Lunch	Plane landing on water	Gazebo	Another plane landing on lake

In and around Anchorage the following pictures were taken.

Russian Orthodox Cemetary	Earthquake Damage	Cook's Inlet	Statue of Captain Cook	Laura with bay in background

After our tour of Anchorage, we took taxies to our first experience with Bed and Breakfast. As Forest Gump would say, "you never know what you are going to get". We lucked up and got a good box of chocolates. Bob Mitchell said he had stayed in several and Deal's Bed & Breakfast had to be the best. Accommodations could not have been any better in a five star hotel. The B&B was complete with exercise room, hot tub, internet access, high definition TV, digital cable, king size select comfort bed and a great leather recliner in our room.

Hot Tub	Exercise Room	Select Comfort Bed	Front of House	Leather Recliner

The Deal's went to Alaska as homesteaders but have lived in Anchorage for over 20 years. They have operated a bed and breakfast for about eight years. They said they would rather surpass a guest's expectations rather than not meet their expectations. They certainly surpassed ours.