Chicken, Alaska

Ever since Don heard about Chicken, Alaska, he wanted to go there.  He liked the story about how it got its name (the miners could not spell ptarmigan, and they called the ptarmigan chicken anyway, so they just called the town chicken), it is in the middle of nowhere, and he read about one of the shopowners that we just had to meet.  So this morning we headed to Chicken.

Because the Jeep is a little ill, we took Katie's truck.  Three of us in back with Babs was a little cozy but doable.  We passed a large burn area of over 1,000,000 acres, and now it is taken over by gorgeous fireweed.  Unfortunately, the light did not do justice to the picture but you can see how much pink is on the hill.

We also passed beautiful moose and caribou country, but unfortunately, none of them wanted to see us.

Chicken, population 6 in the winter, has an international airport - with grass runways - and a downtown.  It also has an explanation of who lives in the town, what it is like, and why it is the way it is.

Susan owns the Downtown Mercantile, Saloon, Liquor Store, and Cafe.  Since chicken does not have electricity nor running water, the bathrooms were called Chicken Poop.

We had lunch at the Downtown Chicken Cafe, and we each had some variation of chicken - chicken salad (made with cranberries, which made it very yummy), barbque chicken, or chicken breast.  All delicious and served in a gold pan.

After lunch, we stopped by the post office.  It was very small, and mail is delivered by plane on Tuesdays and Fridays, weather permitting.  Today the postmistress unloaded 400 pounds of mail that was delivered for the residents in the area.  I purchased some stamps from her, and she seemed very pleased!

Chicken is an example of how many people in Alaska live - no water, generating their own electricity, no internet, no cell phones.  And they get along just fine!  But you cannot be chicken to live in chicken.