A Roadside Yard Sale in Wasilla

Wasilla is a town in Alaska that is probably best known to the American public as being the former mayoral stomping grounds of Sarah Palin.  My family and I briefly drove through it on our way up to Fairbanks.  I can assure you that it's a fairly unremarkable place.  There's a pretty pond, some strip malls and chain restaurants, gas stations... nothing too interesting to see.  However...

We did find an odd flea market/yard sale on the side of the highway.  It mainly consisted of several people selling things out of their vans or pick-up trucks.


My stepmom wanted to stop there to look for a moose pelt (she was unsuccessful).  There were, however, many other pelts to choose from.






My dad befriended this stuffed bear...



While my nephews befriended this man and his adorable husky.




This man and his dog were incredibly kind and sweet and let us hang around and talk to them for a long while.  My dad jokingly asked the man if he could buy his dog off of him.  The man replied that the dog was not for sale - he had originally belonged to his son, who died in combat in Iraq.  


Eventually we wandered around so some of the other sights of this Wasilla roadside flea market thing.














I don't know how indicative all of this was of the typical Wasilla experience.  I do have to say that it was one of the more interesting hours I've ever spent.  And, I can't think of many other places outside of Alaska where you can find people selling bear pelts and swords on the side of the road.