Trapper Creek, AK

16 Aug

August 13

Today we left Cantwell, AK and drove 96 miles to Trapper Creek, AK.  We had reservations for two nights at Trapper Creek Inn and RV Park.  We arrived around 2 PM and had no issues parking in the long pull-through we were assigned.  The RV park was small park with spacious wooded RV sites.  

Ken and I love to travel and see all the beautiful USA sights and landmarks. We also enjoy the offbeat tourist attractions and seek them out on our travels. I remembered reading something about a place in Trapper Creek that was labeled as a “must see” attraction. It turned out that the place was next door to our RV Park, so, we couldn’t miss checking it out. The place…Wal-Mikes”! We stopped around 7PM and we didn’t know if the place was even open. We saw several people wandering around near the front of the store and in the parking lot.  We still couldn’t tell if it was open. Then a nice, friendly, man walked by, just as we were getting out of the Jeep, and asked us where we were from.  Ken started talking with him and discovered that he was the owner…Mike!  He was quite a character and we enjoyed talking with him.  Ken and Mike exchanged stories, while I looked at all the interesting items.

Wal-Mikes was a must-see-to-believe kind of place.  This guy had everything you need & nothing you want, all piled into a series of ramshackle buildings & tents. It was a hardware store, flea market, drug store, museum, tire shop, etc.  There was signs, firewood, rope, wire, antlers, coins, jewelry, clocks, wood stoves, plastic pipe, and the list just goes on and on.  A bit of everything under one roof (outside, too)!  The inside of the store was crammed with merchandise.  During all of my years in retail, i’ve never seen anything quite like Mikes!  There was even a human hand in a jar!  You never know when you might find something you need…You might even find something you didn’t know you needed or wanted!

(click on photos for clearer photos and to start slideshow)

Tomorrow -fun in the white water rapids of the Susitna River!