The sign for the 'Free Store' in Talkeetna, Alaska.

A squirrel asking for some Buddha wisdom, and admiring that nice acorn hat. (Friends always send me squirrel photos because I lived with a squirrel in Talkeetna, Alaska.)

Once upon a time, a black bear walked into the Breeze Inn in Seward, Alaska and was enjoying the view of the big glass windows ... but was encouraged to leave.

If you ever drive to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, when you turn around to drive back to Fairbanks, you’ll see this sign.

This is a photo from somewhere on the Dalton Highway, between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I drove up to Prudhoe Bay in an August many moons ago.

Back in the day I drove up to Fairbanks, Alaska, and then from there I drove up to Prudhoe Bay, which is as far north as you can drive in Alaska. I put some gas cans on the car because I didn’t know if there were really going to be any gas stations on the 494 mile drive, but a little “town” of Coldfoot had a couple of gas pumps.

I stopped here, filled up the gas tank, had a burger, and then finished the trek on the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay, where I stayed at this little, ahem, motel.

Here’s another photo from my drive from Fairbanks, Alaska to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay.

Today people on Twitter are noting the farthest north they’ve ever been. The farthest north I’ve ever been is Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I drove there when I lived in Talkeetna.

This is one of my favorite traffic signs in all of the world. You can find it if you drive north from Anchorage, Alaska towards Wasilla and Palmer.

When I lived in Alaska in 2010-2011, I would take the exit to the right to go to Palmer. If you keep going straight you’ll go to Wasilla, followed by Willow, Talkeetna, and eventually Denali and then Fairbanks. (If you’re really gung-ho, as I was, you can also keep driving to Prudhoe Bay, if you don’t mind 400 miles of dirt roads in the Arctic Circle.)

And as you can tell from the highway numbers 1 & 3, there aren’t many main roads in Alaska. :)

This is THE speed limit sign on the Dalton Highway in Alaska. If I remember right, this is the only speed limit sign you’ll see when headed north from Fairbanks heading towards Prudhoe Bay.

I started off driving about 50 mph, but then after realizing I was the only person on the road — an almost-entirely entirely dirt road — and how late it was going to be when I got to Prudhoe Bay, I drove as fast as conditions allowed.

This photo was taken somewhere in British Columbia, Canada. I know where, but I’m not telling. :) The thing I don’t know is whether these trees are Aspen or Cottonwood or White Birch. I suspect that they are White Birch or Paper Birch, but I could easily be wrong, as I haven’t looked into it much, and didn’t ask any of the locals.

This is a painting of a roadhouse in Wasilla, Alaska, circa 1957. It reminds me of living in Talkeetna. I found it on the “Last Frontier Magazine” Twitter page.

May 19, 2015: Farming at 10:30pm. Photo from the Palmer, Alaska News Facebook page.

From the movie Insomnia, this is a great quote from an Alaskan resident to a visitor:

“There are two kinds of people who live in Alaska: the ones who are born here and the ones who come here to escape something else. I wasn’t born here.”

If I have my druthers, I’ll finish writing my current book near this wonderful spot, somewhere in Alaska.

Every spring I think about moving back to Alaska. This is a photo of the cabin I lived in in Talkeetna, Alaska back in the day.

I don’t remember where exactly in Palmer, Alaska I took this photo, but my best guess is that I was on a bike ride near some of the farms. I just found this photo this morning, so I thought I’d share it here.

Back in the day I was living in Palmer, Alaska, and I just started to look into renting this small brown building to be a home for my software-consulting business during the day and yoga classes during the night, when some family issues came up and I moved back to the Lower-48.

There probably wasn’t enough work in the Palmer/Wasilla area — also known as the Mat-Su Valley — but I loved the area so much I wanted to give it a try.

The Arctic Circle sign off the Dalton Highway in Alaska. If I remember right, this is less than an hour's drive from Fairbanks.

This is a photo of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, in Palmer, Alaska. It used to be on my bike-riding path when I lived in Palmer.