To amuse yourself Alaska style, take your summer guests to the Independence Mine at Hatcher’s Pass. But to do so, don’t use the paved road out of Palmer. No, use the unpaved, dirt and gravel road with no side rails to protect from the fall down the side of the mountain when you have to squeeze past another car that you get from driving there via the road that starts at Willow. The drive up to the Pass will make them get very, very quiet. And the look of joy on their faces when they see a paved road out is simply indescribable.