Rika's Roadhouse & Landing

Delta Junction AKA Delta AKA Rika’s Roadhouse and Landing, AK

Tucked away in the tall trees and deep woods is a place called Rika’s Roadhouse; a part of the Big Delta State Historical Park, it is a landmark of those days of roadhouses. Renown for their food, it is still a flourishing business there. Home of the Alaska Baking Company it is known for its yummy bakery goods. It has become a tourist stop headed up by the cruise companies land excursions, beware trying to eat in competition with the tour bus crowd. The complex covers 10 acresA simple area consisting of the woman named Rika, her home, barn, garden and museum. She was a very industrious woman. Her home became a roadhouse for the many people who passed on their way to gold fortunes. She built a smaller cabin for herself. She had her own supply of food from her garden and from the barn. She raised lots of chickens and her barn was stocked with sheep, goats, cows and horses. Rika gathered grass and stored it for the winter months. She followed the pattern she had learned in the cold north of Europe both in the caring for stock, and the architecture of the barn.

　

Now the mess hall has been halved. The front half still feeds the hungry and the back half feeds the tourists! We had the poor luck of being there when tour busses arrived and it was pandemonium! Pushing and elbowing, the tourists snatched up anything that had “sale” on it and, arms loaded with their treasures, clawed their way through the crowd to the cashier.

In a very small space one could buy items from $10 to $10,000. All on sale, of course! Fur coats made of lynx, beaver, wolf, fox - you name it. Every little dust catcher imaginable. The tip topper came when I picked up a pair of earrings that said proudly in bold big letters - Alaskan Designed. When you read the fine print it said made in China. I kid you not. Everything I picked up was made in China. There was not one cap there that wasn’t made in China. The kitschy little Eskimo dolls - made in China. The Chinese must wonder what the heck kind of people we are that they manufacture so much shit to sell us, then we turn around and sell it to each other! What a deal! What a country!! What morons!!!!! After I paid for my earrings and pulled off the tag that said “made in China”…………..just kidding!

The sights that catch my eye are the authentic old log cabins. They usually have grass, flowers and anything else that will grow, on the roof top. Think of the ease in house breaking your pet! Just open the door and fling it up there, what a deal. Also the logs are never the same size and the corners of the cabin are mitered differently.

Roger and Anita stayed a bit further down at a commercial RV Park. The state campgrounds are always clean and available - and cheap(!), we paid $5 a night at Ricca’s. The ones in Alaska do not have “facilities” that is to say water, electricity and sewers. Hey! That’s what “dry camping” or “boon docking”” is all about. They always have a place nearby that you can fill your potable water tank and dump your black tank.

We enjoyed the evening (we four were the only campers there until late in the afternoon one other camper pulled in.

That’s about it from

The MABarry = over and out.

PS, Things are getting way out of sync, so since it really doesn't matter to you what date we viewed these wonderful locations, I'm just going to pump them out and eventially, I'll straighten it all out!!!