OC when I worked for a Student Information Software Company we had a 3 week installation in Palmer, Alaska. One of the weekends the locals told us it would be a great weekend to see the lights. We all loaded into the SUV we had rented, there were 7 of us and we drove out of town to avoid light pollution..... as I don't drink, I got to drive home. It was a bust, everyone got cold and drunk. The next night 3 of us wanted to try again so we got in the smaller SUV and drove in a different direction out of town. We saw a perfect place to watch, an empty parking lot. So we made a right hand turn into the parking lot. Before I tell you more, two of the three of us were California girls and the other member of this party was a guy from St. Louis. WE turned into the parking lot getting caught up on the berm the snow plow created. We tried for an hour to unstick the car. Finally I ended up standing in the middle of the highway at 2 am flagging down cars for help. The only car that stopped told us to call a tow company. We had called the police who told us the same thing. We called a tow company and they guy wanted to know if we REALLY wanted to have him come tow the car out of the mess we were in. Ah, Yes that is preferable to freezing to death..... he said he'd come but for a large sum of money in cash, we had the cash if we pooled our funds. Oh yea, it was -23 and windy. While we waited for the tow truck the skies opened up and we had greens, reds, yellow bands, it was magical. We got home to the hotel, cold and tired but in total awe. If you have the ability to get to an area to see it is worth the trip. IT was magical.
