4-legged Hot Rod

Talkeetna is basically the Eugene of Alaska. It is a small hippie community where everyone knows one another and everyone owns a dog. They also tend to walk around shirtless and shoeless (which is accepted I guess), and have signs that look like this...

And this...AMAZING!

So I end up in this little 3 block haven alone for about four hours. In this time I manage to meet Tommy and Evan, who are seriously the cool kids on the block. They know everyone and everyone knows them. But how do I meet them? Well here we go. I am sitting at a picnic bench reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (fascinating! If you haven't picked it up, do so!) and this pitbull comes my way. She sits down beside me and stares. So I pet her while eating my $1.99 bag of carrots. I am really not thinking much until these two shirtless fellas Tommy and Evan come my way. Now for those interested, they had fabulous physiques, nice scruff going, and...matching Alaska tattoos. Anyway, Evan walks over and says have you met Hot Rod? To which I respond, does that pickup line usually work? Well as you can guess, instant friends. So Evan, Tommy, and Hot Rod (the pitbull) decide to take a seat and tell me all the gossip of the little town. Evan for those currently available (or want to be) is the son of the owners of the most popular cafe/restaurant in Talkeetna. You could say he is something of an Alaskan heir. Oh yeah, watch out Prince William, here comes Sir Evan. Tommy as it turns out is the son of a fisherman (in my head Sig Hansen) who has been out at sea for 7 days without contacting anyone. Interesting and sad factoid shared. Anyway Tommy was banned from the local pub and the night before was the first time he was officially allowed back in the establishment. It seems his banishment would have ended sooner but he kept sneaking in. Now how you can think you can sneak into a bar the size of 16 Tons for those of you from Oregon, Caffreys for you Milwaukee kids, Swilligans for Rockford, and Simons or the front part of the Schoolyard for you Chicago chumps I have no idea. Therefore in celebration of finally his bar liberation, they all got plastered. So plastered in fact one of their friends drove her car into a popular beer garden. The car of which was still there. Evan, Tommy, and Hot Rod took me over there and well that car did one heck of a number. The rear was sticking out and the windshield was cracked. The tables in the beer garden were all mangled and I was rather surprised the structure was still standing. As we were there the cops came so we bolted away right quick. Well then after some time the inevitable happens, my phone number is requested. To which I respond, I will not be here aside from today. So I get told if I am ever in town I need to hang out with them and I am always welcome. I agree to take them up on the offer of drinks if I am ever there another time but only if Hot Rod joins. I instantly pause and question myself for saying that but after checking out these fellas one last time and giving out some high fives I take my leave with my book, left over bag of carrots, and my hope that perhaps I can see those matching Alaska tattoos another time.