Palmer is an excellent town for a home base when visiting that part of Alaska. It's a lot smaller than Anchorage, and affords great views of Northern Lights since it's not closely surrounded by mountains. The Matanuska Glacier is only an hour and a half away and Denali State Park is only a few hours northwest. It's also home of the Alaska State Fair over Labor Day, where you can see 980 lb. pumpkins and giant cabbage due to their extended hours of summer daylight.