Meet Your Hosts

Karen Harris grew up in Iowa and moved to Alaska in 2002. In between, she lived and worked in Minneapolis as a newspaper and magazine art director for ten years. She first traveled north in 1997 and immediately knew this was the life for her. It was her dream to open and operate Alaska Garden Gate Bed & Breakfast.

Karen has settled into small-town life in Palmer, and is active in many local organizations. She is president of the board of the Mat-Su Convention & Visitor Bureau, Marketing Chair and Website Chair for the B&B Association of Alaska, and also for the Mat-Su B&B Association as well.  She also serves on the Palmer Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is involved in Palmer's Rotary Club and at her church, Valley Harvest Church. She loves to cook and provides catering for corporations and groups around the Mat-Su Valley and in Anchorage. At some point, she hopes to get goats and chickens, but where's the time? Started in the winter of 2007, she enjoys commenting on Alaska life in her blog, which may become a book, tentatively titled, "Alaska is Wierd"


Little Girl the Husky came to live with Karen in 1999. Now 9, she's very opinionated and talkative, and she'll tell anyone who will listen all about it. She sees it as her personal responsibility to discourage the moose from eating the fruit trees. Little Girl is friendly and socializes with guests in the public spaces of the B&B, but she's wary of really short guests. Children (under 8 years) and other dogs should be supervised by Karen if meeting Little Girl for the first time. Guests who talk pack-dog are welcome to howl and play with the dogs.