Anchorage is twenty minutes south, but Eagle River's where the work happens now. Downtown rooms fill with military families, outdoor workers, people who chose Alaska deliberately. Chugiak brings the year-round residents. Last week you bombed at Fire Lake, then found your rhythm at Birchwood. The winter crowds are smaller but fiercer—they drove through snow to laugh. South Fork hosts the late shows. The isolation sharpens everything. No scene to hide in, no crowd to coast on. Just you and the material and rooms that remember your name.