Palin racks up air miles, has time to tweet

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin spent another day on the move in far-flung locations Wednesday at a time when many Alaskans remain mystified over her decision to step down and not finish out her first term.

The Republican governor racked up more air miles as she traveled to the small town of McGrath, an off-the-road hamlet of about 300 people in the interior part of the state. She signed an obscure bill extending the termination date of the Board of Veterinary Examiners. The bill is summed up on the state Legislature Web site in 18 words.

Palin did take time to tweet on her Twitter account, alluding to her sudden decision to resign.

“Today, try this,” the governor tweeted. “Act in accordance to your conscience — risk — by pursuing larger vision in opposition to popular, powerful pressure.”

Palin has been a busy traveler since her bombshell announcement Friday. She has flown at least 2,300 miles — about the distance from Los Angeles to Miami in a journey that has skipped Anchorage and Fairbanks, where nearly half of the state’s population resides.

She flew first to Juneau, a distance of about 570 miles, where she briefly watched the capital city’s Fourth of July holiday parade. Juneau is Alaska’s third largest city but except for the parade stop Palin flew largely under the radar.

Then, it was off to Bristol Bay about 860 miles away and the town of Dillingham — sizable by Alaska standards at about 2,300 people but also off the road system — where she donned waders and helped haul in salmon nets at the family’s commercial fishing operation.

From Bristol Bay, Palin flew about 560 miles to the remote Arctic town of Kotzebue, where she signed a bill to bolster law enforcement in rural villages.

In McGrath, Palin greeted the crowd, shook hands and signed autographs.

During her appearance, McGrath radio station KSKO reported Palin told a joke about a man who brings his dog to a veterinarian. She also got the crowd laughing when talking about the bill that the governor said will improve veterinary care in Alaska.

“This bill … it passed both houses unanimously. That is kind of rare down there in Juneau, to see a cooperative effort to get a bill passed,” the governor said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

“Oh, if you only knew. Oh goodness gracious,” Palin said.

It’s not just Anchorage and Fairbanks residents who are being left out of the loop.

Alaska House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, said Palin didn’t inform him ahead of time that she was going to resign.

“It would have been a little nicer to know,” Chenault said. “But then it didn’t surprise me, because the governor has done a lot of things she hadn’t told anybody about.”

Associated Press Writer Mark Thiessen contributed to this report.