Gov. Sarah Palin is coming back to Alaska today for the first time since Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her to be his running mate.

The Republican Party of Alaska is holding a "Welcome Home" rally for Palin in Fairbanks tonight. She's then scheduled to speak at Thursday's deployment ceremony for the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. Palin's son, Track, is about to deploy to Iraq with the unit.

Palin will be in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley at the end of the week, but no public events have been confirmed. The McCain/Palin campaign said there is a possibility of an Anchorage rally on Saturday for Palin as she leaves the state to resume campaigning in the Lower 48, but nothing has been set.

A group called "Alaska Women Reject Palin" is holding its own rally at noon Saturday on the Loussac Library lawn in Anchorage.

Palin was campaigning with McCain in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. They'll stage a rally in northern Virginia today before Palin veers off the campaign trail for a few days in Alaska.

While in Alaska, Palin will take questions from a member of the press for the first time since her nomination as vice president last week. Palin offered "exclusive interviews" to ABC's Charles Gibson in Fairbanks and Wasilla, according to the network.

The governor has refused all interview requests from Alaska media since her nomination.

The Fairbanks rally for Palin is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Sadler Business Plaza/Alaska Aerofuel on Old Airport Road. People attending the rally are asked to park at the Carlson Center, where buses will start running to the rally at 4:15 p.m.

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