Final Day in Valdez

The wind came howling in during the early morning hours and is expected to continue through Monday, so Bob's fishing charter has been cancelled. We also found out we couldn't have our campsite for another night, so Monday morning we head to Tok, Alaska.

Today, we went out to the Worthington Glacier Recreation Area and hit snow flurries as we drove through Thompson Pass. Grabbed a few quick pictures and headed back into town where the temp climbed from 38 at the glacier to 55 in town! We drove through the original townsite of Valdez which was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake. All that remains is the foundation of the post office. They moved the town east 4 miles and rebuilt. This beautiful port does not freeze but they typically get 300 inches of snow each year!!!!

Bob had an incredible afternoon fishing behind the camper! Saved a lot of money fishing from the shore. More silver salmon in the freezer tonight!

Despite the wind, it's been a beautiful afternoon, perfect for a few last minute shots of Valdez.

Just a bit teary at the thought that tomorrow is our last night in Alaska. This trip took a year of planning and lived up to every expectation. We would return in a heartbeat and hope we have the chance.

The Switzerland of Alaska

We have hit the end of the road, so to speak. This is the final stop on our great Alaskan tour and then it's time to head out. We are in Valdez, considered to be the "Switzerland of Alaska." It is a beautiful spot with mountains all around, sitting on Prince William Sound.

We left Tolsino Wilderness Campground this morning with a low temperature of 27 degrees! We enjoyed a stop at Wrangle St. Elias National Park Visitor Center and a drive through the paved portion of the road leading into the park. We had some great views of the mountains that make up this huge park-the largest in the U.S.

Our drive to Valdez continued along the Richardson highway with more stunning scenery. Glaciers, hillsides with berry patches, tall mountains and a feeling of being very small.

We settled in at Bear Paw II Campground, adult park. It sits overlooking the boat channel with mountains across the bay and behind us. We love it compared to the other spots we saw in town! Took a drive after dinner to the Fish Hatchery where we observed salmon making their final efforts to return to their birthplace and spawn new life. Watched for bears but we have decided that since fish are literally, everywhere, they don't have to be picky!

Tomorrow will be a quiet day in camp with a few little sightseeing drives. Bob hopes to fish on Monday and we will head north toward Tok on Tuesday.

I hope you will stick with us on our journey as we take the Cassiar Highway through the Yukon Territory-a different return route than the Al-Can. We will surely have more scenic pictures to post.

Gas is 3.56-3.65 a gallon.

Incredible Drive!

I see I am a bit behind in postings...if nothing is posted it was a "get stuff done" kinda day! But today was a SPECTACULAR drive across the Glenn Highway (1) east toward Glennallen and eventually south toValdez. We left Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula behind and traveled into what Alaskans call the Mat-Su Valley. Oh my gosh, the word stunning does not do it justice! We left behind farm country, the Chugash National Forest and entered the Matanuska Range and glaciers. I really don't know what pictures to post nor what I should delete from the memory card. It was a breathtaking drive-the best so far!

We settled for the night in a beautiful campsite (would love to stay longer), Tolsona Wilderness CG. Pictures reveal the stream behind our campsite and the tall trees surrounding us. But wilderness it is not, in that we have electricity and water-always a nicety when "roughing" it!

We drove past the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer(starts today), through fall color, snow in the shrubs near the road, and snow covered mountains in the high country. As we reached the end of our drive for the day, in front of us, in the distance, loomed the Wrangle Mountains and Mr. Douglas.  This is the largest National Park in the USA holding nine of the 16 tallest parks in America. Pinch me, please! I love the National Parks, but this is one that we will only barely enter. It is a 60 mile gravel and dirt road to get to a spot where you then hike in the rest of the way. There is an historic mine to tour and a small, historic town. We are going to skip the gravel road and see what we can do from pavement. For adventurers and hikers, it offers outstanding opportunities.

Kenai Fjords National Park

What a delightful day cruising Kenai Fjords National Park! We cruised out through Resurrection Bay and into the Gulf of Alaska to reach the park which is a series of fjords filled with glaciers and wildlife. We were treated to Dall's porpoise playing chase with the ship, humpback whales feeding on fish, starfish clinging to rock walls, steller sea lions sunbathing, sea otters floating along and my personal favorite...the puffin in the rookery! Oh, and we saw beautiful scenery including the glaciers. It's going to be hard to edit through all the pictures I took.

Today I was reminded that the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. William Seward arranged the deal-remember learning about "Seward's Folly" in school? Americans were up in arms thinking it was  ridiculous to spend all that money for this remote, worthless piece of land. Oh my, I am so glad Seward was so "foolish" indeed! This beautiful town is named after that fool hardy person.

Homer Fishing and Catching!

Bob has told me many times that fishing doesn't always equal catching, but today it did! He and 3 hairdressers from Anchorage went out with North Country Charters on the Odessey. The pictures reveal their catch...halibut and silver salmon. We are shipping home 24 pounds of fish. It was a windy day with big swells. Bob says it was hard to stand up, and the captain didn't have much hope for success, but he came back with 4 happy fisher people!