Valdez and Cruise around Prince William Sound

August 1, Friday

   Lin and Paul out fishing today on the river here in Valdez.  Got pinks and some more Halibut that was given to them.  So we are grilling this tonight for dinner to see how they did.  These pics of the waterfall and the mountains are of the drive around Valdez. 

 The harbor and boats in Valdez.  I can believe the beauty of the mountains. 

 We ate the Pink Salmon and Halibut that was given to us.  We liked the Halibut, but the Pinks were not very flavorful.  Learned that as the Salmon come into the rivers to Spawn, they don't eat, they are intent on the swimming.  As they come into the river, they don't eat, they swim with their mouths open and you just catch them as they swim by, just happening to catch them in the mouth.  If you don't catch them in the mouth, you have to throw them back!!  Love their rules here. I think these rules only apply to the people that are non-residents.  The natives don't have the same rules about any fishing or hunting.  As the salmon are swimming up to spawn, their bodies are deteriorating, so if you catch them too far upstream, they meat is not good anymore.  We think that is what happened with these?   This is our boat that we will be on tomorrow for our Prince William Sound Cruise. The LuLu Belle.

 August 2, Saturday

    Cruising out to Prince William Sound today…so excited to see more wildlife.  Preparing myself to not get seasick…you know the story of me watching the movie, Titanic, and getting seasick during the movie.  Lin won’t let me forget that one!  Have my electrical stimulator band on my wrist, and took meds, I’m ready!! 

   LuLu Belle boat is ready and waiting for us.  Captain Fred gives us the safely speech and a running commentary of all the wildlife we will see, history of the area and some of the industry that is in the area. 

  Sea Otters are the first sea life we come upon.  What cuties!  We can’t see enough or take enough pics of them.  They are just so darn cute. I don't get tired of watching them at all.

 Waterfalls, a Minky Whale ( she was super shy and only able to get a few pics of her) then playing porpoises that just loved the front of the ship, playing with each other and it looked like they were playing with the boat. .

This is the Minky Whale, of course as she comes up, I snap the pic, but she is just too fast for me to get her full picture. Course, I could tell you this is anything and you wouldn't know...lol..

 We didn't see any Humpback whales. Captain Fred says they are much more playful and not shy of the boats. 

 Then we saw sea lions, barking was so loud, you could hardly hear over them.  Captain Fred is telling us they don’t like the sea lions as they eat all the salmon in the harbors.  

Then he took us into a cave like area where the Puffins hide and nest.  Lots were nesting but a bit hard to get good pics it is so dark in the cave.  We had to look for their white on the face to see them.  We had to play the Titanic pic on the front of the boat, then we were at the Columbia Glacier.  Stayed there for over an hour watching all the calving of the Glacier.  The thunder it sounds before the ice falls is amazing. 

Enjoying a few pics of all of us together on the front of the boat. 

As we headed back into Valdez port, we saw the boat, “Cornella Maria” which is on the show, Deadliest catch. 

Lin has met the crew before when he was in Alaska, but we didn’t see anyone on this trip.  Oscar the sea otter was in the port when we arrived and was waiting for us to give him some food.  A great day, long, but so wonderful and so many animals.  I loved all of it, can’t think any was more favorite than another.

August 3, Sunday

   Valdez Gold Rush Celebration weekend.  Tent city with everyone bringing their food and crafts to sell then the parade down the main street.  Lots of candy being thrown, fun cars and everyone having a great time.

Back to Anchorage and heading to Valdez

July 26^th, Saturday

 A slight release on my headache that I have been struggling with the last 2 weeks.  Supposed to be sunny here today in Anchor Point, just a few miles north of Homer, AK.  Catching up on laundry and cleaning this am…whaaaa…is that part of vacation???

Did a long ride late this evening, after a light rain, back into Homer to see the Spit again.  The most amazing double rainbow was complete, with one end actually dipping into the Inlet. 

The pictures don’t do it justice with the sky so dark, mountains behind, water shining and the rainbow with all the prisms intact, dipping itself right into the waters. 

  

July 27^th, Sunday

  Getting our fish today, all packed up and frozen for us.  Loving the full freezer.  Don’t worry, there is other food in here besides fish and we will finish off a few more meals to give us a bit more room for Salmon.  All of this is Halibut and only a few Red Salmon that were given to us.  The Alaskans here are so generous with their fish.  They want to share.  I’ve heard a few people say that the Alaskans make fun of Texans, but we have only met such generous, outgoing and pleasant people here that love all others. 

    Finished a quilt top that I have been working on and a small project bag for present for our new friends at the RV Park. 

   Making a roast, potatoes, carrots, gravy, green beans and biscuits for dinner with our RV neighbors over to help us clean out the freezer of the  “other” meat.  Lol  Lin is in heaven with the biscuits, gravy and ice cream for later.  Can’t let him get too spoiled!!  Had to drive back down to the Inlet to watch a few of the boats come in.  They go out with a tractor to pull then ashore. 

July 28^th, Monday

   Leaving our favorite RV park so far….everything is about the new friends you meet on the trip.

   Heading back to Anchorage, Ft Richardson for a few nights before heading down to Valdez. Another RV couple is traveling with us, Paul and Cecelia. They also live near San Antonio, what a very small world.  So many people from Texas come here for the summer!!  It must be the over 100 degree summer vs these days of 55-70 degrees.  Wow.

    Dinner at F-Street Station…wow again the meal is suburb.   Lin is in heaven eating his Beer-Battered Halibut.  Wonder if I can make this gluten-free?  Not sure, but when we get home I will try to do this.

   Met another couple at the restaurant that is from Oklahoma, on a cruise and heading back to airport for the lower 48 at 3am.  I am so glad we are driving and can do the days as we wish; only schedule is what we make.   

July 29^th, Tuesday

     Good Morning!!  Back in Anchorage for the 3^rd time, waking up to a cloudy day, but the weatherman assures us of sunshine in a few hours.  Course yesterday the weather app said it was sunny while I had my umbrella up while walking downtown for dinner???

   More errands to do here before heading to Valdez.   WallyWorld shopping, oil changed in the truck, water pump out in the RV, so repair that, and of course, more white chocolate coffee beans at the Dark Horse Café.  They are wonderful and now I am addicted to them.  That is all I need more coffee to eat instead of just drinking. We saw this awesome plane at the airport here, Lin is sending this pic back to friends he has flown with over the years. 

July 30^th, Wednesday

  Not in a hurry to get on the road today.  Goal: Valdez by Thursday, 300 miles, with another couple, Paul and Cecelia.  Exploring the area around the RV park, Goal: Moose sighting…NONE SEEN!!   Whahhhhh….

    On the road about 2pm, a few stops on the Glenn Highway, up towards Palmer then east toward Glennallen.     

    Winding roads thru mountains and gorgeous scenery.  The first stop, Matanuska Glacier, heads in the Chugach Mts trending northwest 27 miles.  18,000 yrs ago the glacier reached to Palmer area. (how do they know that?) The average width is 2 miles across and has remained fairly stable the past 400 years.

    While there, I noticed this drone flying around the Glacier.  The owner was flying it over the Glacier and getting up close videos of it.  Pretty cool…

   Decided to pull off after passing Glennallen and getting on the south part of the Richardson Highway heading toward Valdez.  Found this awesome pull off with views of Mount Drum 12.010 ft in the middle. Mt Blackburn is to the right at 16,390 ft.  Mt Sanford is to the left at 16,237 ft. What a great view we have for the night and this is at 11pm!

We did a side trip off our rest stop to explore the area down by the river.  Found these working fish wheels, but no salmon in the wheels.  A few lucky catchers were cleaning their salmon upstream a bit. 

  I did get this pic of the river, thought there was a bear on the side, but alas, when blown up, no bear…

  A working gold slushing was also on the river. They must have taken off for the night.

July 31^st, Thursday

   Cool 44 degrees when we woke, but warmed up to 65 by the time we decide to get on the road.  Enjoyed the morning since we have reservations in Valdez, so no hurry to get in this afternoon and only 115 miles to drive today.

  The Worthington Glacier, we made a short rest stop to get a few pics and saw these people climbing the Glacier.  Pretty cool…pun intended.

A few more stops closer to Valdez of the Mountains and glaciers.  These didn’t have a name in the MilePost, so not sure of which mountains they are coming out of.

  

  Valdez entrance and Bridal Veil Falls.  A few more falls were on the road, but no turnoffs to stop, so we will have to come back along this road after unhooking the trailer.

  Got into Valdez RV park, pretty much a gravel parking lot with poles between the RVs for Electric hookups.  Our RVs are almost touching, but it right by the harbor and the guys are thinking to go fishing while here.  I want to do a few sightseeing drives to get more pics.  Cecelia is not feeling well, so made some chicken soup and getting her well enough to get out and sightsee.

   Not sure about the other neighbors tonight, they are up at 11:30, still laughing, drinking and playing music.  This is the downside of a close RV park.  I turned the dryer on with a load in it to muffle the sounds outside.  I know it’s still light out, but its MIDNIGHT!!  GO TO BED.