Friday, August 5, 2011

Enjoying Valdez

Valdez, Alaska – Monday thru Friday, August 1 thru 5, 2011

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It has been nice to stay in on place for a week. We had our work days, goof-off days, and tourist days. We were lucky we took our glacier cruise on Sunday because Monday-Wednesday the boat didn’t even go out. The weather got nastier with rain, winds, rough seas, and gale warnings outside Prince William Sound. The Alaska Marine Ferry even stopped coming for a few days. We made the best of it and enjoyed our time here. We even saw a movie (Cowboys & Aliens) at the convention center.

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On the way to Valdez, several days ago, we met another couple in a turnout who had just left Valdez.  They had been exploring Alaska for several weeks and made the comment that of all the places they visited in Alaska, Valdez was their favorite.  After having spent some time here now, we have to agree with them.  Of course, we have a lot of Alaska left to explore, but so far it’s tops.

You wake up in the morning and you’re surrounded by mountains.  From our location we can see 3 glaciers, and one waterfall.  We have eagles and bears in our front yard.  We can turn the opposite direction and within a five minute walk, we’re in downtown or the harbor.  One couple in a fifth wheel next door, told us they had been coming to Alaska for 5 years and this trip they decided to spend the whole summer in Valdez.

An interesting thing about the salmon.  We had always heard that when they are in the spawning phase, they don’t feed.  After talking to several fisherman, we find out that most often they snag the salmon instead the salmon biting the hook.  That’s not hard to understand, the red sockeye salmon are so thick you just drag a hook along the bottom and your bound to snag at least one.  Now further offshore, where the silver salmon were and hadn’t started to swim upstream yet, you still caught them with bait.

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Gold Rush Days were happening during our visit.  There were awards for best decorated business, best costumes, best cardboard boat and so on.

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And here’s what happens if you don’t paddle your cardboard boat fast enough.  Bear in mind the only construction materials allowed are cardboard and duct tape (any color).  The races were a riot.

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After the races we wandered over to take a look at the Ferry Docks and found this instead. A Polynesian Christian band. It was cold and windy, but the dancers acted as though they didn’t care.  Personally, we were freezing and were even wearing gloves and earmuffs.

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We took several hikes and some of them had views of the town.  Here is the small boat harbor and our campground. We decided it looks like there are more boats than RV’s and more RV’s than houses.

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And a neat wood carving.

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After a hard day of having fun, Mocha and Frank relaxed.

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No, you’re not getting any of the fresh salmon.

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Valdez has several excellent museums detailing the history of the town through it’s beginnings, the earthquake of 1964 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.  While the Port of Valdez didn’t see any of the spilled oil, it was the center of the cleanup efforts.  The earthquake resulted in the town being condemned and moved to a new location.  And the Alaskans like to poke fun at themselves too.

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Sadly, after good restaurants, interesting shops, glacier peeking, great views, walks in the rain, soaking up the culture, and wildlife viewing it was was time to go.

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BG Miles Today

0

BG Total Miles

5880

Eat Out total $

601.88

BG Total Fuel $

3099.16

Entertainment total $

452.52

Total Camping $

935.91

E Miles Today

89.5

E Total Miles

1969.5

E Total Fuel $

387.19

Day # of Trip 62 - 66

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