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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Valdez

We were lucky this summer to have many visitors! The most recent one being my cousin Emily! We took her to Valdez, Alaska (#58) to see the amazing waterfalls, glaciers, pipeline and abundant wildlife! We started out the drive on Friday afternoon after work. We had booked 2 nights at a local Valdez bed and breakfast. The drive would have been very scenic although it was dark by the time we turned off on the Richardson Highway from the Glenn Highway. It was also very foggy that evening too. However, we weren't worried as 2 weekend days were still ahead of us!

The next morning, we had a glacier and wildlife cruise booked with Stan Stephens. It was a 9-hour cruise to both the Meares and Colombia glaciers. We were excited because the skies cleared and it was actually pretty sunny!

The first glacier that we were going to go see was the Columbia Glacier (#54). However, there were lots of icebergs at that time, so we went to the Meares Glacier first, instead. Here is a picture of the icebergs!



While we were out cruising, we saw a commercial fishing boat. We learned that the boats sometimes have to wait until the fishing times open up. Then they work very hard and very fast until the fishing times end. There are also tender boats that go around to all of the small fishing boats and to buy and off-load all of the fish. This saves the fishing boats time and they do not have to go all the way back to the harbor.

We saw many animals on the cruise (#86). Puffins,
Seals,
Sea lions,
Orca whales,
and finally, humpback whales. We were very lucky that the humpback was "performing" for us! We sat and watched him for about 45 minutes!
Here is a picture of Emily and I in front of the Meares Glacier! It was a beautiful day and great to spend time with my cousin!
We even got to hold some glacier ice!

When we were coming back into port, we saw an oil tanker that was about to leave the port of Valdez , headed for the lower 48.
After the glacier cruise, we took a short drive around Valdez to see the waterfalls. They were very beautiful and the water was running very fast. The top one is Horse Tail Falls and the bottom one is called Bridal Veil Falls.
The next day on the drive back, we made a quick stop at Worthington Glacier (#113).


There were some nice views of the Wrangell Mountains.


And Emily got her picture by the trans-Alaska pipeline.
Finally, out last stop was at the Matanuska Glacier. A popular spot for all of our out-of-town guests. We got to do a glacier walk!



Rebekah

3 comments:

  1. Nice pics of you and Emily.
    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the pictures of us!! I had such a great time visiting!! :)
    Emily

    ReplyDelete