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

I want to see a MOOSE!

My family came into town at the beginning of July (I know, we are way behind). They landed on my birthday and took us to Simon & Seaforts for dinner! While I finished up my work week, Rebekah took them around to Thunderbird Falls, Shopping on 4th Avenue, the Anchorage Museum, and Potter's Marsh to see the Arctic Terns (part of #86) my dad had read about.

We would spend the next 9 days traveling around the state doing everything from glacial trekking to halibut fishing.

Early Saturday morning we got up to drive the Richardson Highway north to Fairbanks. While the weather wasn't great (it was raining), it cleared up long enough for us to stop at the Matanuska Glacier.


For those that don't remember from a very early blog, it is the largest glacier accessible by car in the United States and Rebekah and I had visited it on one of our first trips around the state. The access is privately controlled, so you have to pay an entrance fee. But, you can actually hike out onto the glacier which is a very interesting experience.

Last time we had just walked a short way onto the glacier, but this time we were more adventurous (after hearing stories from friends) and hiked down to a cool glacial lake on top of the glacier itself.


The lake sat at the face of a cliff of ice around 100 feet tall.

When we left the glacier we continued driving the Richardson Highway viewing the Trans Alaska Pipeline along the way. However, the beautiful scenery, pipeline, and walking on a glacier apparently wasn't enough. Everyone kept saying that they wanted to see a moose, why wasn't there a moose, where are all the moose?

So, after looking and looking I finally found a moose drinking in a small pond just off the road. I thought this would end it there, but soon found out that this moose wasn't good enough as it didn't have a big enough rack (apparently my family has gotten shallow since I left).


Almost 12 hours after we left that morning we made it to North Pole, Alaska and the Santa Claus House. We looked around the gift shop and of course took a picture with Santa!

Next, we finished the final 10 miles to Fairbanks and immediately headed to our favorite restaurant this far north, the Silver Gulch.

The longest driving day of the trip was complete, so we headed to the Sophie Station Hotel for a restful night's sleep!


Steven