Valdez

Steve had three days off over the 4th so we drove to Valdez on the coast. It's an 8-hour, very beautiful, drive. We drove through two mountain ranges, saw numerous lakes, waterfalls, and glaciers. There were only four towns/villages on the whole drive. We don't have to drive far from Fairbanks before cell reception ends and wilderness begins.

The Valdez economy is based on fishing and tourism. Although there were plenty of campgrounds full of R.V.s, and fishing, whale watching, and glacier viewing charters, it didn't seem so touristy. It's a tidy small town surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains on more then three sides with an ocean inlet and a beautiful harbor. We stayed in the Harbor Inn right next to the water. I'm not sure how many strolls we took along the harbor, taking in the various boats, ships, fish hauls and cleaning. It was good therapy. (Steve and I are 'ocean people' and if you're an ocean person you'll know what I mean.) Steve and John went fishing at Allison Point across the bay Saturday a.m. The girls and I wandered the town and ducked into a few shops. We all watched the 4th of July parade that lasted all of fifteen minutes. We spent a good part of the afternoon at Allison Point, the girls climbing all over the rocks looking for living sealife since the tide wasn't all the way in, and the guys fishing. Ahhh, the sights, sounds, and smell of the ocean..mmmm. There were a couple of Harbor Seals that kept an eye on us and even a pair of Sea Lions that passed by. There were also numerous Bald Eagles. Steve caught a couple Silver Salmon. The Alaska oil pipeline terminal was just down from where we were. It was interesting to see it since we live so near the pipeline outside of Fairbanks.

All too soon the weekend was over. We hung out at the harbor Sunday morning not really wanting to leave and wondering why we don't live in a place like this...something to think about. Makes us look forward to visiting the Kenai Peninsula, where we always thought we'd live in Alaska. The drive home was gorgeous and seemed new going in the opposite direction. Driving anywhere in Alaska is so beautiful that it doesn't matter how much time it takes...but, there is no beauty here that surpasses the faces of our beautiful family back in Iowa!