Day 59 Ends @ Bear Paw in Valdez

When we jiggled our road trip as we made our way along the roads of Alaska, we ended up with a couple of extra days before our planned 4th of July reservations in Valdez.

We used one of those days in Chitina ... to wash away the grime of the McCarthy Road. We used another one of those days at our Worthington Glacier boondock. That left us with one extra day. With less than 40 miles left to reach Valdez, we decided to head on in a day early and see if the RV Park could accommodate us.

And that’s how we happen to be at Bear Paw II, the adult camper park ... located just outside the hub-bub of downtown Valdez.

We’re parked in site 5 — 50A FHU — overlooking the Port of Valdez as the waters ahead of us are called. We parked in headfirst instead of backing in so we can enjoy the view. We’re basically on an arm that leads out into Prince William Sound.

On the distant shore we have a view of the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The only sounds are the rustling of the brush — there is a stiff breeze at the moment; the screeching of the gulls that are nesting on the beach below us; and the engine of the occasional boat leaving the little boat harbor.

We’re currently one of three campers here, but I imagine that will be changing over the next few days.

After settling into our site, we drove into town to grab a bite to eat. Then, we stopped at the Stan Stephens office to reschedule our Meares Glacier cruise and book a cruise to Columbia Glacier. That done, we returned to the campground and did a couple of loads of laundry.

Now, it’s time to relax. We will be here for a little more than a week as we selected Valdez as a “chill stop” after being on the road for nearly 1½-months. We’ll do some sightseeing too, but we’re mostly just going to take it easy while we’re here.Read more