Valdez, AK

It was a full day! Last night we sat by the lake and saw a moose swimming, a couple of muskrat, and lots of ducks. We also saw a lot of mosquitos! This morning, there were 2 swans on the lake as well as loons and other ducks.

We left the campground at about 7:30 on our way to Valdez. It was 190 miles, but we stopped for several hours at the Wrangell St. Elias National Park Visitor's Center. It's an amazing National Park with high mountains, lots of glaciers, huge expanses of back country. Only 2 dirt roads go into the park. We didn't take either, but we enjoyed the visitors center.

The trip into Valdez had so much amazing scenery that we hardly knew where to look! Waterfalls, mountains, rivers, etc. were at every turn! Valdez is a deepwater harbor and cruise ships, and the Alasa ferry system comes here. It is also the end point of the Alaska Pipeline and has an interesting history. We are going to the museum tomorrow and I'll write about that afterward.

It took a while to find a campsite. We visited 2 military supported sites, and they were really embarrassing! We finally settled on a KOA, although it was more expensive. We have showers, power, laundry, etc, and the sites are pretty quiet.

We walked down around the harbor. Some fishing charters were just coming in. No cruise ship today so it was less busy.

We had supper at the "Fat Mermaid" and both had Alaskan fish. It was not Gortons! It's very tasty and fresh!

Tomorrow, laundry, th museum, and then to the harbor to look for seals and otters. I heard some boat captains talking today about whales, too.Read more