Anchorage, Seward, and back to Valdez
Thursday/Friday, June 19/20
On Thursday morning, we had breakfast at our campground and Mickey got to talk country /bluegrass with both waitresses, comparing the merits of Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins. But according to the bluegrass waitress and Mickey, the best groups are Nickel Creek and Bela Fleck! (Ahh, someone speaks my language!) We hit the Glenn Highway (there are only five of them in Alaska—highways, that is) and proceeded to the big city. We had about a twenty minute wait for construction - at night they close the Glenn altogether for blasting.The incongruity of Anchorage with its traffic, commercial, not-very-pretty setting versus the rest that we’ve seen of Alaska made us hurry on through. We did stop at a Fred Meyer (think Walmart, but three times more upscale) and bought some staples: caulking gun, putty knife, tripod and the wine was10% off if you got six. The Turnagain Pass, also known as the Turnagain Arm, was named by Captain Cook when he had to turn again because this wasn’t the right passage to wherever he was going. The Turnagain Arm is noteworthy in that if you walk out on the tidal flats, the glacier sand and silt has a quicksand quality and over the years several tourists have been lost to a terrifying drowning death as the tide comes back in. The local rescue department has developed a device that pumps air down around the legs to break the terrific suction. Like with so many things in Alaska, it’s beautiful but also potentially dangerous. We saw several mountain goats along the cliffs and had lunch at a beautiful turnout setting.
The drive to Seward is spectacular and special for us in that it’s our fourth time traveling to Seward. We stayed in the same campground that we did eleven years ago, right along the water, with sea otters eating lunch right outside our back door. The first time we came, we camped in a small tent and the wind was so bad and the tent was so small, we both got beat up. Tonight, after a wonderful crab and halibut dinner at the Crab Pot, we enjoyed the small boat harbor walk around and saw the results of the returning fishing boats. Seward is home of the Mt. Marathon, where a marathon is held every 4th of July. It’s a climb up a steep slope of 3,000+ feet and back, and the record is 42 minutes. Look closely at the one picture and you can see the thin outline of the trail. In the past we’ve seen a movie of the race and when they come down, they’re not running but doing 15 foot leaps from spot to spot. We saw our first bald eagle on our way to Seward! He was flying and so graceful.
Stats: 238 miles; 20.6 gal; ll.4 mpg; 46 mph
Friday morning Gary tried unsuccessfully for an oil change while Mickey slept in. Keep in mind, sleeping in meant 7:00. Six am wake-ups have been the norm for our entire trip. The Alaskans refer to it as “you can sleep in the winter time; play in the summer.” We experienced the usual construction traffic stop of twenty minutes for road paving, waiting for the pilot car. We buzzed through Anchorage again and found a Midas in Palmer for an oil change. While driving up the Mat-Su Valley, Gary missed a fantastic show of a mountain because he wouldn’t stop…he was too busy composing this journal entry. Even with Mickey typing for him, she was able to see the beautiful possible-picture and was looking for places to stop. She told him to stop in a driveway, for crying out sideways (Kristina’s favorite saying), but his brain was totally focused on dictating his journal!!! As is often the case, we’re on the road going to “we don’t know where!” Rough planning, but not exact “where are we going to stay tonight” has served us very well. We were especially happy to hear from our friends last night, that they have arrived safely, and we look forward to meeting them in Valdez Sunday. And for you 14th Streeters, we were excited to hear about the apartment building vote. For us especially, the email voting option was much appreciated.
You know you’re in Alaska when:
· There are bullet-riddled road signs
· Classifieds have more airplanes than RV’s
· Fishing report is front page news
· High prices for everything
· Frost-heave roads
· Friendly people
· Constant road construction
· Big Beauty
· The lady governor’s as good-looking as our lady governor
Our evening stay was Squirrel Creek Campground…unbenounced to us, the same place that our friends had stayed at four years ago. It had the usual: rushing water sound, mountain views, even a pond outside the door. Just a normal Alaska camp sight for only $12.00. Actually, Mickey picked this spot. Gary had picked the RV place just across the Creek because it had WiFi, but it was a dusty parking lot! Nuts to WiFi!
Stats: 370 miles; 32.5 gal; 11.4 mpg; 42 mph
Saturday morning we departed for our shortest travel day yet. First stop was the Worthington Glacier. The beauty’s a given. What is noticeably different for this spot and most of our trip compared to four years ago, hardly anyone is here. During our 40 minute glacier observation walk, there was one other soul hiking the glacier. Excitement for the morning was Gary getting dive-bombed by a seagall; must have gotten too close to the nest. Education for the morning was on types of glaciers: cirques, inside and outside crevasses, moraines and other interesting facts. We did see a moose and her calf, having just crossed the highway and entering the woods. The calf was bigger than we would have thought.
Thompson Pass and this whole section of the Richardson Highway is the most beautiful drive we’ve been on, so far. Shortly after the Pass, we passed through Keystone Canyon, home of Bridal Veil Falls. We’ve seen several bicyclists tackling incredible hills on this trip, but the first one we got to meet was Fuzzy Mitch, a 60+ year old classic Alaskan. Fuzzy lives in Homer, but over here to kayak the Copper River. He drove to Valdez and dropped off his bike, then went back to Cordova. He then did the 60-some mile Copper River run. At one point he said he was thirty miles away from any civilization and was concerned because he was in a side channel and the water was getting shallower and shallower. Fortunately he made it all the way to Valdez and we saw him biking from Valdez, sea level, to Thompson Pass, 2,160 feet and the rest or the way to Cordova. He let us know he was originally from Colorado, but continued the theme that we’ve heard so often on this trip ” it’s too close” in Colorado so he moved up here six or eight years ago because it’s more open. We’ll add “open” to “clean air” and “more air” as reasons for moving up north.
We are in the Eagle’s Rest RV Park in Valdez for the next three days. The "look up to the Heavens sign" was at the local Catholic Church. We did our short afternoon hike on Mineral Creek. It was somewhat disappointing, so we’re back at the camp, typing and drinking. We’re looking forward to the campground-sponsored fish fry tonight, king salmon they caught just this morning. We bring a dish to pass. Having a wealth of experience on church potlucks, I’m sure we’ll come up with a possible dish (meaning Mickey will). They're preparing the gas grill for the fish right ouside our camper. Mickey over heard the two employees talking about a camper who was complaining about somebody's dog stealing his sirloin right off his grill. The complaining camper was obviously not a dog lover. The employee and pointed out to the Raven with a satisfied look on his face as the real thief- watch out for those birds. Once again, we ran into Hollanders, as in The Netherlands, Michel (a guy’s name in The Netherlands. Mickey liked it because it was spelled with one “l”! She told him that was her name, too!) and Cindy. We told them about Holland, Michigan, and when they get back from their cruise, we’ll show them Tulip Time pictures. Just can’t get away from those Hollanders! It was a beautiful day for traveling today. We had sunshine the whole day and the views were spectacular. We haven’t had this good of a day since we left. However, the weather hasn’t stopped us from doing anything we had planned to do. Our God is an Awesome God!
Stats: 85.6 miles; 6.9 gals; 12.4 mpg; 46 mph
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