Valdez, August 25th

Driving to Valdez

Our drive from Palmer to Valdez along the Richardson Highway was stunning through high-alpine country with 360 degree views. Fall was very evident and the colors were magnificent along the mountains on both sides of the road. The road decended into a steep canyon with rushing waterfalls from glaciers into rivers that just roared.

Driving to Valdez

As we usually do, we stopped to stretch our legs and take a hike mid way into the 7 hour drive.  We found what was the original road before the highway was constructed.  It was kind of eerie as it was all grown over with moss and lichen, and in many parts the trees had fallen down on to it. It felt like we were in some wierd sci fi movie!

Our Hike - that's the old road

View from dock in Valdez

Valdez is the largest of the Prince William Sound communities. This year-round ice-fre port was the entry point for people and goods going to the interior during the gold rush. Today, Valdez is the southern terminus for the Trans-Alaska pipeline.  The old town of Valdez was relocated and rebuilt after its destruction by the 1964 earthquake - a 9.2, the largest earthquake in North America. There was no visible evidence of the oil spill in 1989, though local residents told us that if you dig, you can still find oil.  

RV Park

Our RV park in Valdez was at the base of beautiful mountains filled with waterfalls and from our campsite we could see six glaciers!  

Otters

View from back of boat

We all went on a glacier cruise and had the best weather ever (for a change no rain!) I will let the photos speak for themselves because, as usual, I am out of words. The captain of the boat took us all the way into the glacier through huge amounts of ice, kinda scary in parts but beautiful. We saw otters, puffins, bald eagles, and stellar sea lions.

Heading to Glacier

Baylee watching the salmon

We took a wondeful hike through the town to a creek where the Salmon were spawning. A amazing sight as they swam and jumped their way up the stream. The female carves out a nest in the bottom of the stream and once that is done the male fertilizes the eggs. After this event the Salmon die, so the stream was filled with dead salmon also. Apparently, the journey from the salt water ocean up the fresh water streams depletes them completely, and because they can’t eat in the fresh water streams, they starve!  Pretty interesting evolutionary process, but sad!

Palmer, August 23rd

At a pull-out that we hiked at

Our drive from Soldotna to Palmer was spectacular and at one point we pulled off and took a fabulous hike on a trail that was set up for cross country skiing. We noticed today that the trees have started to turn colour  and the leaves are dropping, it is going to be sensational soon. On a side note,  we have been told by many Alaskans that they watch the Fireweed so that they know when the seasons are changing. Fireweed is a perennial flower that grows literally everywhere from yards, to fields, to sides of the road. This flower blooms from the bottom up and when it starts to bloom Spring is arriving, when the very last blooms are gone and the Fireweed gets fuzzy and goes to seed, the start of Winter is two weeks away. The implication is that there really is no fall…. they move from Spring, to Summer, to Winter!  The Fireweed is pretty much gone at this point!

The Hike

Fireweed almost finished blossoming

Fireweed with no blossoms

Relaxing on the Hike!

Baylee found a pond to play in!

While here we went to the Headquarters for the Iditarod race and took a short ride with the dogs… it was an absolute blast, though we all wished it was a longer ride - on snow!  The dogs were adorable, and we got to meet and hold three 6 week old Husky pups…. cute as a button!  Good job we have no  more room for dogs!

More Beer to taste

 We also managed to find the local craft brewery, The Last Frontier, and spent a couple of hours tasting their beers - the Barley Wine was our favorite. We ate lunch and I had - again - the biggest Reindeer Chili Dog ever. We have decided that portions are getting bigger because the Alaskans are getting ready for Winter!

We had a gret Rv park while in Palmer, but it rained all but 4 hours of our 48 stay!  We are getting used to the constant rain (well, kind of!)

On another note….. we continue to be absolutely amazed at the scenery we drive through every time we get on te road. It is hard to describe how vast the land is, how huge the rivers are, how all the mountains are covered in trees right to the tippy top, other than the ones covered in glaciers and snow. We talk constantly about our admiration for the pioneers that made their way through this state, and how they managed to not only exist, but flourish.

Hop, Skip, and a Jump to Soldotna, Alaska

Diamond M Ranch

With a drive of just seventy-eight miles, we arrived early at the Diamond M Ranch in Soldotna. Soldotna is a small city on the Kenai Peninsula with a population of about 4,000. It’s main claim to fame is it’s fishing - it gets very busy during fishing season in the Kenai and Kasilof rivers where people fish for Salmon (King, red, pink, and silver), trout, grayling, and Dolly Varden.

St. Elias Brewery

Kenai River Brewery

Cabin at the Rv Park

Our Rv Park became one of our favorites - great locale and owned by a family that has been in the area all their lives. The grandpa purchased it from the original homesteader and it had been a fox farm for many, many years. It was located just a hike away from the Kenai river so we were able to take some great hikes. 

Picking High Bush Cranberries

While hiking we picked high-bush cranberries!  Between us we picked about 2 pounds and, as you can see from one of the following photos, invented the “Soldotna” a gin cocktail made with muddled berries.  So good!!

Our Berry Haul

Fishermen down on the Kenai River

Hiking at the RV Park

Mushrooms on a tree - on our Hike

Drinking our First 'Soldotna' cocktail

Odie Deli and the Best, Biggest Sandwich Ever!

We also located three breweries in this very small place - who knew - and over the two days managed to taste all of the beer. 

Along with beer we discovered a deli where I partook of the Biggest, sandwich I have ever tried to eat!

Homer - Just like Home!

Homer and it's backdrop

The city of Homer lies at the base of a narrow spit that juts 4 miles into Kachemak Bay. Glaciers and snowcapped mountains form an incredible backdrop across the water.

The city was founded in the late 1800s as a gold-prospecting camp, it was later used as a coal-mining headquarters and chunks of coal are still very common along the beaches; they was into the bay from nearby slopes where the coal seams are exposed.  It’s an interesting community with a mix of fishermen, actors, artists, writers, and merchants- very eclectic.

A hundred mile drive from Seward brought us here to Homer, amid glorious sunshine and spectaular views. Our RV park is set right by the ocean with great access to to a 20 mile beach; it was the first thing we did when we arrived.  The dogs were in heaven! We then had a superb meal for dinner at a very small local restaurant where everything was amazingly superb, especially the oysters.

Fredric's Fish

The following day, Fredric and 5 other guys from the group went out Halibut fishing on a thirty-five foot cabin cruiser (borrowed because the captains boat was out of commission). It was, apparently very tight quarters, with 6 guys, captain, and deck hand squeezed into a 5 x 9 foot space along with a cooler.  However, everyone caught their limit in fish (two a piece), smallest was 25 pounds, biggest was 45 pounds. Unfortunately, the fish flopped wildly when they were in the boat, and the deck hand got hooked in the hand which meant they had to return to shore earlier than expected! They did, though, return triumphantly - successful hunter/gatherers.  

Otters Seen from the Fishing Trip

 Each fisherman donated a fish and in the evening, with the help of expert people in the group, we had a fish fry…. it was superb, the best Halibut we have ever had!

Picking up the fish

Yesterday, we explored the town, shopped, ate the BEST clam chowder ever, and also picked up 16 pounds of flash frozen, filleted Halibut that now sit very contently in our freezer - and- we have no room for anything else!! 

Fish in Hand

Baylee watching the eagles

Our beach walk with the dogs included viewing two bald eagles - just amazing!

What a backdrop!

Zori having fun!

Salty Dog Saloon!

Today was another day of beach walking, relaxing, wine tasting at a winery that makes all their wine from berries (too sweet for us), and having a drink in the salty dog saloon, a bar that has been around since 1957.

Elks Lodge in Homer

And, we visited the Elks lodge, had lunch and drinks.... it's the lodge with a million dollar view - over looking the beach with views of the mountain range and glaciers -nice!

We really like Homer, great place, unbelievable scenery and great people!

Seward, the Rainy City!

Our RV Park

From Anchorage we made our way to Seward and arrived on Wednesday 14th - it is hard to believe that a place as beautiful as Seward exists. It is surrounded on all sides by the Kanai Fjords National Park, Chugach National Forest, and Resurrection Bay. It is basically a very quaint town that has unbelievable scenery. It was established in 1903 and has around 3,000 people living here.

Very wet! 

Unfortunately, it was pouring - and I mean sheeting down rain - as we arrived in Seward, it stopped for maybe a total of 10 minutes the whole three days we were there.... the beautiful scenery was very hard to find! In this picture you should be looking at a whole range of mountains filled with glaciers!!

Glacier

The group, minus me (story later) took a boat trip around the Fjords. The weather and ocean were so bad that half the boat became sea sick!!!! Fredric did manage to get some great pics of Puffins and Eagles, but apart from that, the weather was too awful for photos!

I was not unhappy that I had missed the trip when I heard the stories later!

Up Close of a Glacier

Eagles

Puffin on the left

Seals

I, alas, did not do well after the root canal, and two days later Fredric and I had to drive 6 hours back to Anchorage where I went through oral surgery to deal with the abcess… not much more to say about that except at that point I loved my Percocet! I do not have fond memories of Seward!!

Waterfalls off the cliffs