June 19, 2005
It is our last full day in Anchorage. I have downloaded all Trude’s pics onto Diana computer and worked on our itinerary and logs. Today is father’s day and Buddy is off on a hike in Chugash range, Suicide Peak. He is an avid hiker and outdoors enthusiast to say the least….
| Quite a nice day and we decided to take a walk on the Earthquake and Coastal trails. Ian and Vincent brought their scooters and choused down the hills, and Diana and Arlo the Australian shepherd took a run. Lots of mosquitoes but fortunately the complimentary bug juice was at hand. Trudy got quite a few bites whereas I was not bitten even once. I guess I am not as delicious and appetizing for them as I used to be. Buddy came back from his hike tired as a dog but victorious and had lots to tell us about his adventures. We celebrated with a barbeque that Diana cooked and a nice lemon cake. Later we packed up our stuff for an early start tomorrow. |
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June 20, 2005
We are leaving today Diana and family. It was a great visit and I felt quite at home. Buddy and Diana were the most gracious hosts.
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Our destination is Valdez today. Drove to Whittier through a one-way tunnel that we shared with the trains. Well not at the same time, but in between. Whittier is not a town! There are only a few buildings, and some shops that were mostly closed. We were quite cold and in search of a warm place with hot coffee! Found a nice hotel where the hot cocoa was already brewing. Nice view of the Princes Liner and the surrounding mountains. It is a beautiful place nicely located but the buildings are quite trashy. From what I heard it is an ice free port all year round. |
Getting onto our ferry took quite a bit of maneuvering around by the crew, getting all those RVs trucks and vans just in the right position. Once we were on our way I found out that instead of about an hour ride the crossing to Valdez will take us five hours. Well of course we left our lunch stuff in the car, which at this time was inaccessible. So, we had to make do with the slop that they served up at the galley. Not very appetizing!!!
| Our ride took us through some unbelievable scenery: glaciers, mountains, and lots of little and not so little islands. We even saw some wild life for a change. First we saw a small pod of Orcas, then lots of dall porpoises, otters and northern sea lions. The weather was beautiful with lots of sunshine and not too cold. We had a naturalist on board, well sort of. Christine just graduated from high school in Cordova bit south of Valdez, and working during the summer as a ferry guide. |
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Anyway she told us about the local fishing practices and wildlife. I asked her a lots of stupid questions as well. The distance between Whittier and Waldez is about 95 miles. I asked also about the Exxon Valdez disaster in the 1989 and where it happened. Well not too far out from Valdez.
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We got into port around 7pm and checked into our hotel …. For diner we planed to go to Michaels but when we got there we did not care for the reception and the place so instead we had diner at a very nice hotel by the piers. Valdez is located in very beautiful settings surrounded by high mountains in a cove. Really lovely, very clean and nicely kept. Lots of shops but the town is mostly about fishing and tourists of course. |
Kayaking seems to be a very popular sport and going on sightseeing boats to the glaciers and whale watching.
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