On the road again this morning, Thursday, July 2

Early this morning we left Glennallen and headed south toward Valdez. As we turned south, we saw the trans-Alaska pipeline along the road, first on one side then another. Then as we reached the mountains, the sights we so pretty we could not decide which was the best. We saw several glaciers, many waterfalls and lots of pretty countryside. It was only 117 miles to Valdez, but it took us about 3 hours due to stopping to take pictures at the waterfalls. The clouds were hanging low and then we were in the clouds going through Thompson pass. It was hard to see more than 15 ft infront of the RV but we finally went low enough into the valley to get out of the clouds.

Valdez is a port on the Prince William Sound nestled among the mountains and the bay. We drove around a while to get our bearings, then settled on an RV park right on the bay...Sea Otter RV park. After we set up camp, we took the car back into the middle of town to find the museum. We really enjoyed the museum and I have posted a couple of pictures from it. After the museum we went to lunch and had halibut, shrimp, prawns and crab cakes. Suzanne had never had any of those and she found out she likes them all. After lunch we stopped in at a local exhibit about the tsunami that happened after the 1964 earthquake. The 9.2 quake did a lot of damage (biggest quake in USA history) but the tsunami wave destroyed this town and it had to be relocated 4 miles away. Unfortunately 32 people died that day on the docks.

We drove to the sight of the original town and then took a side trip to the Valdez glacier which is nothing more at this time than large ice cubes in a pool of cold water. If there is more to the glacier, we could not see it. We were all tired by then so Gil and I took a nap. Well, Suzanne has found some friends down the road and she is visiting with three girls from Fairbanks. Mitch took a long walk along the bay and said he could see seals (sea otters) down by the bridge. Everyone is hungry, so I must close now.