Valdez back to Tok!

Yesterday we spent a little time wandering around Valdez. It continued to rain, but Valdez still had their parade and other 4th of July activities. We talked to some people who said this was very typical weather for Valdez and they just plan on it. In addition to being rainy, it was cold, probably only in the low 50's or maybe 40's, but not freezing. But Valdez still has snow on the ground! We found this pile of it in town! We also found this trailer across from us to be interesting. It was obviously home built, but very nicely done. The biggest problem, however, is that with all the rain we had, when they wanted to be in out of the rain, their options were their car, or lying down in their trailer.

We took in a shop or two and then the Valdez museum. We had been to the museum annex where we saw a movie about the 1964 earthquake. Today's main museum was about the history or how the town began as a camp and later as prospectors came, others arrived to offer services, etc. It's so hard to comprehend that people took steamships up to Valdez from Washington, then climbed up over the Valdez Glacier to the Klondike goldfields on the other side. A lot of them didn't make it, but most of those who did found there were no gold claims left. It is an interesting history. There was also a stores called Anne's Sugar and Spice which showed free movies of both the earthquake and the building of the pipeline.

The museum also covered the earthquake in 1964 and the building of the pipeline from 1973-76. I found one fact of the pipeline interesting. They buried the pipeline in some places because they found out that the caribou would not go under it, thereby depriving them of being able to relocate to their wintering grounds. So the pipe was buried so the caribou would be able to traverse the areas they needed to. Other animals were not bothered by the pipeline. We have seen more pipeline on the way down to Valdez because the Richardson Highway, the route to Valdez, is the "Pipeline Highway." All the oil taken from the Prudhoe Bay area goes down the pipeline to the terminal at Valdez.

We also learned that cruise ships, long a boon to the local merchants, can no longer come into the port at Valdez. That occurred due to 9-11. My guess is because they consider the Valdez terminal to be a possible terrorist target. Just my opinion.

Today we drove out of a still rainy Valdez. Before we left, however, we took another look at the salmon fish hatchery. The tide was out and we were treated to a very cool view. Sitting on the stumps out in the mud were EAGLES! There was one on every stump. Some were adults, with their white heads and tails, and others were juveniles which look sort of spotted or mottled. Terry got one picture of several sitting on a spit and counted 3 adults and 3 juveniles.  When we left there we drove  up through the Thompson Pass and up the highway. We passed GlennAllen, where we had come in from Anchorage the other day, and proceeded north. We came to the Tok Cutoff which is the name they call the road that goes from the Richardson to Tok.

We did stop at the Worthington Glacier again. This time we got out and walked down the path a bit. You can hike all the way to the glacier and touch it, but we didn't do that. It looked like some rugged climbing and I couldn't do that. But we got some great pictures of the waterfalls and the blue ice in the crevices. Really cool.

We did see some moose again today, none close to the road. That is good, as I sure don't want to hit one, but it really makes photography difficult. Really have to zoom in and then getting a steady shot is harder.

We had a leisurely drive today because we had some bad road. One section on the Tok Cutoff was built on permafrost and it went back and forth from undulating to potholes, to gravel. It means slowing way down in order to keep everything in the cupboards.

We arrived at Three Bears Outpost about 4:30. We were here a few weeks ago on our way down from Chicken and on the way to Fairbanks. We are the ONLY ones in the park.

Tomorrow we head to Beaver Creek after crossing the border into Canada.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Anchorage to Valdez, Alaska

We left this morning and drove east of Anchorage to Palmer where we continued on the Glenn Highway to Glennallen, then headed south on the Richardson aka Pipeline Highway to Valdez.

We stopped early to see the Musk Ox and Musk Ox farm. There are about 60 animals there they raise for their inner layer of wool, which is extremely warm and delicate. They obtain the wool by combing the oxen. They say they like it because they are living in a warmer climate here than they are suited for and they know they will get cooler when the combing is finished! But it was not to be as the farm doesn't open till 10 and we were about a half hour early. Since we had a long day on the road, we decided to continue on.

This highway through Alaska was quite good and was very picturesque, with mountains, lakes, rivers, etc. A lone bull moose crossed the road in front of us. We saw the Matanuska Glacier along the way and stopped to look at it. We enjoyed our journey. But about three miles from the intersection of the highway we were taking south, we hit road construction. Not just construction, but they were tearing out part of the road. . . it required a pilot car to get us through it. We also were at the very front of the line which means we just missed getting through the previous run, so we had to wait about 25 minutes. I don't begrudge them working on the roads, it has to be a monumental task up here. I know we have road construction on-going in other states as well, but in Alaska, they deal with a lot of washouts, etc., and avalanches which we saw as well. But we did have to sit and wait a spell. Once we got moving, we had to stop at the intersection for fuel which we had planned to do. It ended up well, as the road had cleared by the time we both were done and they were not stopping southbound traffic to Valdez.

Along the road to Valdez we stopped numerous times to photograph waterfalls. One glacier, the Worthington Glacier, had waterfalls off to the side which we could see from the road. There were numerous glaciers some up high and others lower. The closer we got to Valdez, we saw more waterfalls and more glaciers. It is raining today, however, so everything was overcast and as we came down off the mountains into the valley where Valdez is located, we passed through some dense fog. But it was shortlived and there wasn't a lot of traffic, so we made it fine.

We are parked at the Eagle's Rest RV Park, a decent park by Alaska standards. Most of the RV parks here are no frills and we have full hookups here for $33/night which is the cheapest we have paid for FHU this entire trip. And the showers are nice and clean. We are here for three nights and we hope to see a lot here. It is a small town, but we needed a place to sit and wait out the July 4th celebrations, so we will be here till then.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Tok to Fairbanks

Every morning when we start out, Bongo is pointing the way. He hasn't steered us wrong yet. . .he always knows the way!

 Yesterday we started our journey in Tok and drove to Fairbanks. Along the way we made a couple stops.

The scenery was beautiful and we stopped to snap some pictures of the mountains. We mistakenly thought they might be Denali, but they weren't. A local corrected us and these mountains are known at "The Three Sisters."

The Alaska Highway officially ends in Delta Junction and we stopped to take some pictures. As the highway continues from here, it becomes the Richardson Highway. There is a highway marker here similar to the one in Dawson Creek at the start of the Alaska Highway, but it is smaller. . . and not in the middle of a road. LOL There is also a roadhouse there which served travelers at one time along the road. There are several roadhouses in Alaska which have been restored. This one is known as the Sullivan Roadhouse.

As we got closer to Fairbanks, we passed through North Pole, Alaska. We stopped and shopped a little and took pictures of Santa's reindeer. Santa was inside visiting with children and adults alike. I was able to send some postcards for Ronan and Aenea and explained to them that I had told Santa they have been very good so that he can keep them on his "good" list.

We drove into Fairbanks and parked at the River's Edge Campground. It is a well appointed campground, but expensive. . . as they all are on this trip.

Today we all jumped into our motorhome and we drove up to the pipeline viewpoint. We had seen part of it crossing a bridge on our drive yesterday, but was not able to stop. So we drove out of town to where there was a viewing area. It was interesting. I remember when they first talked about this pipeline and then started building it. A husband of a woman in my school corporation was actually working on it back in the 70's. Such a big event in history and I have now seen it up close.

We then turned back toward town and went to Pioneer Park. It is a theme park of sorts which has a "Gold Rush Village" which is a village of old houses, most log houses, which were moved here from different places in town. A little village was constructed and now the homes house little businesses and museums. It was quite an interested place as they had several museums which we toured. Most everything there was free with some nominal donations at the museums.

On the way home, we stopped at a Safeway and a Fred Meyer store to get a few provisions. We eat out very little and have saved quite a bit of money by eating in our coaches. Meals out are so expensive up here. But we are saving our restaurant eating till we get to some great seafood places.

Till next time. . .

Dale