Alaska with the Brewer's 06

[Betty Brewer]

Do they still have the beautifully restore firefighters wagon in the Museum?

Ken,

Funny you should mention it.? It was Terry's favorite part of the museum. Yes they have the? beautifully restored steam fire engine in the NEW( 3 years old)? Museum now.? In the old museum they have some other older fire fighting? rigs but not as impressive as the restoration of? the steamer. They have a very nice display of firefighting hats, hoses and uniforms through the years in the old museum.
Betty

Still waiting to see mountain tops!

 

[Betty Brewer]

August 14, 2006    Day 83  Valdez, AK   

We had planned to take the Glacier Cruise but it was raining and foggy so decided to not to go.  We visited the Old Valdez Museum and were treated to the expertise of a youngster (around 30)  whose grandfather rode out the earthquake in 1964.  This young man has lived here his whole life and had many interesting stories to tell about Valdez.  The most memorable thing he shared was that right after the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster, one of the big buildings here in town was used as a place to clean up animals affected by the oil.  The city went from a population of about 3900 overnight to 12,000 (most of whom came with no supplies).  Hotels were filled, campgrounds were filled and the grocery stores and restaurants were emptied.  This population explosion created more hardships on the people living here, in spite of the visitor?s desire to help.  It gave me another perspective on the magnitude of the oil spill disaster. 
We went to a little dime store and watched their free 45-minute video on the Pipeline Construction. I marveled at what an engineering feat this was both in size and time and to think it was done with a private company.  The men and women who worked on the Pipeline had to have been a hearty stock to have worked at 50 below and in terrible conditions over mountains, valleys, and rivers!    It is still cold and foggy here but the guys are enjoying the parade of boats in and out of the fog.  A huge tanker came and off loaded oil (we think.) They put up big rope-like buoys around the ship first.  We think it was an oil barrier. 
We?ll have a quiet evening and I?ll think sunny thoughts. 

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  0 
Wildlife sightings: seagulls
Temps:  High 53      Low 47    0.10 rain
Camping Costs: $27 water/elec waterfront at Sea Otter Campground

 

[Wendy]

That's a really nice quilt on the wall behind the restored fire wagon.

 

[Betty Brewer]

That's a really nice quilt on the wall behind the restored fire wagon.

Yes Wendy,
The museum was featuring a quilt display for  this month.  There were several exquisite quilts.  I was not the camera person during this visit so  we got no shots of quilts. I must confess that while I enjoy  the beauty of them, I am not a quilter so I do not fully appreciate their quality or design.  Most were machine quilted and I learned from Sam  and my grandma that  hand quilting "is better/ more labor intensive/authentic?."  Don't wish to step on any toes here I am just a tourist! They were selling raffle tickets to win one of them. 
Betty

 

[Betty Brewer]

August 15, 2006? ? Day 84? ? ? ? ?Valdez

The activity of this rainy day was to attend Jr. College. No kidding!? We went to the listed event in the Valdez tourist book of a film on the Aleyska Pipeline and followed the map directly to the Jr. College.? It was a well-kept building and I liked it.? Just before the 1-? hour video was to begin, the lady announces that the building we are in was the FIRST to be rebuilt following the 1964 earthquake. It was originally the elementary school.? Now I know why I am so comfortable.? ?This building was just like Jefferson School for my former education buddies following this journal.( I am a retired educator with 33 years in)? The video was a compilation of some we?d seen before and a nature sightings of the Prince William Sound.? The construction of the Pipeline and the worthiness of ??Polar Bear Express? an oil carrying tanker were the stars of the show. There is a notable lack of mention of the Exxon Valdez oil disaster at any public showing.? The lady at the gift shop made the comment to me that the oil company ?owns the town?. There you go.

Terry purchased the video on the Prince William Sound and those of you who may come to an open house at our new home will likely be treated to this video!? Following this educational experience, we returned to  ? Prospectors?, where Russ bought new rubber shoes just like the ones we bought a few days ago.? The parking lot of our RV Park is now underwater enough that we require rubber shoes to get in and out of our car!? We ?love? Alaska weather and now understand why my friend, Pam, who lived in Alaska for 22 years now just loves the Yuma sunshine! So do we.? ?The builder called today and the house is ahead of schedule.? Sigh? we would like to be home to see its completion.? Mostly I would like to be out of the rain.

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0? ?Car fuel,? $ 3.39.9? ? ?per gallon
Wildlife sightings: Sea otter in front of campground, seagulls,? ?Lots of them in the videos.? Ok Wendy?
Temps:? High 50? ? ? ?Low 47? ? 0.76 inches of rain
Camping Costs: $ 27 water/20 amp electric Sea Otter Camp Ground

 

[Betty Brewer]

August 16, 2006    Day  85    Valdez, AK 

I have a new strategy to enjoy Valdez.  I?m pretending we are in Hawaii in the rain forest.  The things we can see are very green and lush!  The temperature is kind of hard to ignore however as it is not tropical.  Instead of humidity we have fog.  Russ was the designated driver for  our day?s touring.  My guys dressed for the occasion and I snapped a photo of the ready tourists!

We a visited the US Forest Service at Crooked Creek and were able to watch literally hundreds of salmon making their last journey at the end of the line.  The ranger station also showed an under water live camera of the fish but they were so numerous it was easy enough to see them from outside!  On ward we trudged looking for eagle shots.  Found one in an area off limits, unless you were an oil employee and had a permit but we tried out the telephoto. The next attraction was the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum.  This collection is advertised as the World?s Largest Private Collection of Native Alaskan Art and Artifacts.  It was indeed impressive and I found it very interesting that this couple came to Alaska in 1947, loved it and stayed. They assembled this collection and donated it to the Prince William Sound Community College so that generations to come could enjoy the adventures they had.  Can you imagine that any of the souvenirs we collect in an RV lifestyle would ever fill a museum?  Let alone an interesting and informative one?  It is a must see in Valdez.  Besides it is indoors and weather does not matter to enjoy it!  We drove back down the Richardson Highway to view Horsetail Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, an abandoned railroad tunnel project.  We crossed Thompson pass and noted the cannon like features high above us that are there to set off avalanches to reduce risks on road.  We drove up to the Worthington Glacier and hiked as far as we could go on pavement and took photos of it.  It was very different to see a glacier end in land as we had seen so many from our cruises. During this viewing the guys started to shout and attracted many of us from inside the gift shop.  The SUN actually peeked through but only for about 2 minutes.

Back down the road we drove and spotted four beautiful swans on a lake right beside the road.  Russ whipped the car around and returned so we could sit in car and watch them for several minutes.  Ahhhh  a wildlife sighting!  Life is good.

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0 
Wildlife sightings: 2 eagles, 4 swans, lots of pink salmon and chum
Temps:  High 50      Low  44  0.87    Rain forecast for the  next 6 days.
Camping Costs:$27Water/elec Sea Otter Camp(Waterfront sites, water in back and sides too)

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi Betty,

You would do well in Maine. They have a similar attitude. They have 10 months of winter and 2 months of tough sledding.

 

[Ned]

So glad you could see the beautiful vistas up to the pass.  And the Whitney museum is one that even I liked   I even enjoyed the salmon spawning pond.  Valdez is one of the top attractions in Alaska in our book.  Haines was a close second.

 

[Betty Brewer]

? Valdez is one of the top attractions in Alaska in our book.? Haines was a close second.

Ned,
So far Homer is my hands down favorite, with the beach at Ninilchik a second favorite. But we've many cities to go and so I won't vote until the end.   Terry says he can't vote.

Betty

 

[Wendy]

Love the pictures of the swans....you can definitely count those in the wildlife sightings !! But I'm wondering if we'll ever again see pictures of Terry in shorts and sandals.

 

[Ned]

Betty,

You might like Valdez better if the clouds lift and you can actually see it

 

[Jeff]

Swans are swans but the shirts are priceless! ;D

 

[Betty Brewer]

August 17, 2006? ? Day? ?86 Valdez Alaska?

We saw some sun today and it quit raining for most of the day. We took a really fun 4-wheel drive trail 5.5 miles out into Mineral Creek Canyon.? Not only was the scenery spectacular, but also the ride was one of those rocky narrow in places, no shoulder drop off kind.? Then the bridge was out so Terry drove across the stream with me screaming ?Terry I don?t think we should be going this way. Terry I don?t like crossing this water, it is too fast it is to deep.?? ?Russ is hanging on!? The towering waterfall right beside us feeds this rushing stream.?We made it!? There were so many waterfalls among the lush green mountains that we kept commenting on how ?Hawaii like? this was.? At one point we could see 6 waterfalls by standing in just one location.? Some are fine ribbons of water, others are huge masses of water cascading down over several vertical levels and turning corners mid way.? Ahhhhh is all we could say and cameras can?t capture it all.? ?I saw what looked to me like a weasel run across the road.? It may have been a marmot.

We had a fine dinner at The Pipeline Club that is reportedly the place where the Captain of the Exxon Valdez got inebriated. You know the rest of that story.? We drank water and diet Coke.

We headed out of town after dinner to do more sight seeing.? We were held up by traffic as the big road equipment, making up for lost work days in the rain and was working well into the evening with new pavement (but not on our side) We took the road out toward the Pipeline Terminal and passed stands of dead trees where we spotted an eagle.? Then we headed toward Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery that is closed because it is so late in season. There are several creeks here fed by waterfalls and the sights we were about to see were none I could have ever imagined. You know that after the salmon spawn they end their life cycle.? Well we saw thousands and thousands of them swimming up stream and thousands more that had already met their death along the streambeds. It looked like a carpet of salmon.? ?I?m glad I cannot send you the aroma. It was ripe.? The seagulls enjoyed it however as did the bears.? YES bears.? We finally saw a couple of smallish bears catching fish in this stream.? We watched for a good bit of time and saw them get a fish take it up the hillside and drop it.? The fish rolled back down the hill; so back into the water they went to catch another.? ?Sometimes when they caught a fish they would stand up on their hind legs as if to say, ?Look at me? and then they would run off up stream out of our view.? I?d seen this in videos but today was the real deal.? They were close enough to see by watching from roadside but with binoculars I thought they were headed right for me.? Oh for a tripod!
Terry?s package has still not arrived and he is mad at UPS.? We are leaving on Saturday (unless package is not here)
Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0? ?
Wildlife sightings:? 1 marmot, 1 eagle, 2 bears, little birds, 1 sea otter, thousands of salmon
Temps:? High? ?56? ? ? Low 46? ? ?0.03 inches of rain
Camping Costs: $27 Sea Otter Campground site 40/41 on the harbor entry

 

[Lorna]

Betty

Glad that you guys were finally able to see some of the beauty in Valdez.  We really liked that ride out Mineral Creek Trail except the water wasn't quite that high.  Will you be able to or have you already taken the boat trip?  That was one of our best since coming to Alaska.  Great pictures.

We are in Skagway and except for all the cruise ships that come in here the surrounding area is very beautiful.  Barb and I will be taking the Fjord Express to Juneau on Sunday with a stand-by for Saturday because the capitol isn't open on Sunday.

 

[Betty Brewer]

? We really liked that ride out Mineral Creek Trail except the water wasn't quite that high.?

Did you see the sign at the end of the road.  What did it say? It is pouring rain here again today. Is it raining in Skagway?

Betty

 

[Lorna]

Betty

Don't remember what the sign said, you are asking the lady who can't remember what she had for breakfast!!!  Sorry to hear that it is raining again.  Skagway is partly sunny but mostly cloudy and so far no rain.  The clouds are pushing up behind the mtns. to the south of us.  We have only one big Princess cruise boat in here today.

 

[UK-RV]

Hi Lorna

We did the Fjord Express to Juneau too.

It was a pricey tour but was our best boat trip of all - we lost count of the whale sightings, together with all the other marine life.

A word of advice - eat breakfast before the boat. They say in their brochure that a light breakfast and dinner are served.

Breakfast was a single blueberry muffin - and we could have ate loads of them, they were yummy.

Unlimited tea and coffee during the day.

Dinner was a cup of salmon chowder, bread roll and choc chip cookie - again it was really nice just not enough of it.

The bus tour to Meadenhall Glacier allowed about an hour there.

In Juneau, the cable car costs $10 (approx) and gives a great view on a good day - other than a nice place to sit for a beer (and a HUGE choice of frozen cocktails), and a couple of gift shops there isn't much else up there.

Paul

 

[Betty Brewer]

August 18, 2006? ? Day? 87? ? Rainy Valdez?

Today it rained all day and I did not go out of motorhome except to have soup at Russ.?? See Terry?s T-shirt from? a couple of days ago!



Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:? 0?
Wildlife sightings: Sea Otter, seagulls
Temps:? High? 52? ? ? Low 49? ?0.85?
Camping Costs: $27 water/elec Sea Otter Campground? Waterfront site 40

 

[Lorna]

Paul

We planned on taking some food with us but will also have lunch in Juneau since we are meeting a cousin of mine there.  Plus I am also going there to see the capitol which is my goal while traveling is to see all the state capitols.  However, since we could not get reservations for Friday or Sat. and have to go on Sunday I won't be able to go inside the building.  So I really don't care if there isn't a lot to see there.  We are hoping to see whales but not sure since it isn't spring or fall.  Thanks for the info and glad to hear that you and Ann Marie are having a great trip and keep posting about the Maritimes.

 

[Betty Brewer]

August 19, 2006    Day 88        Valdez 

See yesterday?s message! Terry?s t-shirt on the Alaska weather forecast continues to ring true for us.  We had planned to drive the 120 miles of dirt/gravel road to Kennicott mine but since it is still pouring rain and has been for umpty-ump days, we opted to sleep in instead.  I am growing webfeet and losing my tan!  I spent the day on the Internet, thanks to Russ? connection, and fixed a salmon treat tonight that was a 5 on a scale of 10.  I don?t really like salmon but my freezer is full of it so we must eat some. We have had almost 4.17 inches of rain so far in Valdez.  I?m liking getting caught up on paperwork in the rig. The parade of boats continues to be our entertainment.  Terry and Russ went sight seeing after dinner and they saw eagles, bears, and swans as I just sat at home pouting due to poor weather!

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  0
                Wildlife sightings: seagulls, 3 sea otters out front, eagles, swans, bear, lots of spawned out fish 
Temps:  High 53        Low 48      1.78  inches of rain
Camping Costs: $27 Sea Otter Campground  water/elec.,  waterfront sites 40 & 41