Sunday, July 13, 2008
Anchorage and Seward
[Be sure to click on the photos for larger versions.]
This installment covers Sunday (July 6) through Saturday (July 12).
It rained all day Sunday on our free day in Valdez. We skipped outdoor sightseeing, and instead went grocery, liquor and souvenir shopping. The souvenir store showed a free film on the building of the Alaska pipeline.
Monday was a driving day from Valdez to Mendeltna. On the first part of the highway out of Valdez, Carol and I stopped for photos of Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
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We also stopped at Worthington Glacier where we walked across the mud flats and about 3/4 of the way up a rock gully toward the face of the glacier.
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We stopped for lunch at the Copper Creek Lodge in Copper Creek – a nice place that we ate at twice on our last Alaska trip. We also toured the small, free historical museum adjacent to the lodge.
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After we left Copper Creek the rain began and continued all day and all night. Dinner was a group pizza and salad dinner in the small lodge building at the campground.
Tuesday was a short driving day from Mendeltna to Anchorage. We began with a group continental breakfast at the campground. The rain continued almost all the way to Anchorage, and we had some heavy fog for about 15 miles in the morning. Our windshield wipers started to act up again, so we disconnected the power to them and relied on a new treatment of Rainex to get us through the day.
Because of the poor weather, we did not get to see much of the landscape – what little bit we did see looked beautiful. We did have a moose cross the road in front of us, but too quick for any pictures.
In Anchorage we ran some errands and stopped at the local Winnebago dealer to finagle an appointment tomorrow morning to fix the windshield wipers, a broken compartment door latch, and a new roof leak that developed last night around the skylight in the bathroom.
Carol and I got up early Wednesday morning to take the Winnebago to the local dealer for some minor repairs. We then joined our caravan on a bus tour of Anchorage. The highlight of the tour was the Alaska State Museum.
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We had a huge lunch at the Sourdough Restaurant and concluded with souvenir shopping at Alaska Wildberry. The latter store features a two story chocolate fountain.
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We picked up the Winnebago with 1-1/2 of the three problems fixed; the dealer is ordering parts and we will stop in on our return trip through Anchorage next week to get a new wiper switch and compartment door latch installed.
Thursday was a free day during which we visited the Alaska Heritage Museum. In addition to a traditional museum, the facility contains replicas of the types of houses used by the five major native groups in Alaska. There is a native interpreter in each house to talk about the culture of their people.
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There are also a number of dance and other performances throughout the day. On the way out of the museum parking lot we saw a moose cow near the side of the road.
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Friday was an overcast driving day from Anchorage to Seward. The first part of the drive is along Turnagain Arm. Tide was low this morning, so there were extensive exposed mud flats. When the tide comes in, there can be up to a six foot tidal bore. We stopped en route at a jade shop, where we bought a couple of Christmas presents, and then had breakfast for lunch at the nearby Bake Shop.
The trip continued along the side of the water until the highway split – left going to Seward and right going to Homer. The road then narrowed and twisted through some foothills until we reached Seward. Our RV campground is a waterfront city park.
Saturday was a sunny, clear free day. We got some photos from both the RV park and downtown of what the mountains look like when the sky is blue instead of grey
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Carol and I visited Exit Glacier where we took a loop trail to a viewpoint close to the face of the glacier.
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We did not try to walk to the lower face – the mud flats had too many wide streams that would have been difficult to navigate across. After lunch, we toured the Alaska Sea Life Center. This facility has aquariums, sea birds, sea lions, harbor seals, and other displays. In the bird area, we got several good pictures of puffins.
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After the Sea Life Center, we made a photo stop at the site where the original 1910 Iditerod race began.
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This installment covers Sunday (July 6) through Saturday (July 12).
It rained all day Sunday on our free day in Valdez. We skipped outdoor sightseeing, and instead went grocery, liquor and souvenir shopping. The souvenir store showed a free film on the building of the Alaska pipeline.
Monday was a driving day from Valdez to Mendeltna. On the first part of the highway out of Valdez, Carol and I stopped for photos of Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
.JPG)
We also stopped at Worthington Glacier where we walked across the mud flats and about 3/4 of the way up a rock gully toward the face of the glacier.
.JPG)
.JPG)
We stopped for lunch at the Copper Creek Lodge in Copper Creek – a nice place that we ate at twice on our last Alaska trip. We also toured the small, free historical museum adjacent to the lodge.
.JPG)
After we left Copper Creek the rain began and continued all day and all night. Dinner was a group pizza and salad dinner in the small lodge building at the campground.
Tuesday was a short driving day from Mendeltna to Anchorage. We began with a group continental breakfast at the campground. The rain continued almost all the way to Anchorage, and we had some heavy fog for about 15 miles in the morning. Our windshield wipers started to act up again, so we disconnected the power to them and relied on a new treatment of Rainex to get us through the day.
Because of the poor weather, we did not get to see much of the landscape – what little bit we did see looked beautiful. We did have a moose cross the road in front of us, but too quick for any pictures.
In Anchorage we ran some errands and stopped at the local Winnebago dealer to finagle an appointment tomorrow morning to fix the windshield wipers, a broken compartment door latch, and a new roof leak that developed last night around the skylight in the bathroom.
Carol and I got up early Wednesday morning to take the Winnebago to the local dealer for some minor repairs. We then joined our caravan on a bus tour of Anchorage. The highlight of the tour was the Alaska State Museum.
.JPG)
We had a huge lunch at the Sourdough Restaurant and concluded with souvenir shopping at Alaska Wildberry. The latter store features a two story chocolate fountain.
.JPG)
We picked up the Winnebago with 1-1/2 of the three problems fixed; the dealer is ordering parts and we will stop in on our return trip through Anchorage next week to get a new wiper switch and compartment door latch installed.
Thursday was a free day during which we visited the Alaska Heritage Museum. In addition to a traditional museum, the facility contains replicas of the types of houses used by the five major native groups in Alaska. There is a native interpreter in each house to talk about the culture of their people.
.JPG)
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There are also a number of dance and other performances throughout the day. On the way out of the museum parking lot we saw a moose cow near the side of the road.
.JPG)
Friday was an overcast driving day from Anchorage to Seward. The first part of the drive is along Turnagain Arm. Tide was low this morning, so there were extensive exposed mud flats. When the tide comes in, there can be up to a six foot tidal bore. We stopped en route at a jade shop, where we bought a couple of Christmas presents, and then had breakfast for lunch at the nearby Bake Shop.
The trip continued along the side of the water until the highway split – left going to Seward and right going to Homer. The road then narrowed and twisted through some foothills until we reached Seward. Our RV campground is a waterfront city park.
Saturday was a sunny, clear free day. We got some photos from both the RV park and downtown of what the mountains look like when the sky is blue instead of grey
.JPG)
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Carol and I visited Exit Glacier where we took a loop trail to a viewpoint close to the face of the glacier.
.JPG)
.JPG)
We did not try to walk to the lower face – the mud flats had too many wide streams that would have been difficult to navigate across. After lunch, we toured the Alaska Sea Life Center. This facility has aquariums, sea birds, sea lions, harbor seals, and other displays. In the bird area, we got several good pictures of puffins.
.JPG)
After the Sea Life Center, we made a photo stop at the site where the original 1910 Iditerod race began.
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