http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Alaska , Valdez en-us Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:14:34 BST Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:14:34 BST und hier die videos zum offroad fahren...viel spass http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-313650.html Good eveningIf any of you took a look at my itinerary you will see that Valdez was not on it. However I met a couple of sisters at Mile Zero in Dawson Creek who were going to Valdez and they said that I had better not miss this area since I was so close. Well that is where I am at tonight.But first I left Anchorage at 730 and did I mention it was raining Sorry about sounding like a broke http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-298643.html I can't really say much about Fairbanks. We arrived later in the day checked into our Inn and went for a salmon bake supper. We didn't get to see anything more than the road in and out of town and what was between our inn and the place we had supper. Denali too was a nonevent. Once we got into the mountains the clouds lowered and dumped rain. We arrived at our motel in a steady rain and basi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-294261.html Heading east on the Glenn Highway out of Palmer is a very scenic ride through the Matanuska Valley. This highway takes you along the Matanuska River and practically right up to the Matanuska Glacier. Dave and I hiked a short trail to the scenic viewpoints at the glacier. We had excellent views of the Chugach Mountains along the highway. Another very beautiful spot along the way was the colorfu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-285973.html Day 16 July 29 Traveled about 130 miles to Valdez Sea Otter RV Park We started the day with a good breakfast at the Caribou Lodge in Glennallen one of Karen and Garyrsquos favorite places. We stopped at the Wrangell St. Elias National Park Visitors Center. This is a new and very nice visitors center. This is the largest National Park in the US. Itrsquos 6 times larger than Yellowstone. It http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-187724.html Well things just keep getting weirder and weirder We left Anchorage on Thursday around noon heading south for Homer in the Kenai Penninsula thinking we had approximately a 34 hour drive taking into consideration a couple of stops for points of interest. The first point of interest was the Alaskan Wildlife preserve which was exciting for us all as they had the most amazing Elk Moose Musk Ox http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-186665.html Sunday July 22 2007 We decided to go to Church today. This is the first Sunday in a long time we havenrsquot been traveling. We chose the Church of the Nazarene. It turned out almost the entire congregation which is small and the Pastor had gone to a wedding ceremony in Fairbanks this weekend. There were about 20 people there and 8 were visitors. It was a nice service though and the Lord ble http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-184808.html Friday July 20 2007 When I woke up and looked out at the inlet I noticed the morning mists across the channel were unusual so I snapped some photos. We headed into Valdez fairly early. Got info at the Visitorrsquos center and did grocery shopping. The grocery store people were some of the friendliest Irsquove come across. We checked out the salmon spawning area the Forestry Dept set up. Sev http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-183994.html Thursday July 19 2007 Another sunny day We continued north on the Alaska Hwy and back into the USA. Eventually our route took us southwest and the 2 different roads we traveled were basically in the same condition as the Alaska Hwy. Traffic increased a little. Towns villages and services are about 100150 miles apart and there is nothing in between. The scenery was the same as yesterday but w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-183991.html Wednesday July 18 2007 Wednesday morning we left Haines drizzling and foggy and Southeast Alaska behind and headed toward Valdez. The further we got from Haines the sunnier and warmer it became. We arrived in Haines by ferry and we were leaving on wheels. The Haines Hwy meets the famous Alaska Hwy about 150 miles from Haines. The Alaska Hwy or Alcan goes through British Columbia and the Yukon http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-183986.html Valdez AK pop. 4454We had heard that this was a scenic area and wanted to see for ourselves. Itrsquos not on the way to anywhere else but was worth the drive. The last 60 miles leading into Valdez were spectacular with glaciers mountains canyons and waterfalls. We camped at Glacier View Campground for 10night dry camping. This campground was shared with black bears including some cubs. W http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-183572.html day 13 14 71207 71307 juneau to anchoragenbspNorth America raquonbspUnited States raquonbspAlaska raquonbspValdez By JohnaldJuly 13th 2007 712 woke up early to be at the ferry terminal at 6am for the ferry to haines. sat there for 2 hours and slept in the car then slept the entire ride to haines. it rained the whole time so we missed nothing. drove from haines to glen http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-181052.html June 20th Richardson highway to Wrangell NP. Richardson Highway Our first stop was not too far from Fairbanks. 20 miles away is North Pole where it is Christmas everyday at Santa Claus Haus. We were so glad we could meet Santa actually talk to him. He was very friendly. We thought we had to wait in line for a handshake. This was so cool. This part of the highway was so hot dry that we fo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-173947.html Another update from our intrepid travellers in Alaska. The three of them are all well and in great sprits in Valdez in the south of the state. When I recieved the email they had just finsihed a 6 hour wildlife and glacier cruise. Was wonderful wtih black and white dolphins humpback whales seals and sea otters all around. The Colombia glacier was great but is melting at half a kilometer per yea http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-166654.html We are off to Whittler to catch the ferry to Valdez. WoW another absolutely awesome drive and now on the Marine Highway cruizin the waterways of Prince William Sound. We could be on a Manly Ferry except that we are going faster there are way less people no cars or buildings in sight and snow capped mountains all around and come down to the shore line. The road to Whittler took us back past th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-165223.html Valdez sits in a narrow valley surrounded by rugged coastal mountains at the end of an arm of Prince William Sound. It was founded in the 1890rsquos and prospered as a landing spot and outfitter for gold prospectors heading to Fairbanks and the Klondike gold fields. Today it is a thriving port commercial and sports fishing center and the southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. It is a bea http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-74127.html All vehicle traffic into Alaska must go through Tok rhymes with broke the first town you come to on the Alaska Highway. Here we turned south and soon the road improved and we saw our second moose. We overnighted in Glenallen a tiny crossroads town about 100 miles or so from Valdez. We were very surprised to find we had cell phone service and could access the internet on the Verizon Air Ca http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/Valdez/blog-73930.html