Alaska-Valdez

We enjoyed our drive to Valdez as the scenery was some of the most spectacular we've encountered so far. The snow-covered mountains were in view all the way and included close-up views of the Anderson and Worthington Glaciers.  In fact, Valdez is noted for having more tidal glaciers than nearly anywhere else in the world.  We were up close and personal with another very large glacier, the Columbia, as we took a six and a half hour Stan Stephens Cruise on Prince William Sound.  In addition to the glacier, while on the cruise, we were also able to get fairly close to many other creatures including Humpback Whales, Sea Lions, Sea Otters, Dolphins, Puffins and even an Eagle perched in a tree.  As we approached the Columbia Glacier, the temperature dropped rapidly and the icebergs were so numerous we could only get a rather distant view of the glacier.
  Sunday allowed us to have a very unique experience as we worshipped on a boat in Prince William Sound.  This worship service is sponsored by the Valdez Ministerial Alliance and the boat, Lu Lu Belle, a tour boat, is donated by it's owner, each Sunday, for the service.  The Baptist minister in charge added levity to his message, as we were in the middle of the Sound, by advising the congregation we were free to leave, by the back door, if we did not agree with his message.

Another learning experience was watching a couple of videos, one on the 1964 earthquake that demolished the original Valdez townsite with a 9.2 Richter reading that lasted for four and half minutes.  The earthquake then spawned a four-story high tidal wave that completed the devastation of the area.  The town was rebuilt at it's current location in 1967.  Valdez has since gone on to become a major seaport with the terminus of the 800 mile long Trans Alaska Pipeline that runs from Prudhoe Bay.  An amazing fact is that the entire pipeline has a capacity of 9 billion barrels of oil and, at the Valdez Terminus, storage tanks allow for that entire amount to be stored at any one time. The other video detailed the construction of that pipeline.

One other place of note in Valdez is the Jesse and Marrian Whittier Museum, on the campus of Prince William Sound Community College.  The museum contained many artifacts related to the Valdez area and had an exceptional taxidermy display of wildlife native to the area.  In our judgment, this was one of the finest taxidermy displays we have ever seen.  The animals all looked like they could walk away at any moment.

We then moved on, through the rain and haze, to the Palmer/Wasilla area where we will "hole-up" for the next week or so, so we can explore the area, receive our mail, etc.