Monday, July 25, 2022 - We drive to Anchorage, Alaska and Elmendorf AFB for a one-night stop-over before we head for Valdez. This gave us an opportunity to get together with Doug and Nancy Linebaugh for after-dinner dessert and to see photos of Brooks Falls taken by Nancy over her three-day stay at a lodge there. Her photos were amazing with tons of great photos of bears eating salmon and interacting together. This is likely the premier location in the world to observe bears in the wild. Brooks Falls is only about five feet high which allows the bears to catch jumping salmon right out of the air. She also took great photos of the bears interacting aggressively and in play. She also showed mother bears teaching younger bears how to catch fish. What a great trip for Nancy Linebaugh.

Tuesday July 26, 2022 - We depart for Valdez, Alaska and drive to Glennallen on Highway 1 before we turned south to Valdez. We stopper for fuel in Glennallen which cost us $6 per gallon. The drive to Valdez is extremely beautiful. East of Glennallen is a set of mountain peaks of which two are over 16,000 feet and the other two are above 14,000 feet. We then continued the drive along the Trans-Canada oil pipeline to Valdez. The pipeline crosses the road in several places and is often buried underground. Just before reaching Valdez, we encountered Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls. These two falls are pretty impressive with lots of water falling great distances. We stopped to take lots of photos of these two falls. We then came upon a great view of the Worthington Glacier which has a parking area and trail to hike up to the front of the glacier. We then continued on to the town of Valdez and the Eagle's Rest RV park. The people running the park were very nice and they made sure we knew we could wash our car and RV at the site if we wished to do so. We set up the RV and then decided to go check in for our cruise coming up tomorrow.

Note: Bob and Charlotte are getting good at helping us set up the RV and doing all the small steps that we have to do in a specific order to set up the unit. This really helps get the RV set up quickly. Bob even helped me wash the RV at Elmendor AFB so that it would not look so dirty for our trip.

We walked over to the offices for the LuLu Belle cruise ship. This is the best cruise ship in the Valdez area and Captain Fred, the owner and pilot of the ship, is known throughout the area. Captain Fred is 84 years old and has been providing these tours on a daily basis between May and September for 47 years. We checked in and let the people there know that we had arrived and they told us where to board at 10:30 the next day. We then walked along the Valdez dock and marina area which does not take too long since it is pretty small. Directly across Valdez Bay from the dock is the end terminal of the Trans-Canada Pipeline that starts at Prudhoe Bay and travels for over 800 miles to Valdez. Also, about a half-mile away from the terminal is a salmon hatchery that we definitely wanted to visit.

After our walk on the docks, we stopped at the local Safeway store to get some snacks for the cruise on the next day. The Safeway was located about 200 feet from our RV. I was concerned about my diet before the cruise because I did not want to get seasick on the trip. Part of the cruise would take us out into open water for Cook Inlet and it can get pretty rough out there. As it turned out, we had a calm, clear, sunny day and I did not even get queasy. (Thank goodness!)

Wednesday, July 27, 2022 - We had a nice breakfast in the RV and then traveled to the LuLu Belle to meet Captain Fred and take a tour of Valdez Bay, Prince William Sound, and Columbia Glacier. First of all, the LuLu Belle is a beautiful boat. Lots of varnished teak wood and the engine always started and ran smoothly. Very clean and well maintained. Captain Fred provides nearly constant dialogue on the history of the area and wildlife that we would see. He is also a master at maneuvering the boat. He moved us in against the rocks on the shore to where I could reach out and touch the rocks, but the boat did not make contact. We started out with a large pod sea otters lounging on the surface of the bay. Turns out that they spend almost their entire lives on the water. They go down to get food and then come to the surface to consume their catch. They float on their backs and you can watch them eat their food. We then traveled to an island to look at the Puffins. There were not too may puffins, and they were tucked up into cracks on the cliffs and pretty hard to see (and photograph). We then moved around a rock and were met by a huge group of Steller Seals. There were hundreds of them. They were sunning on the shore and playing in water right of the shore. One even came out to perform for us in front of the boat diving, breaching, and splashing all around. They were so much fun to watch and they seemed to be having fun too. Next, we were off to the Columbia Glacier, the main reason for the trip. The views coming into the channel with the glacier are outstanding and we had the benefit of having a perfect day for this viewing. No wind. No clouds. Calm waters. And, a great Captain committed to taking us to within one-quarter mile of the foot of the glacier. The water was completely calm and the icebergs in the channel were beautiful to observe. Captain Fred gracefully navigated between the large chunks of ice and eventually, we came to a location one-quarter of a mile from the glacier. He shut off the motor and allowed us to simply watch the glacier for occasional "calving." When large chunks of ice fall off the glacier and into the water, it is called, "calving." It is an impressive thing to see and hear. The sound is like a cannon going off in the distance. You can hear the glacier cracking and expanding and then chunks of ice fall to the water with loud booms. Captain Fred turned the bow of the boat directly towards the glacier, and the crew brought out signs that said "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukkah" for people to get their Christmas card photos taken care of. If you were not religious, you could us a life preserver with the name "LuLu Belle" inscribed on it. It was a fun thing to do. After about an hour and a half at the glacier, we headed back to port. This was a good time to get a hotdog or soup at the ship snack bar. On the way, we encountered some dolphins and Captain Fred maneuvered over to where they had been to see if they would surface. They appeared to be feasting on salmon, so they did not come up to entertain us. Bummer. The dolphins will often swim with us right under the bow and you can watch and photograph them. We soon arrived back in port after a magnificent day on the water with Captain Fred and crew. We were able to get a very nice photo with Captain Fred. Then back to the RV to relax. We arrived back in port a around 7:00 in the evening, so the trip was about eight hours on the water. Well worth the $200 cost per person.

Thursday, July 28, 2202 - We decided to drive to hatchery and terminus for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline on the far side of the bay. I had been told that you can fish just south of the hatchery and that you were guaranteed to catch some fish, so I took my tackle along. The hatchery is quite fascinating. It is located on the shore on a creek that has a steep waterfall right by the road, so the fish cannot travel up the river at all. They just come back to the hatchery where officials there take as many as they need and can handle. The rest of the fish are left to spawn in the bay as best they can. For this reason, there are tons of fish piled up against the weir and people are allowed to take fish as they wish; they can even snag salmon in this area. As the tide came in, several large Steller Seals came to the front of the weir to gorge themselves on the salmon there. They would go under and catch a fish, come to the surface to take a bite out of the fish, and then toss the carcass to the gulls swarming the seal. It was quite fun to watch and video this process. Lots of "nature" going on here. Be sure to see the photo gallery to see all the salmon.

We drove farther south to the entrance to the petroleum facility which we could not enter. We turned around and drove to a point on the shore where I could fish. I joined a family on the shore and "basically" crowded in on them since they were catching fish. I used a spinner and made a cast into the muddy water. On the second cast, I caught a "Humpy" or "Pink" salmon. I had quite a fight on my hands. It took several minutes to land the fish. Turns out that I had snagged the fish in the back and that adds to the amount of fight. .

After a photo, I gave the fish to the family who intended to smoke the meat for consumption over the winter. Lots of people in Alaska fish and hunt for subsistence. I then went back to casting for more salmon. I hooked about five more, but did not land any of them. As they got closed to the shore, the hooks came out. That was okay with me since I did not intend to keep the fish. After a while, I decided to head back to the truck where Lisa, Bob, and Charlotte were waiting. Lisa and Charlotte had gone for a walk while I was fishing. It was a fun fishing trip and quite a learning experience. We then drove back to Valdez and drove around the town to explore the housing and commercial facilities. We then went back to the RV to relax for a while and eat dinner.

Friday, July 29, 2022 - We depart to drive to Palmer, Alaska where we planned to stay for two days to explore the area. We planned to stay at the Paradise RV Park.