Emma Finds A Bear
So I was informed that my writing the past few days has been somewhat lackluster, on the nose, and basic. So, I guess I need to spice things up a bit and include more color to really give a more complete picture of our trip.
So, we were all abducted by aliens today. No one reported any probing, but that may be due to the mind-wiping they did. The memories they left us will be documented below.
Our main goal today was to drive from our lodge to Valdez. There wasn’t much around, so we had to drive an hour to the nearest town that had breakfast options. We stopped at Caribou Grill. After waiting a while to be acknowledged, our server told us we could sit anywhere, and he came over to give us menus. You could tell there weren’t many employees, and he, obviously flustered, told us there were only 3 total in the restaurant.
We told him we weren’t in a hurry, and that we were thankful they were open. I think we had come in right at the end of a relative rush. We did come in just in time to get breakfast. We got our food, and enjoyed it. I was impressed with the biscuits and gravy that we all shared. We mainly sought out breakfast for Emma, as it was very important to her. She was pleased, and we started toward Valdez.
We saw some massive glacial valleys, and some great glaciers. We did stop in some random locations to get great glacier photos. The mosquitos were out in force, so we did try to keep each stop short, so that we could keep our blood inside of our bodies.
As we got close to Valdez, we passed through a section that was full of waterfalls. The valley walls were massive, so the waterfalls were massive as well. We also identified some locations Carrie had identified as possible locations to find wildlife later in the day.
We checked in to the Totem Inn in Valdez. Before we left for Alaska, I was chatting with a friend and co-worker Shaun Kitka about Alaska, since he was from there. He suggested that we stay at the Totem Inn, as he was friends with the owners. I didn’t realize that Carrie had already booked us there. I’m glad she did, as it is super nice, and probably the best hotel in Valdez.
After we got unloaded, we got back in the car to see the area, and hopefully, some wildlife. Emma spotted a fox (or possibly coyote), and prompted us to stop. Then she saw something red, that turned out to be a brown bear. She exclaimed “I win! I found the first bear!”
We drove past the local fish hatchery, and to the edge of the camping area nearby, which was next to a pipeline facility. We didn’t really see anything of note, but we decided we would come back later, around low tide, as that was apparently a good time to see wildlife. We are a little early in the season for salmon, so it might be better if we had come in a few weeks, as the bears really love them some salmon.
The last location on our list was a nearby lake, that supposedly had moose. Once we arrived, on the far side of the lake, Carrie found a moose and possibly a calf, though they were so far away, she couldn’t really tell.
We took Pat back to the hotel, as she didn’t want to go to dinner, and went to The Fat Mermaid. I was excited, as they had cider on drought. Though it wasn’t my favorite Alaskan cider, it was still nice. Carrie and Emma got the Cod fish and chips, Les got a wonderful Prime Rib philly sandwich, and I got the Fat Mermaid Burger. We also shared a pound of spicy shrimp as an appetizer. We all really liked our dinner, though once I saw the red bell peppers on Les’ sandwich, I was envious - that was almost my order, and though I liked my burger, I think he made a better choice.
After dinner, we got some supplies at Safeway, then dropped Les off at the hotel. Carrie, Emma, and I went back out to shoot photos at low tide. We found a bald eagle that was being harassed by a seagull. The gull definitely had the “small guy” complex trying to bully the much larger eagle that could have eviscerated the annoying bird. Further down the road we found 2 bald eagles standing on the mud flats, and Carrie got some great photos of them.
On the way back to the hotel, we drove through Old Valdez, that was totally destroyed in the 1964 earthquake and tsunami. There were sign markers showing where the individual buildings were prior to the disaster. Valdez was re-built on better and higher land.
Back at the hotel, we relaxed in the very nice rooms. Emma was on an actual bed here (I don’t think I even wrote about her non-standard sleeping arrangements at the lodge - She slept on a rollaway mattress that was defective - the half where her feet were just sat on the ground, and her head was propped up a little. There were also open windows, so she froze). She was MUCH happier with the accommodations here. I think that is a great plan - every place seems nicer if it follows a bad stay. Just from laying on the bed relaxing, I can say this is the most comfortable bed of the entire trip (at least for me).
