Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

Yesterday, we woke to sunshine again, but it didn’t last all day unfortunately. Around 4pm, the rain came. And it came in buckets. The temperature dropped too, and we had to kick on the heat in the camper.

Steve went fishing yesterday morning (again, plenty of pinks but no silvers). When he got back, we leashed up Sedona and went for a walk on the Dock Point Trail. It’s less than a mile, but has a steep climb at the beginning. My glutes were burning, that’s for sure.

The Dock Point Trail winds through some pretty vegetation, and there are two overlooks with views of Valdez Bay. The last time I was on this trail, was when I learned that my mom had passed. Those memories came flooding back strongly. Hard to believe she’ll be gone two years on Sept 1st.

Here are photos I took from the Dock Point Trail:

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We have been having the most splendid weather here in Valdez! Sunshine has been abundant, and yesterday we passed 60F. We are both loving it, after so many days of rain in Fairbanks.

I finally resized the photos I took both on the drive down, and yesterday on our adventure around town.  What’s been a little strange is actually having darkness at night. We don’t have to plug up the skylight in the camper to sleep. While the days are still fairly long (dark comes around 10pm), seeing the night sky reminds me that in a month or two, we’ll be seeing A LOT of the night sky.

When the sun surprised us by peeking out between the clouds, we did as most everyone in town did - we went out to enjoy it! Our walk took us down to the marina, where we watched fishermen unload and clean their catch. We meandered along for almost two hours before coming back to the camper for the evening and much needed sleep.

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As you’ve guessed, we’ve got WiFi here at the campground. This makes me so happy! We always stay here at Bayside RV Park, and I guess they finally had wireless internet put in. The last time I was here, I managed to piggy back on the Totem Inn’s WiFi, but it was slow as molasses. This connection is quite good.

We left Fairbanks under dreary skies. By the time we hit Delta Junction - and stopped for a bite to eat at Buffalo Diner - the rain was really coming down hard. We expected that we’d be vacationing under rainy skies, so we were prepared for it with raingear, warm clothes, etc.

The scenery, even under dismal grey skies, was beautiful as always. We only made a couple of stops along the way for photos and to stretch our legs. We really couldn’t wait to get to Valdez and set up the camper and just relax.

Rain was falling as we set up camp, and a chill settled into our bones. The first thing we did, after getting out of our wet clothes, was turn on the heat.

We opted for sandwiches for dinner. It was already past 6pm, and neither of us wanted to cook. As we were eating, a glow came in the window. Could it be? Was the SUN actually out?!

We quickly finished our sandwiches, leashed up Sedona and took off walking towards the marina. Everyone had the same idea, and the marina area was crowded with both fisherman and visitors to Valdez. We watched a few anglers clean their catch, as hundreds of gulls circled overhead waiting for the *guts* to be dumped.

The sunshine colored the tops of the mountains a brilliant green where the light bounced off the lush bushes and trees. The sky was full of fluffy clouds; white cottonballs in a sea of blue. It was a beautiful evening.

While out, we stopped at the Stan Stephens office and booked a wildlife/glacier cruise for Monday. We’re doing the long tour that goes to Columbia and Meares Glacier. I will be thrilled if the sun shines that day, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

We came back to the camper at 9pm. The sun was just dipping behind the mountains, and the sky was growing darker.  By the time we went to bed at 11pm, the skies looked black. It’s been months since I’ve seen a dark night sky. We didn’t even have to plug up the skylight with cardboard to sleep.

Steve slept in this morning, but I was up at 7am.  We’re going fishing in a few minutes (actually he’s going fishing, and I’m going to keep him company). After he gets some fishing out of his system, we’re going to drive the Mineral Creek Trail. Steve will go back out fishing tonight, while I work on photos I’ll take today.

I have a lot of photos to post in my next entry - both of our drive down, and photos from today.

Right now the sun is shining and we’re not going to waste it!

Later…