How Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

Of course, this is less than an original phrase, but true nonetheless.  Since my last blog entry we have traveled hundred of miles, been prayed over and blessed by an Episcopal Priest (traveling mercies and blessings for a 30th wedding anniversary celebrated), walked right up to the Exit Glacier sharing a 3 mile hike with my 87 year old dad, experiencing (literally) breathtaking sights of hanging glaciers and flowing glaciers covering whole valley floors!  Bridle Vale Falls and Horse Tail Falls, just off the highway to Valdez is nothing to discount or ignore.  Oh, I don't want to forget to mention the interesting trip to Whittier on the Kenai Peninsula.  After a delightful stop in Seward we started driving back toward Anchorage, but we needed to have the experience of driving through a mountain using the same tunnel that the train uses.  The tunnel was all of 16 feet wide (11 1/2 feet paved surface) and perhaps 20 feet high and well over two miles long.  Round trip was $20 and it was worth the experience.  The tunnel is the longest of its kind in the world.  Every half hour the traffic moves the opposite direction.

We decided to not stay in Whittier after a quick one hour tour and headed off to Anchorage.  We stayed in the town's RV park, which included a lone small moose calf chewing its cud the second evening we were there.   To our delight and satisfaction we enjoyed a few hours at the Alaska Native Heritage Center touring various native structures they lived in, learning of their culture and way of life, including the competitive games they play and the dances the tribes used to entertain themselves and communicate their stories of life and work.  It was great to see the young high school students display such pride in their heritage.

We are now in Valdez, a beautiful end of the road town replete with harbor (large and small), tall and steep mountains, glaciers and lots of fishing and small cruise ships.  Tomorrow, the three of us are going for a 9 1/2 hour cruise of the Prince William Sound and that will be another story...