Valdez

After the 5 hour drive along the Denali Highway (max speed is 35 MPH!), our instincts told us to head south back to the coast along the Richardson Highway and end up in Valdez.  Yes, that Valdez made famous by the oil spill in 1989.  The map in the guidebook didn't have the little symbol indicating it was a scenic highway, but the last 20 miles into Valdez is SPECTACULAR.

After a couple of miles of amazing mountains, we turned the corner and then the Worthington Glacier.

After the Worthington Glacier, one climbs up into Thompson Pass.

Even after a week of snow-capped mountains, the scene doesn't get old.  I would still just stare in awe at how close the mountains were, how accessible they looked.

The end (or start) of the Richardson Highway....Valdez, Alaska.  This could be called "New" Valdez as this current location was selected after the original location was destroyed by the Great Good Friday Earthquake of 1964.

After dinner (I had a tasty halibut burger), Onions went back to the B&B to rest and when I went out for toothpaste, the blue skies started to show up and so I went around town to take photos.

The next morning we had tried to book a kayaking tour but the tours were full, so we ended up at a couple local museums.  The first showed off the collection of items a woman had purchased from indigenous people throughout Alaska.  Somehow, that didn't feel right for some reason.  What I did appreciate was a chance to see some animals up close.  Not sure if I should be ok with that.

The second stop was the Valdez museum. I was surprised that the spill was only a very small part of the museum exhibition.  I learned that the city has a proud gold mining history and fishing history as well.  Makes sense.....every city needs to be proud of and honor their history beyond the tragedies.

This was the weather the day we wanted to go kayaking.  So, lucky the tours were full?  This is looking across the bay from Valdez to the oil refineries.

The refinery "up close."  And then we headed out of town.