Valdez Saturday :        Well its been a busy few days. We left Beautiful Homer and drove to Seward. Another beautiful Oceanside town. But weather was against us this time. We had about 30 minutes after we arrived before the rain came down and stayed down. Non stop. The drive from the Highway between huge mountains into the town was stunning. Once we set up camp down on the waterfront Kaff went off to the Aquarium. I chose sleep. We couldn't do much with the weather. The campground is all run by the local council and they have some like big parking metres where you register and pay by card and it spits out the receipt which you stick in your window, all very easy really, the council bloke then does a drive around late to check everyone has paid. we were supposed to stay here for 2 nights but started to get cabin fever last night so decided to head into Valdez a day earlier.
To start our day as we drove along the highway before getting into Anchorage we followed the "Turnaround Arm" body of water which has Beluga Whales . Kaff saw one the other day as we drove to Homer the same road, but today because it was overcast and the water was calm we ended up seeing about 10 of them. No photo proof unfortunately as they don't pop up for long and when they do they are always someplace different.
 I don't know how but the scenery just keeps on getting better and better. I thought the fall colours of last week were special but this we they are spectacular. The road from Palmer to Glen allen ( The Glen Highway ) was just ablaze with colour. All the trees were bright yellow and orange, every time we turned a corner we had to stop and admire the vista. The car was full of Awes and Ahhs. Then when we turned down the Valdez Road it changed again. Lots of red ground colours and huge glaciers right in your face. Its just been an awesome days drive.
Valdez is where the Alaskan Oil Pipeline ends, that's the one I saw out in Coldfoot. This is also where they had the huge Oil spill ( The Exon Valdez). It is also the gateway to Prince William Sound, so there is lots of boat tours there. The Marine Highway Ferry also picks up and drops off here.
I was hoping to get out to Kennakot Mines but I have to do more homework on that trip. Not sure if its open or not.
I met some girls from Oregon tonight. They have spent the last 50 days riding pushbikes to here. They are hoping to catch to ferry to Whittier tomorrow as they are heading to Homer. It has rained here for the last 3 days they have been here so they are camped on the verandah outside the office. I had a good chat with them as they had been to a lot of the places Kaff & I had been to last trip to Canada.
Tonight its now washing clothes and sorting them out. Its amazing how long you can wear a pair of jeans!