Beluga Point Lookout (August 10) - After enjoying our free breakfast at the hotel, we were off, heading for Seward. The morning was a bit gloomy and the clouds were sitting low. It was a love/hate relationship with the clouds because they were blocking the mountain views which we wish we could see, but at the same time it was cool to all of a sudden see a mountain peak behind and come out of no where! Our first stop along the way was at Beluga Point Lookout where you get 180 degree views of the Turnagain Arm. Byron Bay Glacier (August 10) - We stopped at Byron Bay Glacier for a 3.3 mile hike - this ended up being one of our favorite spots! The trail was lush with ferns in the beginning and followed along the Byron Creek, which was peaceful to listen to. The weather was still gloomy so it wasn`t high in traffic, which is always a big plus. As you near the snowfields at the bottom of the glacier, the trail ends and you have the option to continue in many different directions. Nelly wanted to head for the snow right away, of course. To say she was happy would be a huge understatement. She absolutely loves the snow! The first snow fall back in WI was always so exciting (for all of us) because we could just head to the park and run around on untouched fluff like little kids again. So yes, we acted as if we got our first snow fall and had some fun :) The sun decided to come out and with the reflection off the snow, made it really bright. We just kept going. The further and further we got, the prettier the views became; noticing new waterfalls and glaciers. And when you turned around to look back at what you hiked, you saw Portage Lake. All in all, beautiful views! This was our first glacier hike and definitely one to remember. Whittier (August 10) - To get to Whittier, you must pass through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, which is the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America, and the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds! Nelly did not like this tunnel. It cost $22 to go through the tunnel and enter Whittier, which we were not aware of heading in, so we were ready to make it worth it! We parked for $5 (this place gets ya) and headed for "downtown" ... the fact that they called it downtown was really funny to us. We took in the views and popped into some shops, then sat down for fish & chips at Varly`s Swiftwater Seafood. It was delicious and just what we needed after our hike at Byron Bay Glacier. We stopped at their museum to read about the history of Whittier, which was actually quite fascinating. From there, we drove down to the harbor to go for a ride in the Green Bean. This was the first time we tried three people and Nelly, and we realized about 2 feet in, it was not going to work out the way we had it. After moving things around a bit, we were off, cruising for the first time in salt water! We noticed some waterfalls up to the left so we made our way over there. They looked a lot closer from the shore but eventually, we arrived. We enjoyed a drink listening to the waterfalls and having a new view of Whittier. Then the waves came, pushing us up onto the rocks. Sharp rocks. We tried getting off of them while staying put, but soon realized that was impossible and could end up puncturing the canoe. Ben stepped out to get us off the rocks and it was all good. Until we were about 5 minutes away and Ben realized he was without his phone. We cruised back and saw it sitting on a rock, under the water. You know the drill ... get it in rice! He kept it on rice for the next 48 hours and would you believe it? It`s alive! Seward (August 10-11) - We ended up sleeping at Forest Acres Municipal Campground which was just before Seward. It was a quick in and out but we weren`t quick enough. We paid for an RV site (which is more expensive than a tent site) and Ben pitched his tent within our site. The ranger came by in the morning and made us pay for a tent site as well, saying its not how many sites we take up, but rather what we sleep in... ridiculous! It was a rainy morning (yay) and none of us were wanting to just shop around (I mean, I would if I had money...but yeah) so we walked around Seward a bit to just take it in and grab a coffee. We went to Sea Bean and if we had one comment about them, it would be that their drinks were too cold. We got a mocha, but they might as well call it super sugary chocolate milk. Before leaving, we saw the start of the Iditarod National Historic Trail which goes 938 miles to Nome. As you can see from the picture, Nelly was not having the sled dog life... Exit Glacier (August 11) - It was in our bible (the MILEPOST book) and is one of Kenai Fjords National Park's major attractions, so it was a must! The glacier has receded about a mile in the last 100 years. Along the trail there are signs with a year engraved on them, locating where the glacier was in that year. Will we ever return and end up passing a sign marking 2017? That would be weird... Homer (August 11-12) - We drove around trying to decide where home was going to be for the night. It became a clear choice when we got to the Homer Spit and there was room on the beach :) There was a sign saying single vehicles only ... but that`s what we love about our set up. We are pretty much two single vehicles. Just get in quick, un-hitch, and park the truck next to it... walla! The Salty Dawg was a bar on the spit that looked too interesting to pass up so we headed over to relax a bit from the day. The whole bar is covered in dollar bills and other random items. It started out as one of the first cabins built in 1897, soon after Homer became a town site. The first post office, a railroad station, a grocery store, a coal mining office, school house, home - this place has history! (read more about the history) Have you seen The Ranch on Netflix, with Ashton Kutcher? You should. But anyway, we met a guy who looks just like Beau (Sam Elliot) on the show. He acted just like him too, it was hilarious! After a few drinks with him and his wife and hanging our own dollar bill, we headed back for a late dinner on the beach. Can you believe it that this was the first night (on the trip) that we had SMORE`S?? We`ve been stocked with the ingredients ever since. Halibut Fishing (August 12) - We went with J&J Smart Charters, located in Ninilchik (45 minutes outside of Homer). This is a family run charter and we were lucky enough to go out with the two owners, their young grandson, and three of their friends. They also have a campground so we were able to park in a site and leave Nelly in the camper while we fished, which ended up being 11:30-3ish. There was a teenage boy who offered to listen for Nelly and let her out if needed, but she slept the entire time. We took a quick drive with the boat down to the Cook Inlet and the truck was replaced with a tractor to take us out to the water, it was pretty cool. There was even a Packer flag waving from the shore! That was one thing we noticed in Alaska, there are actually a lot of Wisconsinites. There was supposed to be a storm coming in that afternoon but there was certainly no sign of it. The water was calm and the sun was shining - it was a perfect day! We saw a puffin on our way out which was very exciting. We got to our spot and they set up all the rods for us. It didn`t take long for the first bite and since I (Abby) was the newbie, I was up! Here we go. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Just keep reeling and reeling...then it just pops up, a lot smaller than you were imagining it would be after all that work! From that point on, it was constant reeling. Out of the nine of us fishing, we kept 18. We caught way more than that so were able to compare and decide which ones stay and which ones go. Once we all had noodle arms (ok, maybe I was the only one) we headed back to clean up the fish and prepare them for meals :) After that and a nice hot shower, we made our way back to Anchorage (Cabela`s parking lot - great spot) because Ben`s flight was the next morning. You know what was for dinner that night! Halibut tacos :) Amazing and easy! All we did was fry them in beer batter (lager and flour) and throw them in a tortilla with cabbage, avocado and a mayo/sour cream/cayenne sauce. Halibut goes for about $25/lb in the stores so definitely worth the cost to just go catch your own! Anchorage (August 12-14) - We used this time to take a small break; Sam worked, we planned our trip, cleaned, did laundry, and made a Walmart run (I wonder how many times we`ll have gone to Walmart by the end of our trip). I decided I want to take photos of the inside of our camper from time to time so we can see how it changes along our trip. So here it is... a look inside of our reality. Valdez (August 14-17) - The drive in was beautiful! (I know I say that a lot, but everywhere is beautiful, I can't help it) It was really gloomy and foggy out; at times only being able to see 20 ft. in front of you, which is scary when you`re in the mountains! We stopped along the way to see views of the Wrangell Mountains (Mount Sanford, Mount Drum, Mount Wrangell, and Mount Blackburn) and since it was late, planned to hit the Old Railroad Tunnel, Horsetail Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and the Worthington Glacier on our way out of Valdez in a few days. Getting in really late, we parked at the Safeway in town and called it a night. The next morning Sam worked and then we headed out to see what this place was all about! We went back out of town (10-15 minutes or so) to the Valdez Glacier, where we read on freecampsites.net (awesome site) that there is free camping available. The road in was a bit bumpy but we made it and found a great spot to set up camp. We threw the frisbee for Nelly and walked down to the glacier. How was this spot free?! Once Nelly had enough we left her to sleep and made our way back into town to drive down Dayville Road. We saw sea lions out in the water and salmon, lots and lots of salmon. The road leads to the Pipeline Terminal but public access ends at the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery, the largest salmon hatchery in Prince William Sound. After that we checked out the Old Valdez town, the harbor, and picked up a few essentials at the grocery store. That night we had a great bonfire and made chicken, potato, onion, pepper foil packs! The next morning we packed up and headed out early to move to the Bayfield Campground in town. We wanted to get on the 11 o`clock tour to the Columbia Glacier so needed a safe spot to leave the camper and our baby inside while we were gone. LuLu Belle Cruise (August 16) - We made it! We fit onto the 11 o`clock and were prepared with our layers of clothes and extra batteries/chargers. Apparently the cold weather really drains batteries and we were not going to risk being without a camera! The website says the tour can be anywhere from 7 - ? hours long. We called and tried to figure out the average time (to see if it would be an alright time away from Nelly) but they really wouldn`t give us anything, so we had no idea how long we`d be gone. Nelly loves her sleep though, especially after days of running around, so we were pretty certain she would be just fine. I`m not even sure how to describe this experience. It was a blast! The boat was beautifully designed and built by the captain and offered a small menu from the kitchen. They`re smart by making fresh blueberry muffins and brownies on board...when you smell it, you have to get it! The water was somewhat calm in the beginning but soon became wavy and pretty wild. It was rainy and wet when you were outside the boat so most people stayed inside and ran out every now and then to snap a quick picture. The wildlife we got to see was so exciting! We had dall's porpoises swim in front of the boat, rafts of otters close by, an eagle in a tree, sea lions sleeping on shore, and puffins in the rocks. Sam and I swear we saw a whale`s tail from afar but it was quick and we have no proof...so, believe it or not. We finally got to the Columbia Glacier, the second-largest tidewater glacier in North America and largest in Prince William Sound. This was the final destination and turnaround spot for the tour. The captain got as close as he could get, until the icebergs were just too big. We stayed for about an hour so everyone could get their photos in and then made the trek back to Valdez. We were getting anxious for Nelly because we knew it would be about 9 hours total by the time we got back to her. We finally got back, ran to the camper, and she jumped off the bed as if we were only gone an hour. After going to the bathroom and getting some love, she was back to sleep. We warmed up with some grilled cheese and tomato soup then went to bed ourselves. Valdez Glacier (August 17) - Sam worked in the morning and I did a load of laundry. After each getting a hot shower in we drove back to our spot by the Valdez Glacier to take the Green Bean out. It was a bit rainy in the morning and the forecast showed more coming our way but...when would we ever have the chance to canoe to a glacier again? We could see a tour group on kayaks from a distance so just avoided them and it felt as if we were all along out there. The water was so chalky you couldn`t see the end of your paddle. We got to the glacier and brought the canoe up to walk around a bit. It was actually pretty scary cause there were parts you thought were just rock but an inch under was ice, so you`d end up sliding down...and there are spots you do not want to slide down! When we got back into the canoe, we were about to kick off until we realized our paddles were still on shore. So close!! On our way back we went inside an iceberg cave - definitely one of our favorite memories from Alaska! It was so blue and such a unique experience. Sam says don`t worry Grandma, it was safe :) On our way back to shore we scooped some ice to make drinks later! Worthington Glacier (August 17) - "UNSTABLE GLACIER AREA. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK" ... for some reason we walked right past this sign with no second thought. The trail was nice and easy and then all of a sudden it took a turn and just kept going up and up. What were we getting ourselves into? It was drizzling out at the bottom and by the time we reached the top, it was a light flurry. We walked right up a ridge along side the glacier for a view from the top. A simple trip or slip, and you`re on your way down... Tok (August 17-18) - This was our last night in Alaska! So crazy to think it had come to an end. We parked at the Fast Eddy`s Restaurant and enjoyed a pizza while reminiscing on all our adventures. We headed out early the next morning and crossed the border back into the beautiful British Columbia.
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