Out of Valdez

 We got back from Blueberry Lake and I got pretty busy with RV work, to include our own.  I changed out our Fantastic Fan under warranty and then did our brakes under warranty a few days later.  We worked at the campground Mon-Thursday and finished up our two weeks.  

The locals say the rainy season starts in August, it actually started on 7/31.  Okay, it was only two days of pouring rain.  I went over and fished Saturday morning at high tide.  The pinks were thick and I was hoping for a silver.  I caught 10 pinks in 45 minutes and figured a Coho wasn’t in the cards.  Sunday morning we helped some co-workers with an RV project and then left the campground and Valdez.  Valdez will always hold a special place in our hearts, it’s disappointing that our work experience knocked down what we had built up in our minds.  

The drive up to GlenAllen was nice and then we headed west on the Glenn Hwy.  With our later start, we decided to stop along the Hwy around MM 118.  There is a trailhead parking lot with pit toilets and a great view on a clear day.  We parked and set up our chairs, had a drink and enjoyed the glacier view.  There ended up being 7 rigs parked up there and it was a nice quiet stop.  

Monday we rolled into Palmer and I tried to help some customers with their fridge.  It still works on electric, but it’s not working on gas.  No luck as they don’t really have parts for them…It’s a 14 year old fridge….  We fueled up in Anchorage after stopping at Walmart in Palmer and then continued to Girdwood.  We had a late lunch and beer at Girdwood Brewing.  The cheesesteak was a 10 and the beer/seltzer was up there.  After “fueling up” we continued on to Williwaw Campground on the Whittier Hwy and found a FCFS spot.  The campground is nice and the sites are spread out really well.  

Williwaw was a great stay, lots of space and quiet.  It was also a great location to check out the Portage Glacier area, Girdwood and Whittier.  I took the tunnel through on Tuesday.  It was 72* and sunny over in Whittier and I walked around town for almost two hours.  

The trip through the tunnel from the outside runs every hour, on the half hour.  I caught the 1:30 passage into town.  I walked the harbor and took a little drive through town to see the main housing/everything building.  There are a few cute shops, I picked up a coffee and fruity pebble rice crispy treat.  I also had a seltzer at a small place overlooking the fjord.  I then caught the 3:00 back through the tunnel.  The tunnel is the longest shared tunnel in the world (train tracks) at 2.5 miles of single lane.  Typically it closes at 11pm.  

We left Williwaw on Thursday and headed for the Kenai.  We stopped at Quartz Creek to check on our upcoming camping spot.  Glad we did, because our site was not accurate on the rec.gov map.  We thought we booked a lakefront site and it turns out we didn’t.  We canceled our reservation and got most of our money back.  We dumped tanks and took on fresh water, had a great burger at Gwinn’s Roadhouse and continued on.  

We found a great waterfront site at Skilak Lake and set up for a week.  We fished for quite a while and I caught one little lake trout.  It may have been 8” and went back in the lake.  It’s going to be a relaxing week after I get back from Urgent Care.  I’ve had two “lumps” on my head for almost a week and I think they are infected.  Most of today will be spent in the town of Soldotna.