Homer, Cooper Landing and Valdez

 I posted about Ron and Rhonda yesterday.  Today, I will get back to the trip. We are currently along side of the road in Valdez - by choice.  Good sky for Solar and StarLink.  So, let's dive in.  The last post was from Seward, where we picked up another pair of Montana owners - Terry and Diane Hansen.  They are fulltime RVers out of Rock Springs, Wyoming.  In fact, we are hanging out with them in Valdez right now.

In Homer, we camped out on the spit, a piece of land that is 1/4 mile wide by 4.5 mile long piece of ground that sticks out into Kachemack Bay.  This is also where we knew something was amiss with Ron. I got to kayak fish while here and we had the ocean out our back window.  That is where the salmon taunted me from afar.

Our view on the Spit

Homer has a beautiful harbor.

We could always count on Ron and Rhonda to go for ice cream - especially huckleberry.

A volcano on the ride to Cooper Landing

We did the Russian Falls Hike, no Bears but did see fish jump.

Fish jumping at Russian Falls in Cooper Landing (Difficulty is catching them with a camera.)

Can you spot the two eaglettes?  (Below and to the left of Dad).

I had a "monster" 8" trout on a 9 weight fly rod. Kenai float trip for sockeye - Terry caught one.

Musk Ox Farm in Palmer

From when we left Homer until we got Ron and Rhonda on the plane I just didn't take many pictures. I wanted to post our last two campsites together and the meal at the Palmer Ale House but just didn't take any pictures.  They left on Monday morning, July 24th.  They picked up two other Montana owners, Ron and Mary Lichtenberg on Saturday night in Anchorage and we all met up in Palmer.  Our new friends that Ron and I met at the dump station (a shitty way to meet new friends) also joined us in Palmer.  Ron and Mary are great folks and came to drive Ron and Rhonda's rig back to Arkansas.  If you are keeping count, by this time we had three Ron's, two Terry(ie)'s, a Rhonda, a Mary and a Diane.

Ron and Mary, Terry and Diane and Terrie and I all headed to Valdez to spend a few days before the Lichtenberg's headed south on the Alaskan highway toward Omaha (home) and then Arkansas.  So, the story continues in Valdez, Alaska.  It is absolutely stunning here.  Glaciers, waterfalls, sea life, fishing and a friendly waterfront.  I know my audience, so on with the pictures.

If I didn't get a picture of Terrie's favorit Alaskan flower, I would be in trouble - Fireweed.

Worthington Glacier coming into Valdez.

Bridal Veil Falls coming into Valdez.

The true test for a Montana owner is - can you back into a site?  Everyone passed.

As you can see they were pretty tight.

Terry and Diane were late getting there - another Ford needing service I believe.

Terry and Diane had a campfire and we did hot dogs - in the middle of the day.

One of the few cookouts with a fire this trip.

Our own campground waterfall.

A couple of eagles in the harbor hanging out.

A yellow eye rockfish I caught.

Our new campsite along the road. Love free camping.  Under $20/night so far.

Okay, warning if you are squeamish.  Do not look at some of these photos.  In Valdez, they have the Solomon Fish Hatchery,  Each year they harvest 400,000 pink salmon and a number of silver salmon to hatch.  The rest, lets just say it's a feeding frenzy for the sea lions.  After that will be a section on Terrie's birthday present.

Terry and Diane with a few of their friends at the hatchery.

Ron and Mary enjoying the harbor in Valdez.

Sea Lions and Sea Gulls waiting on the buffet.

The buffet has arrived.

The menu - pink salmon.  The silvers will be in in September.

This waterfall comes out at the hatchery. It is fed by a hydroelectric plant lake above the hatchery.

This will give you an idea of how many salmon are there.  Those are dorsal fins of salmon.

Terrie's birthday occurred while here in Valdez.  She said she didn't want anything this year.  So, I got her an experience (I know, you would think living with me would already be an experience.) She has always wanted to go on a helicopter flight.  So add glaciers, bear, mountain goats, glaciers and waterfalls to a helicopter ride and you get an experience.  I think she enjoyed it.  The pilot even flew over our camper. You can see Diane and Terry waving (they are the little objects in front of the left Montana). So let's start those engines. (Our pilot was Jesse with Vertical Solutions.  He did a great job.)

We have lift off.

Can you spot the black bear?

One of hundreds of waterfalls.

Columbia Glacier, the fastest retreating tidewater glacier in Alaska.

A closer view.

Just a little closer.

A splash from a small calving event.

Landing by the glacier.  Still having fun.

A photo opportunity.

Photobombed by an Iceberg

Our chariot awaits.

Another photo opp.

Terrie gives it two thumbs up.

Can you spot the seals on the ice flow?

Terrie loves the blue ice.

Mountain goat.

A gorgeous blue hanging lake.

Our Montana's

Another view.

Iceberg from the Valdez Glacier.

And just like that, the flight was over.

I hope this was a better post.  We have about five weeks until we will be in Indiana for the Montana rally.  We still have McCarthy and the Kennicott Mine, Haines with side trips on ferry to Skagway and Juneau and we hope to meet up with bears feeding down at Hyder, Alaska. If you are enjoying the photography, thank my brother-in-law, Gary Miller.  He recommended the Sony RX10 Mark IV.  If you don't like the pictures, it must be the camera and thus Gary's fault.  Until next time.