The End of the Pipeline

Last Friday we waited in that line I was telling you about for the Whittier Tunnel. You know, the one that both vehicles and trains use....one at a time. It's a very precise schedule, but we got in!

Then we drove onto the Ferry to Valdez. It was a six hour ride but the ferry has a cafeteria and showed "Inside Out" for the kids, so it was pretty peaceful. The rest of us looked out the windows hoping to see the scenery through the rain. The Alaska Marine Highway is one of the most gorgeous "commutes" in the world.

When I was a kid the only reference I had for "Valdez" (pronounced val-deez) was the oil spill. I pictured industrial factories, dirty streets, and rivers with a fine rainbow sheen on them. After being in Valdez, I can confidently say that nothing is further from the truth. In fact, of all the places we've seen in Alaska to date, the Valdez area is the area where I sat on the edge of my seat most to absorb every detail. It was gorgeous!

Valdez, itself, is a small fishing village surrounded by glaciers and waterfalls. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline may end there, but you can't see it like you can on the route to Deadhorse.  In fact, this is the only visible evidence we saw of the pipeline in town.

The rest of Valdez is mostly small town and waterfront.  

It takes less than five minutes to reach the end of town from the boat launch. Just outside town you'll see a tunnel that was started during the railroad era, but never finished due to a disagreement that ended in a gun fight. "The Iron Trail" by Rex Beach describes it, according to a nearby sign. I haven't read the book yet, so can't recommend it one way or the other. If you've read it, let me know if it's any good!

The road after that is all waterfalls, mountains and glaciers. It's breathtaking! Some people snooze on road trips. You wouldn't on this one! You'd probably look more like a kid on their first trip to Disneyland! It's that fantastic. I mean, just look at our road views!

We were there for a few days, so we decided to spend one of the days going to McCarthy, which is famous for the Kennecott Copper Mine,  the native Athabascan people....and a few other things. We spent some time at the Copper River, where the worlds most delicious salmon spawn. We even saw a few fish wheels being used by native Alaskans. I think it's silver salmon (Coho) season right now.

The road to McCarthy ended up being more treacherous than the Dalton, and a few of the kids weren't feeling well, so we decided to stop and turn around. We had a delicious lunch at the historic Gilpatricks Hotel in Chitina (pronounced chit-nuh). I ordered the reindeer sausage, which is served on a roll with sauerkraut and mustard, German style (makes my mouth water even now!). Then we headed down the road to the Kenny Lake Fair.

Kenny Lake is a very small farming community. Once a year they all get together on someones property and have an old fashioned fair where people bring animals, homemade items, and produce to be judged. They offer freshly made goodies, like buttery crusted blueberry pie and ice cream. They also beckon to you to play games for prizes and have booths set up to sell items they've made throughout the year, like dream catchers. Needless to say, I was in Heaven. Everyone knew everyone. Kids and adults danced with each other next to the stage where the local band played, and kids walked around asking if anyone wanted to buy their Alaska-grown peas or play a game for the local high school fundraiser.

When our trip to the Valdez area ended, we drove home in order to see a different route and get a stamp on our National Parks Passport at Wrangell Elias National Park. There we learned about the Athabascan people, animals and vegetation in the area, and were able to touch actual animal pelts. I think my favorite was the beaver pelt. It was a lot softer and thicker than I thought it would be. This is a very large national park, filled with all kinds of amazing things. I recommend visiting it if you're in the area.

We had lunch in Glennallen and then stumbled across the most unbelievable part of our trip. We had planned to stop to take pictures at Matanuska Glacier, since we are living in the MatSu Borough, but when we got to it we found out that you can actually pay a fee and go in to WALK ON THE GLACIER!! You can touch it, stand on it, listen to it crack and creek, and see the effects of global warming up close and personal. Of course, we signed our lives away on the waiver and went in!

This was definitely a bucket-list item for me. We all had fun. The kids especially liked throwing caution to the wind, jumping over fissures in the ice. Walking in, it was surprising how fast we went from mud to ice without even realizing it. It's not often you get the opportunity to see the view from the glacier point of view. It was the very definition of awesome.

The only thing that was disappointing was seeing a cigarette butt that someone had dropped and left on the glacier. So disrespectful and disgusting! Do us all a favor and leave every place you visit cleaner than you found it.

After all that activity, this week has been pretty calm. I met with a local quilt group and they were all very welcoming and friendly. Not to mention talented! It was nice to work on my state flowers quilt with them. I also finished the Ahtna Athabascan Beading project. As you can see here, I restarted and collaborated with the kids (and their beads). Hooray for completion!

The trees have started to turn colors, so I guess that means Autumn starts in August here. I'm curious to see what the weather will be like when we leave in the middle of September. Until then, I'm savoring every moment.

Have a great week!

- Jen

Glaciers and Borscht

Once again, the look of the blog has changed and I think it's pretty close to done at this point (unless you are a super awesome web developer and want to help me overhaul it into something unbelievable for free... ;-))

This post is a day early because tomorrow morning we leave for Valdez (pronounced val-deez) and wifi will be spotty at best. Valdez is located in Prince William Sound and is home to all kinds of wildlife, glaciers, and so much more. You'll just have to check back next week to see how it went.

We actually spent last Saturday in Prince William Sound too. Being the hybrid of local tourists that we are, we wanted to ride the rails and take a glacier cruise. Those are just basic must-do's when you're in Alaska. Especially if you're like us and love trains. So, we booked our trip with the Alaska Railroad and Major Marine Tours and headed to Anchorage to board the train to Whittier.

The train ride alone was beautiful. We've driven through Anchorage, along Turnagain Arm, and down the Kenai Peninsula several times since we've been here, but it's an entirely different experience taking the train. The rails go along paths where cars just can't go and you pass a lot more scenery that you wouldn't normally see, especially if you're the one driving. You're also able to hear some of the history about areas you're moving through from one of the high school student interns who make up part of the crew. They're a part of the tourism program at their schools and really have a unique local perspective on the area. Plus they are friendly and enthusiastic, and that really makes all the difference.

Whittier is one of the main hubs for marine traffic in Alaska but it is very secluded. Yes, some people live there, but not many. In fact, most of the people who go to Whittier never even leave the docks before they're whisked away by either train or ship. The ones who live there live in one of two buildings and really have to pull together for the months where food is scarce and the snow is high.

There's only one single lane tunnel, for both inbound and outbound traffic that is shared by both automobiles and trains. It's only open for fifteen minutes at the top of the hour for one direction, and fifteen minutes at the bottom of the hour for the other direction.

Once we arrived, we boarded the boat for our tour of Blackstone Bay.

A Chugach National Forest Ranger was there to greet us and promptly enrolled the younger two in the Junior Ranger Program. All along our ride, the ranger told us about the area we were in, what we were seeing, and the history surrounding the areas. She also had books about the wildlife and people could look through binoculars to see things like this Bald Eagle.

We took a cruise through the Inside Passage for our tenth anniversary and had seen Glacier Bay, so that was the experience I was expecting. Just being about to sit back and enjoy the scenery. Boy was I mistaken! Because this boat was much smaller than the cruise ship we were on in 2009, we were able to get a lot closer to the glaciers. It was so cool! Amazing and freezing at the same time. It was raining, so that's why the pictures are a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.

This one's for scale. See that boat in the water? These glaciers are massive!

At one point, one of the crew threw out a net and snagged a couple of floating chunks of glacier ice that had broken off and were floating nearby. One chunk was for pictures and close examination, and the other was for breaking apart for drinks! They offered alcoholic and non alcoholic options, so our whole family tried a drink with glacier ice in it. I ordered the non-alcoholic drink, which was a mixture of pineapple juice and something else (guava?). It was delicious! The glacier ice tasted just like regular ice, but was crystal clear, a little bit colder, and a little bit harder (more dense). Just the experience of drinking glacial ice while steering next to glaciers was an experience of a lifetime.

The captain of the boat was very skilled and when we were passing next to a glacial waterfall, he steered us up right next to it- like splashing on the boat close! Our youngest had a great time reaching out to touch that icy water from the deck. The water below us was that milky turquoise blue.

After our waterfall experience, the boat was turned around and we headed back to Whittier. Our kids finished the requirements in the Junior Ranger booklet and helped the ranger pass around animal pelts and a small vial with an ice worm in it. Then she lined up all the kids who were participating and officially swore them in as Junior Rangers. Each one received their own badge.

It was a great experience, and one I would recommend. You can even opt to purchase an all you can eat salmon and steak lunch, complete with dessert, which was wonderful and very tender.

The rest of the week has been spent doing the everyday things that we all need to do, like laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping. My daughter and I went to the local junk store (as we like to call it) yesterday and had fun checking out the offerings. After that, we walked the strip mall next to it and found an Eastern European market and deli. If you know me, then you know I love all kinds of food. Especially Mediterranean and Eastern European. This little shop didn't disappoint. We bought some hot borscht with warm, freshly baked, bread for lunch, along with pierogi and sour cream for dinner. Some gingerbread cookies and a few other sweets may, or may not, have made it into the basket as well....

Visiting this little store was part of a history lesson in itself. Alaska was once a Russian territory (and before you ask, no. You can't see Russia from Wasilla ;-)). This is a fact we knew from growing up in the lower 48, but being up here brings a whole new perspective and curiosity that we never had before. We have been learning about the history of relations between the Russians and the native people, the Russian communities that still exist up here, and the traditions and art that the descendants of these people practice today. It's really interesting and something I would encourage you to research for yourself.

Hope you all have a great weekend! As for me, on to packing!

- Jen

Exploring Our Surroundings

You may have noticed that the blog looks a little different today. A friend has been helping me tweak the look of it. We're not finished yet and it will probably even change again before you're done reading this. The good news is that messing with the look doesn't effect being able to read it. So thanks for bearing with me!

We've been sticking closer to home this week and not spending as much time in the car (which the kids love!). Last Saturday we drove to the Independence Mine, which is an abandoned gold mine that was mostly active in the 1930's. The scenery on the drive up there was amazing. Once we got up the mountain to the mine site, we could see all the way across the MatSu Valley to the mountains and glacier on the other side. The weather was in the 40's so I'm glad I made the kids bring an extra layer.

Everyone liked getting out of the car and exploring a little. After looking at the exhibits of artifacts and actual rooms in the main building, we had hot cider (I know, I know. Most of you don't even want to think about that yet.) and walked the grounds.

A few of the main buildings are still maintained, but most of the mine area is falling apart. There are safe walkways that you can use to get a closer look. My husband especially loved the mine train and the kids had a fun time beating us everywhere on the trails. Signs tell you about the people and activities that went on there, which was really interesting.

After that, we headed over Hatcher Pass, which was also a gorgeous drive. We saw people out picking berries in the meadows. I'm still not sure what kind. Maybe next time I'll get out and ask!

After our exciting morning driving around, we headed to the military base in Anchorage. Every other year they host Arctic Thunder, which is an air show where you can see all kinds of planes and helicopters and are treated to demonstrations. The Blue Angels were special guests this year. In fact, I'm embarrassed to say that it was the kids' first time seeing the Blue Angels. You'd think with Sefair (which is going on this weekend) in Seattle, we would have seen them several times by now. Nope.

They loved it! 

On Wednesday we visited the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. We watched a documentary about the history and science of the Iditarod and looked at the memorabilia and gift shop. Then we went outside and the sled dogs gave us a ride around the property. The kids were thrilled by the ride and adored snuggling with the puppies.

One of the perks of being able to spend time in one place for a while is being able to participate in local activities. I'm on a message board for our area and a native group advertised that they were hosting an Ahtna Athabascan Beading Workshop. What?! An opportunity to learn an art from the native people, themselves!? Of course I went. Not only did I go, but our WHOLE family went. I'm so proud of them.

Our teacher was very patient and kind. She answered questions I had about the local area and people. Our two oldest worked on their projects while they listened and I'm pretty impressed with how much progress they made. Especially since none of us had ever beaded before. The picture below is of some of the examples of master craftsmanship and historical beading that one of the teachers brought in. She saved a few items when she saw them at a local thrift store in the toy section. One of them was even an heirloom from her own family! If you ever find something that rightfully belongs with someone else, please do your best to return it to them. It will be treasured more than you can imagine. 

And this is what I made....Hey! I'm just a beginner! Baby steps. ;-)

This booklet was also available at the workshop. It gives information about the history of American Indian and Alaska Native cultures. It talks about what many have endured over time. It explains customs, how to interact with native peoples, and so much more. It's a wealth of information that has been put together by representatives from many of the tribes and clans themselves. 

My advice to you? Read it. Read it and share it. There's so much here that could benefit us all. Here's a link to the website where it can be downloaded or ordered for free.

I'm loving all these pictures you've been posting of your own adventures! Keep 'em coming! Have a great week!

- Jen