Leaving Blueberry Lake campground, I traveled south to the port city of Valdez. On the way we passed through a beautiful canyon seeing these two beautiful waterfalls.
Dog Food and Front Blind Needs
OK, this is pretty funny….Science Diet is a pretty common dog food that you can get at any pet store in the lower 48. I had even picked some up in Canada along the way; and since we are in a small van, I buy the smaller bag. Even with the smaller bag (15 lbs) I need to rebag it into several individual ziplock bags so I can fit it into the storage area. So, it was time to resupply; and, I had tried every town we went through with no success. I was hopeful coming into Valdez since it was a bigger town. No dice.
Additionally, the front blind on the van broke; and, that I really had to rectify. Since the blind, which is beautiful, has to be pulled out to go over the mirror, it is rough on the mirror. The wonderful mirror is actually a camera mirror so I can always see behind me while driving. Rather than repair the blind, I made the difficult decision to replace it with something that won’t damage the mirror in the long run.
Getting Packages in Valdez
Now, Valdez does not have a lot of big box stores. In fact, none. So, I decided to order a bunch of stuff on line. After arriving in Valdez, I spent that first afternoon on line ordering. Here is what I learned in this endeavor:
- Alaska is not like the lower 48 in terms of delivery times. It was June 15 and my packages were slated to arrive on June 24 from Amazon.
- The post office does not deliver to a street address in Valdez. You must go to the post office and pick up your mail. So, when I gave the RV park’s address, I had to intervene at the post office to make sure it got to the RV parks PO Box. Fortunately, because Valdez is small they can manually do this for you by using a post it note!
- Petsmart, Petco and Amazon will not deliver dog food to Alaska. I had to get it from Alaska Mill and Feed out of Anchorage. They knew the PO box issue, so they called me to reroute it.
- I also needed to replace some grommets on my stove. The parts cost $10 for 25, but the freight was $95! I spent more on freight for all the items I ordered than I have ever spent in my life!
- I’m picky on RV toilet paper. I love this kind that comes individually wrapped so you can store it all over the place and it stays clean. So, I took advantage of my other orders to get some of that, along with avocado oil, black tank additive (RV digest) and pet hair rollers.
- Thankfully, Valdez is a beautiful place to spend 11 nights!
Bear Paw RV Adult Park
Now this is not what you are thinking…..this just means no kids, it’s on the water and it’s more quiet than the RV park in town. I saw no nudity! I did see some nesting however, which will be clear in a minute. This is the view I had for the next 7 nights.
Puppy Potty Walk Sites Around the Adult RV park area
Views from the Overlook trail behind the Conference Center
Dayville Road
One day we took the drive out Dayville Road which goes to the pipeline loading area across the bay from the town. Valdez is where the Alaska pipeline terminates; and you may remember this is also where the Exxon Valdez ran around spilling over 11 million barrels of oil and killing over 500,000 animals. The town spent four full years cleaning up the beaches after that disaster, the fishing industry was out of business and some animal species have still not fully recovered.
Interestingly, much of the pipeline is underground in this area.
The reason for this drive is to visit the Hatchery which has a self guided tour. Unfortunately, the salmon were not running while I was there, but it was still worth a visit.
The salmon are diverted into a process where they are manually handled to extract the eggs and sperm. The adult fish are all killed and then shipped for dog food as they attempt to not have any waste in the process. The fertilized eggs are then kept in the hatchery until they are ready to go out to the ocean. It was a very interesting tour.
Bear and eagles also come to the area to feed. So, they have a fenced place where you can safely(?) watch all that, too.
The Waterfront
The Town RV Park
As beautiful as Valdez is, it is just as noisy. It does not make sense to me, but there is constant noise here from many different sources. There are boats going in and out of the harbor including commercial fishing vessels, people working on the boats, streets, and buildings, buses idling by the hotel as they wait for their riders, trucks idling by the hotel for what reason I do not know; and, of course the other random noises from people and vehicles. Even at the adult RV park, there was a lot of noise, albeit much less than in town and generally made by the boats going in an out.
History and Museums
Valdez has had some tragic events in it’s past. They have two museums dedicated to this history. The first, by the waterfront, is dedicated completely to the relocation of the town due to the 9.2 earthquake that occurred on Good Friday in 1964. This is the second biggest earthquake in known history. Chile had a 9.5 which is the biggest. Here is a portion of the visitor center video telling some of the story. I could not find the entire video but if you get there it is worth watching as it tells much more of the history. Here is another video about the science and learnings from the earthquake.
Valdez was built at the closest point to the gold rush stampeders trail. That was at the base of Valdez glacier where the glacier stream deposits all it’s soil. That type of soil, as I mentioned with the Alaska highway, is not good for building roads or anything else on it. It is not stable.
Good Friday is not a very good day for Valdez. Twenty five years after the 1964 earthquake on Good Friday, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Good Friday (1989). This museum contains all that history, gold rush history, first nations information and all other town/area history.
Love all those wood carvings!
Thanks, Marni! If you are into the carvings, the place to check out is Chetwyn, CA. They have a world famous competition. Here’s a link. https://www.gochetwynd.com/visitors/chainsaw-carvings/
11 days in Valdez!? While beautiful with several things to do, even Bruce is asking me why we will be spending 3 days there on our upcoming trip (besides halibut fishing). It’s crazy how much everything costs in AK, right? It makes even more sense why people homestead. I didn’t know that bunnies are everywhere in Valdez but it makes me think of a photo we have of Kaili there when she was 2, holding a baby bunny at the RV store! Your photos are beautiful and I’m so glad you were able to taste fresh halibut. Valdez is one of the best places to have it. You’re experiencing AK at its best.
Thanks, Christie!
I hear you on the eleven days; and I would not have stayed that long had I not needed the new blind and dog food. I probably would have only stayed around 5 days. I will say this though…you really start to experience a place and absorb it when you stay that long. Retirement is a blessing that allows me to be very leisurely in seeing a place. I will say I was ready to move on.
And,yes everything is more expensive than the lower 48, although gas is cheaper than Canada prices. Valdez is more expensive than other places because you are forced to stay in a park and pay camping fees, unlike everywhere else I’ve been in Alaska. Valdez has a city ordinance which they blame on bears, but I have to say I believe it’s more to give the RV parks business. Normally, I abhor RV parks as a general rule. I prefer the state or national campgrounds if I’m going to stay in a park. I do love being able to camp almost anywhere in Alaska. It is a truly Alaskan experience and I wish it were true in the lower 48! It’s nice to be on your own timetable with the ability to find a spot when you are ready to call it a day.
Photos are stunning and they likely don’t even do it justice. Thanks for taking us along!
You are absolutely right, Ang. The photos do not do justice to that natural beauty.
What a fascinating place to spend a few days! Thank you for sharing the information, stories, and beautiful photography!
My pleasure, Ellen! It was kind of nice to just sit still for a while and absorb that beauty! I did not complain. If I have to wait for packages, I can’t really think of many better places. There was so much to learn about the area, too.