Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 135

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 135

Alaska

6/26/09 – Valdez (val-deez), Alaska – Columbia And Meares Glacier Tour/Prince William Tour By Stan Stephens Cruised

How Great Is Our God!

Are you ready?  Sam is ready to make another declaration!! Here it comes…Valdez, including the area out to and including the glaciers, is the most beautiful place we have seen to date.  No question. No argument.  Declared!

Waiting To Board

Every view, every uplift of the eye, every every.  We had no idea.  We are so thankful that we are able to see and experience with all of our senses this adventure as a whole and these most awesome places of massive splendor. Even if none of the other areas we have shared has captured your interest, please come and see this area some time in your life.  Your spirit will be lifted. It will be an experience of a lifetime. 

Ours On The Left

We are on a nine hour cruise scheduled to view two glaciers and all the local wildlife. We expected rain.  It rained last night.  The locals said rain.  Sam’s phone said rain.  We expected rain.  The clouds were out this morning, some with dark centers, some with dark edges.  Either way – we expected rain.  We had to be at the dock by 9:30 am.  Although Sam and I had awakened several times over the last ‘sleep period’ in anticipation, we barely made it. We get our boarding passes and after a short wait, we board.  The craft we got on was a large, lush pontoon boat. It can carry about 250 passengers. Comfortably. We have about 75.  We have room.  Room to sit inside and eat our two meals, room to stand at the front rail, room at either side, up or down and room in the bathrooms.  We were warned not to shove people aside or push them overboard, as it was not considered good etiquette.  I listened to all the safety information.

Ooooh!

We leave the dock and set course through the sound out towards open sea. I take pictures of our trailer and our new neighbors as we pass. Our skipper plans to turn before we reach open water, which apparently is a good thing. The water is flat.  Slight ripples. Some sun shining through the clouds, causing the water to shine back.  It is not freezing. Since we have brought all the layers we could carry and extra provisions, we opt to make our main nest in the open back of the top floor of the boat.  If you are nautical, please insert the right words in the right places so your spine does not tingle, causing your interest to wane.

Aaaaahhh?

As I indicated before, the mountains rise straight out of the water.  Having even a foot of beach line is unusual. The water next to the mountains usually involves sheer drops from the waterline straight down about 400 feet. This phenomenon creates a pristine beauty of it’s own.  Other than Valdez, the other local villages are more restricted in travel.  Either the roads available are restrictive in some major way or there are no roads, and boats must be used to access them.