Monday, August 5, 2013

~July - Valdez, AK and Independence Day Celebrations

This summer Adam decided not to go salmon fishing so he could do something with the family.  I've always wanted to go to Valdez, so we did!  It was a great drive down and so beautiful.  We drove halfway the first night and camped (which I didn't sleep at all because I was scared of a bear attacking our tent).  Then went the rest of the way.  Once we got close to Valdez we had to stop and take pictures of the waterfalls.  They were amazing.
 

 
The boys loved looking at all the boats.  We even saw some of the boats that are on Deadliest Catch.  Love Alaska!
 

 
Before we made reservations I had called and asked what types of festivities would be kid friendly for the weekend.  They said that the kids could ride in the 4th of July parade with their bikes.  Sounded great to us so we took their bikes down.  The city of Valdez had a bike decorating station where the kids could get creative.  It was awesome!  The boys loved it.  The weather was very rainy/misty the entire time we were there.  It didn't bother us though.



The parade was so much fun.
 


 
Adam and I walked with the boys while they rode.  Jett was very entertaining, as usual.

 
After the parade we toured the fire department.



 
Then played games.

 
Ate at the free bbq down at the Ferry Dock and listened to live music.


 
And right before fireworks started we had S'mores...provided by the city with a bon fire.  It was totally fun!


 
This is what our cabin looked like.  Very small.  We won't be able to fit in something this size next year, unless somebody sleeps on the floor.  We squeezed 3 kids into a twin size bed and Levi slept with us on a double.  Very cozy!


The day after the 4th, we did a little fishing off the shore.  The ocean was beautiful.  I keep saying beautiful, because everything in Valdez really is...BEAUTIFUL.  And it was rainy.  I can't imagine what it looks like when the sun is shining.




 
We tried fishing at Robe Lake also, but no luck.  It was very scenic though.



Tired boy.  He spent a lot of time in his car seat.
 

 
That afternoon we were driving around looking for bears and came across this glacier pond.  It was amazing too!  You can kinda see the glacier at the top of the picture.

 
 
 


Bald eagles were everywhere.  It was really fun to see them and we also saw some babies eagles too.
 

 
More fishing and exploring during low-tide.  The fish hatchery is there in the background.  The salmon werent' running yet, but the concept is still amazing to me.  Someday I'd like to go back to Valdez to see it.

 
 
This field is really pretty and it's the ONLY time it wasn't raining.  If you look real close you still won't see it, haha, but there is a bear in the high grass.  It was a little one, but we watched it for a while. 






 
I had the best weekend with these people!  Love my boys!  I think we'll do Valdez again next year for the 4th.

1 comment:

Me and my boys said...

Looks spectacular, gorgeous, and amazing!!!