May 30 Day 21

We awake at 5:00AM to full sun and blue skies. Mountains are all snow covered and glistening in the sunlight.

Today is catching the ferry out of Valdez to Whittier, and we need to be at the ferry dock by 6:00am. We quickly take showers, have some coffee and pack things up.

After we board the ferry with our RV, we head to the back deck to take some pictures of Valdez as it glistens in the morning sunlight. As the ferry departs Valdez, we notice a fog bank rolling in at the far end of the Valdez inlet. Within a short time we enter the fog bank, saying goodbye to the sunshine, and feel the temperatures drop dramatically. 

We brave the outside deck under cover, and see sea otters, bald eagles and a few stellar seals. Then the Columbia Glacier ice field comes into view. We cannot see the glacier, just the ice field created by recent calving, so there are lots of Kodak moments. In this area the snow is still down to the water, temperature drops further and it starts to rain so we head back inside to have some breakfast.

We place our order and when it arrives, we forgot about the generous food portions that are given on the Alaska State Ferry system. After breakfast we go back to the outside deck to see if the weather has changed but it hasn’t. A small pod of Orcas comes by the ship which offers more Kodak moment opportunities. We decide to go back inside and settle down in the front viewing area.

Around College Fiord area the skies start to clear up and we go back to the outside deck. The sun comes through and the temperatures jump by about 30 degrees as we leave the fog bank, and the tide water glaciers of the College Fiord are off in the distance.  Other passengers come out to the back deck to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine, and we all migrate to the front bow of the ship to watch our entry into Whittier. The hillside around Whittier is glistening with the large snow cover.

After we get off the ferry we stop to turn our propane gas back on and to walk around. We take the underground tunnel to “Downtown Whittier” and stop in the Grocery/Hardware store and the Anchor Inn. We walk back to the stores by the waterfront, enjoy a beer at the Hotel and take a leisure walk back to the RV, as it is now time to drive through the railroad tunnel and out to Portage.

We arrive at Portage in brilliant sunshine and check out the campgrounds since we will be staying here on Monday night. We then decide to drive up to Girdwood, since the weather is nice, and along the way we watch people dip netting for hooligan. At Girdwood we stop at the Jade shop but it is closed, and drive up to an artist shop that Pat likes.

After the art shop visit we head back down Turnagain Arm to our campground at Quartz Creek, where we will meet up with Brenna and Zach for the next 4 days. We setup camp, and while Pat fixes part of the dinner, Chuck gets the awning up over the picnic table and starts a fire. We have dinner ready for Brenna and Zach when they arrive at 8:30pm.

We enjoy their company at dinner, and then sit around a campfire talking till 11:30pm we are all tired so it is off to bed with no set agenda for tomorrow.

Nighty Night.

Miles traveled by RV 92 Miles

Total RV Mileage 4452

Total miles traveled 5385

Total RV travel time 3 hours

Total Ferry Travel Time 6 hours