Day 357. July 29, 2014. Sharing salmon with sea lions!

LOCATION:  Valdez, Alaska, in south central part of state

WEATHER:  Nice. Highs in 60s

We had a 2-hour drive through mountain passes on our way to Valdez.  This glacier was right in front of us, as we headed down the mountain.

Valdez is a port town.  We are staying in a campground in town.  After setting up, we strolled around the harbor.  A few cute restaurants, lots of charter boat shops, and fish processing plants.  We plan to stay here 3-4 days, especially if the sun continues to shine.

As we were driving along, looking  for a good place to fish, I saw something big in the water.  It was a group of gigantic sea lions.  They were swimming along, gobbling up salmon.  

As each one surfaced, it  had a salmon in its  mouth.  The sea lions crunch off the head, and apparently the roe go flying, and the seagulls chase after the roe.  It was mesmerizing to watch.

As I was sea lion-watching, George was fishing.  He caught one silver (coho) and one  pink salmon.  The pink  got away, and the silver  he filleted.  Oh no!  More salmon!

Later we visited the salmon hatchery.  Millions of salmon were churning up the water.

Back at the campground,, we had some salmon sashimi as an appetizer. 

We bought a small hibachi grill to cook the salmon.  This campground, as most commercial ones, does not have a campfire ring. It will be nice to have it on hand.   I marinated the fillets in some Asian salad dressing, oil, and soy sauce.

DINNER:  Grilled salmon, sautéed broccoli, and a barley side dish, using up some I had bought ages ago at Whole Foods.  As I feared, we only ate one of the fillets, so I will have to figure out what to do with the second one.

Day 356. July 28, 2014. Heading east

LOCATION:  Copper Center, Alaska on road south to Valdez

WEATHER:  Cloudy. High around 60

George spent the entire morning at the Honda shop in Anchorage trying to get the plug fixed that we use for our electric cooler.  No luck.  

To get to Valdez, we almost make a circle, as there is not a direct road.  First we drove north, then east, and now south towards Valdez.  On our way, we stopped at a musk ox farm.  They are huge. They farm them for their fur.

We had a picnic along the way.  More beautiful flowers.

Even though we are on the primary highway in/out of Alaska, it is mostly 2 lanes.  We caught a picture of this moose along the highway...

Copper Center (as in Copper River Salmon) is about 100 miles north of Valdez.  We are in a nice state park along a river.  It is managed by the next-door lodge who are a Russian family here via Miami.  We had a beer in their beer garden.

DINNER:  Happily, we have a good campfire ring here, so George grilled a steak. It was perfection.  Along with that, we had a salad, broccoli, and garlic toast.  We ate inside due to Mosquitos.  -(

Day 355. July 27, 2014. Our Tour De France

LOCATION:  Anchorage, in south central Alaska

WEATHER:  Beautiful.  Sunny. Highs in 60s

We spent the day biking around Anchorage. We started the day with lots of energy.....

We took paths throughout the city until we hit the Coastal Trail, which is supposed to be the second most beautiful trail in the USA.  Who comes up with these? Where is the most beautiful?  It really is beautiful, hugging the coast, on bluffs overlooking the bay. We were rewarded with a view of Mt.Mckinley,  North America's highest peak at 20k+ feet.  When we were in and around Denali, we couldn't see it due to the clouds.  Today, we saw it from 100 miles away in the clear skies.

We pedaled around the airport, watching lots of huge FedEx planes departing (with lots of fishermen's halibut and salmon being sent home, I imagine).  We also watched float planes taking off and landing.  This separate floatplane airport is the largest in the world.  In the winter, they remove the pontoons and put on skis, so the planes can land on the ice.  

On our way back, we enjoyed a restorative IPA in a cute neighborhood pub.  Lots of other bikers there, too, sitting on the deck basking in the sun.

We made it home after 6 hours......exhausted and with tired bottoms.  Showers and laundry followed.

DINNER:  Mushroom risotto with some Parmesan,  a big salad, and a nice Pinot Noir. 

.....and early to bed

Day 354. July 26, 2014. Exploring Anchorage

LOCATION:  Anchorage in south central part of Alaska

WEATHER:  Very pleasant.  Sunny. Highs in 60s

We went to the Anchorage Farmers' Market downtown.  It was packed, including bus loads of people from the cruise ships.  

Then we went to a downtown brewpub.  They have a nice deck, with beautiful flowers.

There is a nice view of the harbor.

We had a delicious blackened Alaskan cod sandwich.

We walked around downtown Anchorage.  It is milder here in the winter than in Minnesota.  Lots of people were out, soaking up the sunshine.

We ran errands, and returned to campground.  We missed our favorite radio show, Prairie Home Companion, due to time zone difference.

DINNER:  This campground does not have fire rings, so we have to cook inside.  We will postpone grilling steaks until next campground.  I marinated portabello mushrooms in olive oil and herbs, basil and oregano, and sautéed them with onions and bell peppers.  We had potabello mushroom sandwiches with toasted baguette slices, and a side of cucumbers in Greek yogurt.  

Day 353. July 25, 2014. Back to Anchorage

LOCATION:  Anchorage, Alaska, in south central part of state

WEATHER:  Cold and rain all day. Highs in 50s

We packed up from Whittier quickly in order to catch the tunnel release time.  The long tunnel to/from Whittier is one-way, and just opens up each side once an hour.  

Of course, we were low on gas, and I was afraid we would run out of gas in the middle of the tunnel.  We made it, of course, and George proudly found less expensive gas on the other side of the tunnel.

We stopped at a beautiful hotel called Alyeska Resort.  It is especially busy as a ski resort, but always lots of tour buses.  See this mountain of suitcases!

The grounds are beautifully landscaped.

We arrived in Anchorage in the rain.  There is really only one campground option in the city.  It is a bit crowded.  It is a mix of RVers  like us, as well as some dilapidated permanent trailers.  We wanted  a few days in the city to shop, do laundry, use showers.  

We went to a super popular brewpub for lunch.  It specializes in pizza.  Our Cuban sandwich came with a pizza dough bread rather than regular bread.  Interesting.  

We stayed inside in the PM, due to the rain, reading and watching PBS.  

DINNER:  YAHOO!  The very end of the salmon.  I crumbled up the cooked salmon patty left over from the tacos, added chopped celery and mayonnaise, and turned it into a salmon salad wrap.  I think we had about 10 meals from that one sock-eye salmon.  

Day 352. July 24, 2014. Prince William Sound

LOCATION:  Whittier, Alaska on Prince William Sound, in south central Alaska

WEATHER:  Nice. Highs in 60s

We said good-bye to our friends Daniel and Minnie, and drove north about 50 miles to Whittier.  It is a small port town on the Sound.  To get here, we went through North America's longest tunnel.  There are beautiful glaciers and waterfalls all around us.

Whittier doesn't have many amenities.  The campground is city-run, and is very basic.  There aren't even pit toilets, just "rent-a-cans".  There is a big rig in the campground with the vanity license plate "PALIN".  I wonder......

We watched some ferries come in and walked along the boardwalk.  Very nice.

We went to a cute waterfront restaurant for dinner.  We had chowder, halibut and shrimp, all from here in the Sound.

Day 351. July 23, 2014. Exploring Cooper Landing

LOCATION:  Cooper Landing, Alaska, in south central part of state

WEATHER:  Sunny, then rain. Highs in 60s

We decided to stay another day with friends Daniel and Minnie in Cooper Landing.  We took a hike on a nearby trail, then ate lunch in this cute roadhouse.  We had smoked salmon chowder which was delicious, and split a halibut sandwich.  All very local.

We watched the salmon fishermen on the rivers.  They fly-fish, standing waist deep in the river.  They are decked out with Cabela wear, especially fancy waders.

After a drive in back roads to watch for wildlife, we returned to the campground for a nice evening.  George and Daniel built a campfire. We had Jiffy Pop popcorn for a snack.....memories from childhood!

It actually turned out well.  

DINNER:  I thawed the remaining salmon filet and made fish tacos.  I had to improvise, as usual.  The fish part was just the flaked salmon, an egg, and some panko with cumin and chipotle.  I didn't have any cole slaw for the salad part, so mixed green onion and a vegetable like a skinny broccoli that we had bought in a farmers' market.  Served it with grilled tortillas.  Daniel and Minnie grilled porkchops, and we each sampled other's foods.  So nice!