July 21-Lu-Lu Belle, Part 2

Ice, sea lions, and humpback whales

July 21-Lu-Lu Belle boat tour, Valdez–Part 1

What an incredible day!  First, my RV friend, Beth, is working on the Lu-Lu Belle this summer.  It was through her blog 3 years ago that I learned about this tour.







We left the dock at 1 p.m. on the 75 foot yacht, Lu-Lu Belle, with Captain Fred.  He has the most interesting stories to tell and he knows his stuff.  We returned to the dock about 9 p.m.  This is not your usual ‘timed’ tour.

The end of the pipeline

 Sea otters

July 20- The road to Valdez and feasting sea lions

My personal opinion is that this is the most scenic drive on a major road in Alaska.  These are just a few of the many photos I took.

Bridal Veil Falls

Then just around the corner - Horse Tail Falls

         Camera fun

          As we neared Valdez, we took the Dayville Road where my friend Beth had reported seeing a bear and her 4 cubs.  We weren’t there at the right time for that, but we got to watch the sea lions!

Those are fish waiting to jump over the ‘weir’...and these are LeRoy’s photos

The sea lions really thrash the salmon around and yes, that is blood.

July 18 and 19-Reflection at Turnagain and Glennallen Highway

These rock writings are seen in several places.

July 16 and 17-Roadside photos and Turnagain Arm

Lupine.

Water lilies.

The tide is out at Turnagain Arm taken from Hope Road.

 

July 14-Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik

Made a quick stop at this church, and we ended up having an interesting conversation with the seminary student who is there for the summer.  He is a native Alaskan, was in the military for 12 years, drove truck for 10 and now a student.

 This photo was ‘borrowed’ from the Internet. There were no pews. There are 9 active church members.

The cemetery was a disgrace for the most part.

July 13–Leaving Homer

We left the spit and explored a bit before leaving Homer.  The view from Skyline Drive.  The weather was cool and damp while we were here.

LeRoy took this photo of a ship carrying compressed natural gas

Our stop for the night beside the road didn’t look too interesting at first, but before I opened the truck door, I saw 4 eagles!  We lost count of how many we saw.

This one is LeRoy's shot