Camera Critters: Bald Eagle

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On the way into Valdez there were dozens of Eagles sitting in trees along the road. It was gray and raining pretty hard so my shots were a bit hurried.






I am not a bird expert so I'm not sure what this is, but I'm guess some sort of falcon? If you know please share.

This Way Thursway!

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You might have one of these in your back yard if you live in Valdez, Alaska.

The Ruby in Valdez

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Do you like red? See red in the world here.

We rolled into Valdez late and went right to the hotel in town. In the morning we went out to Allison Point to visit Dave's camp. Standing at his tent site you can see the town of Valdez across the waters (to the right in this photo).

To the left you can see the Alyeska Oil Terminal with big red "Do Not Enter" signs.

Dave's camp was actually a group of about ten people. Perched on a bright red cooler Cole washed his teenage daughters hair. Awwww....just too sweet.

We also saw the big red warning signs to watch for bears in the area. I'm really glad we didn't see any. It never ceases to amaze me that people need warned to stay away from the bears. That's a no-brainer, but apparently there are people out there without brains!

Pink is a shade of red, right? :) Off the end of my Breast Cancer Awareness fishing pole you can see the docks of the small boat harbor.

Here's one of the five silver salmon that I caught.

Here's my darling husband with one of the five that he caught. See the man in red over his should on the other side? That guy was a fish catching machine. No kidding.

Elijah is fighting his 10.5 pound silver that wanted to go under the dock. Not a good place to let them go as we lost a couple when the dock cut the line.


One happy fisherman decked out in red!

It was time to head home so we took our haul down to the cleaning station where you could get a nice view of the boat harbor.

Final tally: Homer-5, Gayle-5, Elijah-1 and Forrest-2 (plus one from Allison Point). Also, the day before some nice guy gave us four he caught.

Pretty red sign saying good-bye.

We didn't begin our 363 mile journey home until after 5:00pm so scenic stops were limited. We took some quick photos at Bridal Veil Falls. Doesn't he look handsome in red?

Elijah would have climbed to the top if I would have let him. What a dare-devil.

We also stopped at this tunnel through the mountain. A sign read: "This tunnel was hand cut into the solid rock of Keystone Canyon and is all that is left of the railroad era when nine companies fought to take advantage of the short route from the coast to the copper country. However a feud interrupted progress. A gun battle was fought and the tunnel was never finished".

Elijah running back from the other side of the tunnel.

Across the street ran the Klutina River. Our last photo op for the man in red!

Camera Critters: Otters

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Splish splash, I was takin' a bath

Long about a Saturday night

A rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub

Thinkin' everything was alright

Hmmmmm

I'm goin down down baby, yo' street in a Range Rover

Tricks to learn, waves to catch, had a plan of attack

Are you lookin' at me?

Ahhh, ahhh, ahhhchoooo!

1000-one, 1000-two, 1000-three, 1000-four....ready or not here I come!

Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,

And who do you think they be?

Darling,

I got to tell you something

And I don't say this to everybody

You look marvelous

Absolutely marvelous

*muwah muwah*

Shhhhh.....

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep;

Should I die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

The Valdez Harbor has more than just fisherman and their catch. This entertaining otter filled quite a few moments of my sun-filled afternoon. He began by eating. A lot. He found a clam, dove down to break it on a rock and then surfaced to eat. This was repeated over and over until his little belly was full. And what do we do when we are done eating? We clean up of course. He proceeded to wash his feet, bottom, tummy, head, face.....and when he was done...bam..he went to sleep. Right there within arms reach, sound asleep without a worry in the world. How great of a life is that?

Tell Me Thursday: Down on the Valdez docks

Tell Me Thursday is where I get the opportunity to tell you about my Wordless Wednesday photos.

After football. After chores. After packing. After Homer worked all day. After what seemed a lifetime we finally loaded into the truck and set off on our 363 mile journey to Valdez and the Best Western Valdez Harbor Inn.

We arrived under the cover of darkness at 2:00am, but on Sunday, just a few steps out the Inn doors to my right I was greeted with beautiful sunshine shimmering off the water and a flurry of boating activity.

To my left down on the dock by the fueling station fisherman were doing their best to land a silver salmon.

In the evening many boats come back into the small boat harbor from a day out in the open sea.

This "small boat" is a sight-seeing cruise.

We spent some of the day out at Allison Point (where Elijah's friend, Forrest, caught a 10 pound silver), but by evening you could find the boys down on the dock trying their luck.

Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful, but a kind man next to us caught four in a very short span of time and gave them to us. At 9:00pm we were down at the cleaning station taking care of business.

Monday morning brought normal Valdez weather. Unlike the beautiful sun-filled day before, I drank my morning coffee in a slight drizzle. The entry to the harbor was completely fogged in.

Fog or not, the fish were jumping. Yesterday was a bust, but this morning I could see fish being caught and felt hopeful.

I gathered up my pole and coffee and went down to the dock. At 9:00am I landed my first salmon!

After 41 years and only my second salmon fishing trip I had the excitement of a small child catching their first fish. This beauty weighed in at 10.5 pounds! I was hooked, pun intended, and we had a tough time dragging ourselves away from the dock for the long ride home.

Tomorrow I'll share some photos of the picturesque drive to Valdez.