Our Road Trips

Saturday, July 12, 2014

7/11/2014

We get started early, out of Valdez by 815. We have a 268 miles to go. First up, retracing our route into Valdez and the beautiful scenery along the way, but the rain is going to make taking pictures a bit of a challenge. The climb from sea level to Thompson Pass is a major hurdle (0-2678' in 8 miles), once over the pass it is a pretty straightforward drive. We clear the pass and move on. The next 40 miles we view the Alaska Pipeline in several places as it makes its way from Prudhoe Bay to the terminal in Valdez. Someone says the volume of the pipeline is less than 50%...yep, Peak Oil has happened. We stop for fuel at Hwy. 1 and the fuel stop is a madhouse...wait 15 minutes to get to a pump. We are on our way to Palmer, another rough road. We make several stops along the way for pictures & viewing the scenery...Matanuska Glacier among them. The rain let up shortly after turning west. We look into getting a little closer to the glacier but decide against it because the road looks like too much of a challenge for our rig. We talk to a couple from So. Minnesota at one stop, another retired firefighter. They have driven all this way in a car...

We arrive in Palmer and get our rig set up...time to get a refrigerator. We drive to Wasilla, find the Lowes, pick up our little refrigerator, stop at a nearby Walmart for a few supplies and deliver it all back to the camper. We decide to put the refrigerator on the floor in the dining area and set it up. We now have a way to keep our food cold, an important feature. Unspoiled food is a good thing. We make it back in time for our drivers meeting and eat a sub during the meeting...haven't had time all day to eat.

We have another 162 mile drive in the morning and we crash for the evening...been a long day.

Steve & Barb Larson