Valdez & Haines

---Current location Prescott Valley Arizona---

8/5

Woke up in Valdez and decided to explore the town after we did some much needed laundry and shopping. We stopped at their Gold Rush Festival which was small and then did a scoot around the town and Marina. After that we decided to head to Dayville Road to do a little fishing for salmon since we had yet to catch any in Alaska. Dan and Finn set out with poles and boy did they have luck. They caught 15 Salmon and certainly could have caught more. It was easy to snag the fish at this location because they spawn back to a hatchery located there. Since we were leaving Alaska in two days and had a freezer full of Halibut we shipped 17 pounds of Pink Salmon to the Worth Family. After a successful fishing afternoon we relaxed at Ruth Pond swimming and playing. We left that evening via the Richardson Highway and started to make our way to Haines to catch our Ferry. We did a quick stop at what we thought was a cave along the highway but turned out to be an old attempt at a train tunnel (really cool) and then drove until the sun finally set (11:30pm). We pulled off at a turn out and parked behind another RV who was spending the night. Before we could even turn our lights off an older "gentleman" from the other RV approached our vehicle and started yelling at us for parking so close. Mind you this was close to midnight and we thought he was nuts to approach someone's elses vehicle in that manner especially at that time of night. After he and Dan had some words for each other (about not owning Alaska or the space) we went to bed. The next morning (7am) we were serenaded by our new friend from New Hampshire on trumpet. Dan and I could not believe how childish this 65 year old man was being but some people believe they are entitled to more than they deserve. Anyway we got up and hit the road again to make our way to Haines. After an overnight in Canada at beautiful riverside campsite with a gorgeous moon we made our way into Haines. We drove through the bald eagle preserve on our way to Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Area. At Chilkoot able to see a grizzly bear (aka speedy) swimming in the water fishing for Salmon. We enjoyed our dinner at the park and then called it a night.  Next day we scooted the downtown area and Finn and Dan visited the Hammer Museum. We then made our way south to Chilkat State Park where we spent a relaxing evening. Next day we went back to Chilkoot and 
fished, hung out at the shore and were rewarded with seeing speedy again directly across the river from us. Around 7 pm we packed up and headed to catch our Ferry.