I’m sitting at Carmen’s kitchen table with her mother while she hooks a rug “on the go”. Carmen has just come in from a full day working on her house. I just can’t believe this beautiful three story home is being built by just a couple of people.

Our drive in yesterday from Valdez took most of the day. Of course we stop at every opportunity. One of our first stops out yesterday was to check out the oil tanker getting filled up across the bay at Valdez. In the photo – if I get it posted – you can barely see the tanker across the bay. It is huge but looks so small in the photo. In fact - as I look at this photo on the blog - well once aI make the photo small enough and with fewer pixels, the tankers, and oil tanks across the bay almost become invisible. Too bad - cause it was really a huge operation.


On the way out from Valdez, and we did hate to leave, we drove by Bridal Veil Falls Took Tom’s photo and he looked like a little mini-person.


Then we started going up the mountain and drove up and up and up for miles it seemed. Close to the top we saw all these ice chunks up and down the mountain – finally coming to one that was just by the side of the road. I made Tom pull over and I hopped out of the truck. I said, “Come on, we’re going to check this one out.” We carefully traversed the rocks and gravel and got to the ice chunk to touch it and take photos. Roxie hopped right up on top of it and started dancing around – it was like she was back in Chevak, I guess.


At the very top – we came to Worthington Glacier – a tremendous glacier and people were actually climbing the thing. In the photo – you can barely see them right in the center. I made what I thought was a big blue arrow pointing towards the climbers - but now I can hardly see the arrow. It is right in the center pointing left towards the four climbers. It was pretty cold and raining and we didn’t stay too long.



The long trek down the mountain was ahead - however, like the trip up, the trip down seemed to go for miles also. So, there were only a couple of places we had to brake carefully. We reached Chitina about 1:00, got gas - $32.38 for 6.3 gallons – around $5.30 a gallon and had a little picnic. Our trek on the road began and it was as beautiful as ever.



I kept making Tom slow down. I think that if Tom outlives me, that the one thing he will not miss about me and in fact be relieved that he does not have to deal with anymore is my constant “It would make me happy if you just slowed down a little.” Arrived without incident in at John and Carmen’s house at about 4:30. Carmen was still out at the construction site so we promptly drove out there to surprise her and of course see the progress on her home. She and her brother are now putting up the sheetrock – it really looks like a house now.

We enjoyed supper and talk and went to our cabin around 9:00. I lay down for just a moment, I was so tired. Did not wake up until 3 am when I changed into pajamas and went back to sleep.

This morning, we slept late. Around 11:00 we drove to the footbridge, parked out truck and walked over the Kennecott River to catch the van into McCarthy. There is not much there. Lovely however, and quiet and secluded. We toured the little museum and I decided that soon I want to make a museum room with all of my old things . We took the van again over to the Kennecott Lodge and the restored (a couple of buildings out of over a dozen) mine buildings. Ate lunch at the lodge there. I had clam/shrimp chowder and halibut cakes, Tom had chicken wraps. The soup was the chunkiest, best ever clam chowder. I talked the waitress into making us four servings for takeout – I don’t think they usually do that. She put it in coffee cups for us and put it in a paper bag which we had to carry up right all the way home.



Let me tell you that clam chowder was a hit at supper tonight. It was a very nice day even if it was sort of rainy and cold. As always, the people you meet just make the trip. Our driver was from New Zealand – the same area where Doc and Emma live (our former supt), the parking lot attendant was one of the many people who stopped to help us on the McCarthy road last year when we had our flat tire. We met a group of four trekkers who were teachers and it was the most fun talking about our jobs and where we had all taught. We met a guy at the lodge whose career had been a contract snow remover on the streets in Minnesota. Lot of young backpackers – well, oodles of serious backpackers – from all over the world – all friendly, all young, all tanned and rustic looking. I had just a tad of remorse that I had not done that sort of thing when I was in my twenties – but just for minute or two…



We enjoyed seeing our good friend Carmen again. Tomorrow we are off to Tok and then to Dawson City.