Thursday, June 26, 2003

Day 36

Thursday 6/26/03
It rained all night and most of the day. Ran out of propane, so switched tanks and took empty one to the Tesoro station for a refill. This is the infamous gas station where the little dog was snatched by an eagle. A reporter witnessed the event and the story was published in the Anchorage newspaper. Apparently the wife was walking the dog off leash when it happened and while she was distraught, unknownst to her, her husband raised his arms in a victory salute. She didn’t see him do it but when the paper came out he was in deep dodo. Simba thought that it was great that there was one less dog in the world, but she decided to not go outdoors in eagle country, as she didn’t know if eagles knew the difference between cats and dogs. After lunch we decided to explore Valdez some more. At a gift shop we watched a film about building of the pipeline and another film about the 1964 earthquake. We also visited the Valdez Museum and looked at all the interesting displays. After that, we drove around and discovered the airport and a salmon cannery. We then drove around the end of the inlet to the pipeline terminal on the other side of the fjord, however, since 9/11 you are not allowed to visit the terminal as this sign attests.Since Simba can’t read she didn’t believe that the sign applied to her. On the way back we stopped and chatted with a lady whose son and husband were shore fishing for salmon. She and her husband had moved to Alaska from California after retiring and live in a house100 miles from Anchorage on the Richardson Highway. They have no wired electricity or phone. They rely on solar and diesel generator power and for communication they use cellular and short wave radio. We then returned to the “Peter Pan” Salmon Cannery and purchased some frozen Halibut filets and some canned salmon for ourselves and for gifts. Simba thinks that she might like canned salmon and hopes that she can try some.
38 miles today; 5580 total