Valdez

Friday morning we all woke up and started loading the vehicles full of snacks and everything else we would need for our trip to Valdez. While packing Andrew got a call that their fishing trip was canceled due to rough sea conditions. The guys were pretty bummed but I called and added them onto our wildlife and glacier cruise so all was not lost.
The trip down to Valdez is just over 5 hours long. We made it take longer though since we made lots of stops to stretch, eat, potty, etc... The trip is absolutely beautiful! Around each corner was simply breath taking.
We arrived to Valdez, checked into our hotel then grabbed dinner. After dinner Mama and Papa went to bed while the rest of us went walking around the small town of Valdez. Andrew and Lance fished off the dock for a little bit.
The kids all did great through the night. Lance and Lexie love hotels.
Our tour on the LuLuBelle began at 11 so we had plenty of time to eat a good breakfast then walk around the docks.
The LuLuBelle was such an awesome boat. Right out of the docks I spotted a humpback whale. I knew it was going to be a great day. We saw whale after whale and also saw eagles, sea lions, otters, puffins, jelly fish.
My dad's favorite thing was seeing Columbia Glacier. Columbia Glacier is one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world, and has been retreating since the early 1980s. Watching is calf (huge chunks breaking off) was pretty awesome. Even though we were pretty far away would could hear the ice crashing into the ocean which was followed by the rocking of our boat from the giant waves.
We all had tons of fun on our wildlife and glacier cruise!! We will definitely be making a trip down to Valdez again soon.
Sunday we headed back to Fairbanks. It was a bit rainy at time so we didn't stop as much. Once we hit some nice sunny weather we pulled over and fired up the bbq. Dad and Andrew grilled some reindeer brats while the rest of us ran around. It was just what the kids needed.