We stayed in a super posh hotel during our first night in Valdez. Two queen-sized beds dressed in Martha Stewart bedding with extra fluffy pillows, plush green carpeting, cable television and a jacuzzi tub. The place even had a pool and a hot tub! It was heaven. But not without its drawbacks.
Hailey's impromptu clothes line experiment came to a bitter end when it pulled the deadbolt shut and locked us out of the room. We had to call the maintenance teenager.
We decided to stay at a second night in Valdez, but there was no room at the swanky palace for us. So we opted to stay in the Keystone Hotel, which billed itself as the cheapest place in town. Sometimes you get what you pay for, or less.
While we appreciated the way something (i.e. this hotel room) could be so bad that it's actually funny or good (is there a word for that?), it was the little things that got to us. Like the loud snoring from the guy next door, the crusty flowered comforters, and the bathroom fan that sounded like a clunky old motor being started. Luckily, we brought booze to distract us.
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| Yummy, and homegrown! |
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| I know! Gross eh? But apparently it goes very well in Bloody Marys. This bottle was left at the liquor store. |
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| M/V Lulu-Belle |
However, we weren't in Valdez for the accommodation but for the scenery. We took a seven hour cruise aboard Lulu-Belle.
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| Valdez Harbour |
Valdez is the sort of place that just can't catch a break. Born out of the Gold Rush Stampede in 1898, it was destroyed by 9.2 earthquake in 1964 and then suffered the aftermath of the Exon Valdez disaster in 1989. There are about 4,000 people living there now. Yeah, it's pretty small.
Valdez is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains, the tallest coastal mountains in North America, rising from sea level to an elevation of 7,000 feet. We spent a lot of time riding through clouds on our way to and from Valdez.
The Chugach Mountains are also the most heavily glaciated mountains in the Northwest. And those glaciers are melting and floating around the Prince William Sound.
