Mid-Sommer i Valdez, AK

Leslie, Monday, June 21, 2010
Bear Paw RV Park, Valdez, AK

Happy Mid-Sommer!  June 21st is the longest day of the year.
We started out around noon to visit the Valdez museum.  First, because the sun was actually shining, I wanted to capture some pictures along the waterfront. 







Connie was really enjoying the sunshine.



After our short walk along the small boat harbor, we headed over to the Valdez Museum.  The museum is very nice for a smal town.  Valdez is known for 1. the “All American” route into the Klondike gold rush (miserable route), 2. the site of the March 1964 earthquake, and 3. the site of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker grounding.  Each are displayed very nicely in the town museum.

There is nowhere better to celebrate mid-sommer than in Alaska.  Unfortunately, unlike Sweden where you are likely to have a day of sunshine, in Alaska you may more than likely experience rain.  We had been hoping for a mid-sommer party, but the clouds rolled in and the evening was very chilly.  Valdez is a fishing town; since the salmon  are not yet running here, it’s a quiet town.  I didn’t see a may pole so I’m not sure how the locals celebrated.

After most people had gone to bed, I noticed that the sun had returned.  I went out near mid-night to capture these pictures of the Valdez small boat harbor.





Love that sunshine!  Notice that the first and the last pictures in this post were taken 12 hours apart but they don’t look very different.