We went to the Port of Valdez on Thursday, hoping to see some wildlife and get a feel for the whole oil pipeline, shipping thing.  On the way these glacial waterfalls were incredible, lots of them and everyone different.

The Worthington Glacier, notice the blue colors in some areas.  We were able to get fairly close, then got soaked as the rain got heavy and the clouds dropped down.  Weather was so bad we weren't able to see the whole crude oil shipping facility that was on the other side of the harbor.  I actually had the best fish tacos ever at a little bar/restaurant called the Fat Mermaid!

 This is my friend Harry getting the Sonia B fired up.  He and Rick Burchell were gracious enough to take us halibut fishing out of Homer on the Cook Inlet.  Weather was great starting out and fishing wasn't bad, but soon went to hell and the halibut quit biting.  We did manage to freeze up about 40 pounds of fillets and filled the RV freezer.

A cool picture looking out off the Homer Spit.

This is a cool memorial on the Spit that pays tribute to all the lost fishermen from the area.  Names and dates on each of the supports bring reality to the dangerous life of fishing in Alaska.

At Harry's house in Homer, Mingo and Dingo try to communicate with this dopey duck in the garden. It's possible he wasn't receiving the telepathic transmissions due to the umbrella he somehow managed to hold up with no hands.  I'm thinking the umbrella might just be the next generation of the old standby tinfoil hats ...

 Having missed and opportunity to take a boat to the Portage Glacier, we stopped at the Alaskan Wildlife conservation center where we got up close and personal with a couple of black bears.

And some well racked caribou ...

Some elk with a couple of huge bulls.  These guys were actually descendants from a group of 8 calves transplanted from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington that has grown into a huge herd. 

Remember the tin foil hat thing?  Obviously with no hats or other wave distorting gear, the communication between these two has reached the level of rocket scientists.  Are you my brother by another mother, they seem to be asking each other,,,

Two really cute baby mooses that had been abandoned by mothers and were being nursed at the conservation center.

We've made it to Denali National Park and took the short run private vehicles are allowed.  Extremely pretty and awe inspiring vistas.

More Denali ... tomorrow we're going on a jet boat down the Nenana River then hopefully catch a bus into the Denali Park interior.