Fish are like women

Whale Hunting

We had a great cruise.

The video on yesterdays post was from the Valdes Penninsula in Argentina of a bow head whale.

I forgot to mention that.

Whale of a Day

Spouting air somewhere.

Snow Pile Wreckers

Valdez has had beautiful weather since Sunday. Summer is here so the city knocks down all the snow piles to help them melt faster. Here is a loader spreading the yucky black snow around under clear blue skies. GOOD BYE SNOW!!

Hope the weather stays nice for tomorrow as we are going out on the Columbia Glacier Cruise courtesy of Captain Stan Stephens. He does this free every year for Valdez Senior citizens, the disabled and their caregivers. Last year we had a blast and I am looking forward to it again. I'll be taking pictures and videos.

Here are some from last years cruise:

Blue Ice , Ice Fishing , Whale Hunting , Sea Lions Roaring , Whale Action

the Keystone

Meet Daniel, the grooviest kid in Valdez.

Lemon Leaf Snapper

Fresh PWS rockfish before baking in a 400 degree oven on a bed of onions topped with butter and lemon leaves.

Sunday and Monday were sunny and windy. I'm going to wait and see what the rest of the week is like before hardening off my Livingstone Daisies.

Let summer and fishing begin!

Watch out for Bears

Photoshopped by somebody else.

Sleeping Single in a Double Bed

New Ride

A mini-van and a skateboard.

charismatic

Loud House

Turn the music up!

Chocolate

Melts.

Hummingbirds Arrived

One flew in my cabin attracted to the red tea roses with the door wide open.

Reflections

Outside

Venture to the Sunny Side

Lots of fun, sun and wildlife on my trip up north. The six days went by fast so excuse the blurry pictures. This was a spring bear on the Valdez duck flats heading out of town last Friday.

Quite a few crowds of caribou crossing the road on the Richardson Hwy between mile 150-170 on the trip up. Only saw 2 strays on the way back in the early afternoon. More are moving around in the evening when its cooler. So watch out. When there is one there are usually more darting across the road. Also saw a moose, swans, a porcupine and a rabbit.

Gas was 25 cents cheaper a gallon in Fairbanks than here in Valdez. The weather was gorgeous and warm enough to barbq AND eat outside ALL weekend.

As I was passing by Eielson AFB a C-130 was taxiing down the runway and an F-15 landed.

Stopped at the Tazlina lookout over the the Copper River and two eagles were soaring below. Soon the sockeyes and king salmon will be making their way up the Copper River.

Good thing the state extended the deadline for studded tires as it was sleeting rain and snow on Thompson Pass tonight.

Back to dark rainy gloomy Valdez. In a creative writing class I took at PWSCC a fellow student wrote "that to her driving down Thompson Pass into Valdez was like licking the bottom of a stagnant lake." She was from the sunny side.

Fairbanks Bound

Heading up north to Fairbanks, Alaska for my nephew Wylie Rogers graduation with a degree in Business with a concentration in management.

I will be bach Tuesday with pictures.


CONGRATS WYLIE on being a 2008 University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate!!!!

Fish Tatoos

Check out the reader submitted tatoo art on the Anchorage Daily News website.

Photos: Tattoo gallery

Orange Crush

Fruit Truck

A fruit and vegetable truck from Montana showed up in Valdez in the Totem parking lot. I'm going to go check it out tomorrow. I hear its unloading fresh oranges, grapefruit and onions etc. at sweet prices. Eagle Quality Center, the only store in town, look out. Theres a new game in town.

Took a little ride out to the canyon today and Bridal Veil Falls had some cool looking ice forms with water flowing through them.

the F/V PERRY

This old fishing boat sits forever drydocked in the parking lot of the Valdez Museum & Historical Archive in downtown Valdez.


In his heyday the Perry was a highliner. The boat that caught the most.

Eight Belles

She was the queen of beers.

Street Sense

Get ready for the Kentucky Derby.

My pick to win is:

Post 5

Horse

Eight Belles

Trainer

Larry Jones

Dosage

2.20

Jockey

Gabriel Saez

Odds

20-1

5. Eight Belles (20-1)

Why she'll win: On four-race winning streak. Is one of only five horses in the field to post a triple-digit Beyer speed figure in a race at a mile or longer as a 3-year-old. Off-the-pace win in Fantasy at Oaklawn in last start. Seasoned, her nine career starts are the most in the field, and consistent, with five wins (three in stakes).

Why she won't: Never raced beyond 11/16 miles. This is no Winning Colors, who toyed with the boys in winning the 1988 Santa Anita Derby, and wired a 17-horse field in the 114th Kentucky Derby. Call me a traditionalist. She probably would win the Kentucky Oaks easily.

Meet Star