VaVaVaValdez: A tour of Valdez

Today is my day off; a reward for traveling for 36 hours to get here. I don't start work at the clinic until tomorrow, so I had some time today to explore the town of Valdez. I had some specific destinations in mind including: the bakery, the natural food store/espresso shop, the public library, the Valdez museum, the water, the outdoor gear store (I told Tommy I would check and see if they rented tele equipment), and the post office. I had to wait to head out until 10am when it was finally pretty light out and a tad warmer than it was earlier. I have never appreciated long-underwear like I do now and that is really saying something since, as most everyone who knows me can attest, I love long-underwear. Now I am back and watching the snowflakes begin to fall; cozy.

Here are some photos from my travels:

My house! I have a room on the bottom floor, so you can imagine it is kinda dark and igloo-like which I guess is appropriate since I am in Alaska!

Public radio station.

Does anyone think this might be a subsidiary of the Mai Thai in Hanover?

Sorry for the poor photo (I was trying to be stealthy since I thought the Valdezians might be suspicious of me taking photos of their church), but yes, you can visit this church on the web in case anyone is interested.

Junior High.


Valdez Library.

My library card.

The first book I checked out, very excited.

My new fav place: the Natural Foods Store/Cafe where I got a hot cocoa and some delicious granola.

Sadly, the museum is closed on Mondays.

Does this make anyone else think of the mural in Northern Exposure? Holly, I'm looking at you.

Valdez po-po.

Isn't there a TV show about these guys?

Idling is totally not frowned upon. Every parking lot I saw had at least one idling truck out front with drivers nowhere to be seen. The Norwich housewives would be up in arms.

Not open on Mondays! And "closed for new baby" (see below); can't argue with that!

This place has ALL the gear. But does NOT rent tele gear, to Tommy's dismay.

Small boat harbor, the closest I got to the bay.

Small boat harbor again.

"Across the Bay"; Those concrete flat things in the background are part of the Alyeska pipeline which ends in Valdez and is the biggest employer in the town.