Greetings From Valdez

We just arrived in the port city of Valdez after a long drive south from Fairbanks. We got to see the Worthington Glacier and Bridal Falls as we drove through Thompson Pass. Cool and rainy is the typical weather here and it didn't disappoint. At the Worthington Glacier Visitor Center (such as it is) I added a good mix of birds to my trip list including:
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow (the very pale Alaskan subspecies)
Black-billed Magpie
Mew Gull
Bald Eagle

All along the road on the way down, lupine was in bloom everywhere. I probably have more photos than I will ever use. A side note to the drive is that 10 hours in the back of a college van and getting in and out at every scenic overlook is not easy but especially the morning after running a 10K.

The Midnight Sun Fun Run was a blast and I shaved 3 minutes off of last year's time. My time based on my watch was 1:02.01. I think the official published time will be a bit more because it took a while to get to the start line. I estimate a little less than 4000 people ran/walked last night. Some of the costumes were hilarious. Here's a link to the story in the morning paper. Midnight Sun Fun Run. If you look at the photo gallery in the first phot, I'm the guy in the white T-shirt.

More from Valdez tomorrow!