Our next stop in Alaska after Skagway was Valdez. The first thought that came to my mind was the Exxon spill of 1989. Fortunately there’s a lot more to Valdez than that! The setting is stunning, on the water, with craggy glacier covered mountains surrounding it.

We went to the Valdez Museum and learned more about the tragic oil spill, but what I learned the most about was the earthquake on March 27, 1964. This earthquake measured 8.4 – 8.6 on the Richter Scale, which is the largest ever recorded in North America, and if that wasn’t enough, it lasted 5 minutes! 5 minutes! It devastated the town. The entire town was condemned and moved to a better geologic and geographic location, 4 miles away. We drove to the original town site where there are signs identifying where the businesses originally stood.

After a quick overnight in Anchorage for our second oil change, we were on our way to Homer! Homer, again, is right on the water with big craggy glacier covered mountains on full display. We stayed at a funky hotel right on the beach, which meant we could easily take some walks on the beach. We also went to Anchor Point, the westernmost point you can drive to in North America. Pretty cool, and amazing to see how much land is west of this point in Alaska, but there are no roads. Crazy!

Next, as you probably guessed was Seward. It was very fun and interesting to visit these 3 cities, all waterfront towns with incredible close beautiful mountains! Each city had a different vibe, but not better or worse. Picking out a favorite would be difficult since they each had different neat things about it. We went on a 6-hour cruise to Holgate Glacier and saw beautiful waterfalls and lots of amazing marine life along the way. Puffins, orcas, humpback whales and porpoises to name a few.

But wait, there’s more! I will be adding more as we explore Alaska further.