Today we went on an
historical bus tour of Valdez,
Alaska. Our bus driver has lived in Alaska for 25 years. He gave us lots of facts about Valdez. Valdez
has one of the largest snowfalls in the world.
Last year they had in excess of 400 inches of snow.
 |
"Trail of the Whispering Giant" a momument to honor the Amerian Indians
in Valdez Alaska |
He also told us about
the Good Friday Earthquake which hit on March 27, 1964. It registered 9.2 on the Richter scale. It was the most intense earthquake in North America. It
was felt statewide. Across south-central Alaska it collapsing
structures, and caused tsunamis. Results from the earthquake caused about 143
deaths. Lasting nearly four minutes,
it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history.
The earthquake began at 5:36 P M.
The epicenter of this awesome quake was
a mere 45 miles west of Valdez
and 14 miles under the earth's crust. Initial shocks lasting over five minutes
affected nearly all of the coastal communities of Alaska.
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| Location of Orginal town of Valdez, Alaska |
It produced a Tsunami that went all the way to
Australia and down to Long Beach, Ca. where it
took 13 lives.
He took us by the
Old Post Office site that had stood for only 2 years in the town of Valdez. There was also a sign depicting the names of
the lives lost in this earthquake. In
excess of 62 people were killed 19 of them children, and also leaving 40
children orphaned.
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| Memorial for Valdez Post Office |
Right after the quake
an Air National Guard plane took off and crashed killing 4 more people and
leaving 12 more children orphaned.
After our tour of the
town, he took us for a ride to the fishery.
Lots of dead fish and seagulls.
One of the seagulls took its aim at Jesse.
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| Jesse after the bird left his mark |
On our way back we
were lucky enough to see a few bears.
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| Bear looking for Salmon |
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| Bear eating Salmon |
Tonight was our
potluck with a Mexican Theme. Margaritas
were provided by the staff (yummy).
There was quite an assortment of food, everything delicious. It is surprising that when we have these
everyone brings something different.
 |
| Mexican Potluck |
Submitted by Rig #11
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| Rita & Jesse |
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