Trip thru Mat-Su to Valdez

So while I am still waiting/looking for a job and an apartment, I joined my friend on a 2-day trip from Girdwood (A) to Valdez (B) last Wednesday and Thursday.  What a trip!  It was a lot of fun hanging out in the car, driving, and listening to music, looking at all the glorious mountains surrounding us the whole way there.  Along the way, we stopped at the Matanuska Glacier (or Mat-Su Glacier) ... its the orange dot circled in blue on the map below!

I've never been up close and personal with a glacier before!! It was so cool... We stayed there for about an hour just looking around, taking pictures-- really loving being outside in the gorgeous, warm, clear weather!! Here are some of my favorites:

Crazy beautiful, right?!  Looking at that last pic, it amazes me that all the ones before it were a part of the same glacier... who knew?!  Definitely not me... After playing here for a while, we hopped back in the car and headed straight for Valdez, wanting to get there before it got too late.

The next beautiful stop along the way was at Thompson Pass - it had really cooled off and the sun was setting, and we just had GORGEOUS 360* views! I took a 180* view with my iPhone... hopefully it turns out well enough for you to appreciate the beauty!

And of course, there are pictures, too...

We got checked in at the hotel, ate at a local restaurant (there aren't any chain restaurants there either haha), and crashed pretty quickly.  Thursday morning we went for a short hike in Valdez, then headed to Worthington Glacier.  That glacier was big, and pretty neat, but didn't hold a flame to Mat-Su in my book!

Reflection

Valdez

Beautiful blue water thanks to glacial silt :-)

Valdez

the hiking trail

at Worthington Glacier

at Worthington Glacier

The rest of the day it was mostly cloudy, and there were virtually no views from the highway.  For those back home that are familiar with the AEDC road... coming back it felt like we were on the AEDC road for hours - highway lined with trees, 55mph zone, and because it was cloudy we couldn't really see past the trees.  We went through two iPods on the way home! It was such a fun trip, I am SO glad I went-- so awesome to see more of this beautiful state and hang out with a good friend!

Today I am helping out with the Junior Achievement (JA) program at the school.  I am really looking forward to getting involved in the program, as well as getting to know the kids at the school!  It's been raining a lot the past couple days, but today there are blue skies and sunshine again-- I suppose I should take advantage of it every chance I get!