Valdez July 4th Celebrations
Monday, July 6th, 2009When we left Wrangell-St Elias to head for Valdez, our gas was down to a quarter tank. We had burned at lot of gas going back and forth into the park the last 3 days. We did have an extra 5 gallon tank just in case. We arrived at gas station with low gas light on.
When we got to Glennallen, we were told about their noontime July 4th community salmon bake behind the library. We went. It was very interesting to see a small Alaskan community celebrate the 4th in a picnic atmosphere. We had plenty of salmon, hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, etc., sitting on the playing field watching the youth play Ultimate Frisbee. There was no charge! We made a donation to local Lions Club who put on the feast.
When we got to the RV park in Valdez about 4 pm, we were told of the Salmon Bake potluck that they were having at 6 PM. Since we got there late, we were exempted from bringing something. The owner used to be a commercial salmon fisherman. He often swaps cases of beer with his friends for garbage cans full of salmon for his RV Salmon Bakes.
The noontime salmon was cooked is smokers. The evening salmon was grilled with blacken spices. The food at the potluck was fabulous. Milly appreciated not having to prepare food for the day.
The evening fireworks seemed to last forever. People had their own and started blasting about 8 pm. The noise didn’t stop until well past midnight. We heard the town fireworks go off but had already settled into bed.