August 3rd

Today’s devotion:
“Around me when I look, His handiwork I see;
The world is like a picture book to teach His love to me.”

I didn’t know then that we were headed into God’s most picturesque scenes. We started out driving high within the mountains above the tree line. We were driving at about 3,000 feet high and could see the valley below us with a river that ran like a ribbon through it. Every turn brought a new scene that took our breath away. There were hair pin curves and high ledges. I couldn’t take enough pictures to try and capture the beauty. At one point we rounded a corner and we both said, “Wow” at the same time. The valley below us was full of a snow white glacier. It was unexpected and dramatic against the green and brown mountains. Today has been almost a cloudless sky so we could see for miles and the sun made the white snow glisten.

We continued on and found the horizon to be lined with snow capped peaks as if they were soldiers all standing at attention protecting the valley below. There were puffy clouds that hung in the foreground that looked like God had hand painted them into the scene. The valley was full of scrub pines and perfect territory for caribou or grizzly. There were caribou caution signs all over the place but we, once again, did not see even one live animal.

As the road neared Valdez we entered into a more rugged mountain range that eventually lead to what seemed to be the Australian Alps. We took a short walk up a path that overlooked Thompson pass (2,6870ft) and I was barely able to contain myself from throwing open my arms, and begin singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music!!” LOL! Gary is very relieved I didn‘t. There were multiple waterfalls that were flowing full force. Bridal veil, Horse tail Falls, etc. This must be what heaven looks like… but grander.

We arrived in Valdez around 5:00 pm and are staying at Bear Paw Camper Park.