Back from the Brooks, our voyage through Valdez

We've returned safely after an amazing experience in the Brooks Range
(more in a separate post, later) to our last week in Alaska. We've
barely stopped to catch our breath since returning.

Right now, we're on our homeward leg of a two-day loop from Anchorage
up the Glenn Highway along the Wrangell Mountains, to Valdez (which
has been aptly described as the "sexiest" town in Alaska) and are now
aboard the Valdez-Whittier Alaskan Maritime Highway ferry across
Prince William Sound to Whittier, where we follow a tunnel through the
mountain back toward our home base in Anchorage.

But more importantly, we've joined by some great company for this loop
through mountains and glaciers and fjords: welcome to Alaska, Kelly!
We hope our first co-traveler from back home encourages others to join
us on this trek. It's been the best crash-course introduction to
Alaska we could imagine.