Port of Valdez

Port of Valdez at dawn today looked promising but soon enough the rain would return and pour down relentlessly throughout the day. Should have know today would be a challenge after we had to pay $10 with a coupon for our "it's a $20 Value" breakfast at the Best Western which was less of a spread any Hampton inn includes for free. From here we checked in at the Ferry dock to get our tickets for our Alaskan Marine Highway trek across Prince William Sound to the town of Whittier. we had a couple hours to kill and 25% of that was taken up by the lady at the coffee house who simply would not stop talking. We finally made our exit with a useful dinner recommendation to seek out the "Double Musky" restaurant. We drove over to the ferry dock and waited and waited in the rain for our chance to board. Once we were finally on the ship all of the window seats in the bow were taken up by the people who walked on without cars. In spite of the warm comfortable interior I chose to spend a couple of hours on deck in full rain gear in order to take in whatever dimished views were available in the sound. Not too far off of the ship we could see small groups of Orca whales breaching the surface. The rain and cold got the better of us so we settled into the rear deck lounge and curled up for a nap. Suddnely we were startled awake by a loud noise that turned out to be the crew starting a movie - "Sahara" and the TV was at full volume when the power turned on and everyone in the lounge jumped from our seats. What I don't understand is why were they starting this film for our so called enjoyment with only 45 minutes left on the 5 hour trip? Certainly before the fim was finished we would be on our way out of Whittier through the tunnel. This notion proved to be true and since some sleep was abruptly interrupted - H was not happy. WE finally got off the boat and headed for the restaurant reccomended by the chatty lady at Latte D'ah- the Cajun cuisine at the Double Musky Inn. Really expensive frontier food but it was excellent. I had a NY strip prepared Au Poivre with Cabernet sauce that had to exceed two pounds. Of course we indulged in the usual sides of Gumbo and Crab Cakes all very good and H had ordered Jambalaya that could feed us for two days ( and the doggie bag did! ) and A picked up the special of the night a delicious rack of Reindeer Chops that was out of this world. Full bellies and empty pockets we headed south again through the rain past Turnagain Arm and onto the Kenai Penninsula for our return to Seward. Depending on the weather we were going to either going dog sledding or make a second attempt at a boat tour through Kenai Fjords. The rain was falling hard and I fell asleep quickly on my only shift spent in the rear seat. It rained all the way to the hotel - Hard.