The next morning was sunny and crisp with blue skies, a hopeful sign that Valdez may have good weather.
F&K had not slept well from getting too cold and were very tired. My cough had worsened and I felt like a dead rat, but we pressed on for Valdez.
We’d heard from many people that the road to Valdez was really spectacular and it was. The fall colors were everywhere, the sights and mountains stunning.
The rain began again as did the grey skies, but we stopped occasionally for pictures. I began to feel so bad all I wanted to do was get to Valdez and get a hotel even if that was not the group plan. I felt very bad.
Yeppers... rainz a comin'
Somewhere along the way at one of our stops, Fanda and Kaschka went on, not seeing us at the turn out and continuing for Valdez. Typically we stop after a few miles but we never caught up to them on the road.
As we finally rolled into Valdez, a bit disappointed once again to be in a port city in rain, I saw F&K’s heavy GS parked at the library, probably for WiFi, and then rode on to a fish and chips place. As DHK&R went inside, I rode back to tell Fanda where we were and to come meet us for lunch. He said they’d lost us and had gotten a little worried, but we all met for fish and chips and to get warmed up.
We made it to the port to see the official end of the Alaska pipeline... it was great to have ridden along the pipeline from the Arctic and now to see the end of it. Even if it was in the rain
After a while I began to feel a little better and decided to push on with the group rather than get a motel. My energy lasted a while but eventually faded in the rain as we rode back. Near Kenny Lake we found a good campground for the night, with hot showers, fire rings and picnic tables.
At sunset, Dave, Kim, Ronetta and I all piled into her Yukon and ran up the road to catch what we could of the spectacular sunset
