Valdez is located at the head of a beautiful fiord-like arm of Prince William Sound, closely hemmed in by snowcapped mountains. Across the arm from the town is the Alyeska oil terminal, the end of the trans-Alaskan pipeline and the port for a constant parade of tanker ships which move the oil down to the lower 48.

Jeff, of Valdez U-Drive, met us at the ferry terminal and presented us with a rather new 13 passenger van. The rate was $109 per day with 100 free miles per day. We kept the van for 5 days and drove a total of 425 miles. The total bill was $599.50 including 10% tax, but not including gas.

My usual lodging place in Valdez is the L&L B&B (907-835-4447). Lou and Laura accomodated 7 of our people in 3 rooms, and the other 4 of our people stayed at the adjacent B&B run by Patty and George Levasseur. L&L have a big common area where our group gathered. The room has huge picture windows looking out on the surrounding mountains.

If you are interested, Valdez has a couple of web cams pointed east and west.