Day 32 to Valdez, AK

Valdez is the southern terminus of the Alaska Oil pipeline, so now I've been to both ends!

Today's feature: How to build a spaceman:

 Step 1: Apply bicycle shorts to hold the package in place during long riding days.

Step 2: thin poly-pro undershirt. Aren't you glad I started with the shorts and not the shirt? With my luck, the females are answering yes and the males no.

 Step 3: knee socks, special "coconut carbon activated to absorb odors that build up from riding days on end without washing!

 Step 4: long johns

 Step 5: This is an important one, the Heated vest

 Step 6: Another base-layer T-shirt over the vest

 Step 7: long-sleeve T-shirt

 Step 8: Fleece sweater

Step 9: Boots (GoreTex, supposedly waterproof, definitely NOT waterproof despite all kinds of shit I've rubbed and sprayed on them this trip!)

Step 10: Gaitors, in an attempt to keep some of the water out of the aforementioned bootz

 Step 11: Riding pants, supposedly waterproof, YES, these are; they are the second set from the manufacturer. They are also supposedly breathable -- NOT. Hey, I'm just glad they're not leaking at this point.

 Step 12: "Extreme Weather" jacket, advertized waterproof, NOT waterproof.

 Step 13: Windproof neckband. Yes, it is windproof, and probably waterproof as well.

 Step 14: Ok, back to the jacket, had to tuck the neckband in and then close up the jacket neck on top...

 Step 15: indispensable, to avoid going crazy from the sound created by the turbulent slipstream off the half-fairing that hits square on my helmet. The noise is akin to jet engines at takeoff power (I ought to know).

 Step 16: helmet

 Step 17: insulated gauntlet gloves, not advertized waterproof, and indeed, they are not, which necessitates...

 Last Step 18: GoreTex Mits, advertized waterproof, and, you already guessed, NOT. I also applied various carcinogens to the exterior of these in a futile attempt to waterproof them.

And there you have me, one spaceman, ready to go (get wet)

And boy did I today, the wettest day so far, just coming down in buckets right from the outset. This is a "scenic" shot taken not long after I departed when I was still naively convinced by the forecast I'd read last night that these were just showers that would pass

By the time I'd driven several hours and was soaked, I came to the this visitors center in the Portage valley and stopped. It was quite a good center and one of the best things I did there was...

Wring out my clothing. here, my insulted (Freudian slip) insulated gloves, inter-wrapped with paper toweling and twist in a vain attempt to dry them.

The view out of the visitors center speaks for itself.

Glacial lake outside visitors center

OK, there was one time on today's ride that it didn't rain on me -- in a tunnel!

After going thru the train tunnel from Portage to the port of Whittier, on the Prince William Sound, I drove onto the ferry with two other like-minded individuals, Eldon and Don, from Red Deer, Alberta, who said they stayed dry today...How? With their $79 el-cheapo plastic rain jacket-pants combos that they bought at the discount store and just wear over their regular clothes! That's how.

Gotta strap that baby down for those rought seas. Actually the ride across the sound was glassy-smooth.

Here looking over the stern back at Whittier, glad to be on board, I disrobed and distributed those many wet layers (as itemized previously) all about the passenger cabin seats. Fortunately there were few people on board for this 6 hour tour...but then it started getting rough.

You'll have to tune in tomorrow to find out where this ferry ended up (no, not me, the BOAT!)