We enjoyed a quiet Sunday in Valdez, breakfast at the Totem, a drive out to the Valdez Glacier viewing area, and a visit to the Maxine and Jessie Whitney museum at the Valdez Airport. 
The base of the Valdez Glacier is just a few miles east of town and extends down to almost sea level. A small lake has formed at the site and the bright blue glacier ice is at lake level.
The Whitney Museum is a gift to the University of Alaska from Maxine Whitney and is a personal collection of Alaska artifacts and beautiful animals in natural settings. It must have taken a lifetime to collect all the items on display. 
The afternoon turned warmer this afternoon with a little sun and the kayakers and Sea Otters enjoyed themselves. Jeff spent a few hours working on small projects on the m/h and Sue did some last minute laundry before going out for dinner.
When we returned Jeff went over to check out the MV Aurora, the Alaska ferry we will board in the morning for Whittier.
We finally got to see out first tanker arrival at the Trans Alaska pipeline terminal tonight. It arrived around 8:45PM and took about 45 minutes to get tied up alongside the loading dock. It was escorted by three tugs, a steering tug with 10,000HP connected to its stern by cable and two escort vessels with oil recovery and storage capability. Since the Exxon Valdez incident there is a very comprehensive tanker tracking and escorting system (TTS) in Prince William Sound to try to insure 100% safety to the environment. 
A few weeks ago we watched the same type tankers from here arrive in Puget Sound and tie up to the refinery docks in Anacortes without seeing the same type safeguards. For those who have been up around the San Juan Islands you may recall how narrow the passages are around Fidalgo Island. Evidently Alaska has been able to leverage a greater degree of control through its oil.We have to be up early to be at the ferry docks at 7:00AM
