Beyond "The End Of The Road"

Departed Valdez today via the water route aboard the MV Fairweather (part of Alaska's Marine Highway System) to Cordova. Only way to reach Cordova is by boat or plane - once there you can drive around town and 35 miles on a gravel road that ends at (the yet to be completed) the "bridge to nowhere".

The tale of how we ended up in this little fishing village is more interesting than what we found when we got here - although we did have a great dinner overlooking the harbour. While buying our ferry ticket (we purchased a ticket for Valdez to Whittier) we started chatting with the two clerks and Cordova came up. I asked what people did when they went there and they said "not much". That, of course, peaked my interest - so I asked how much more would our ticket be if we included Cordova (a quick look at a map and you will notice it's taking us away from, not to Whittier - perfect for us, that's the long way). The clerk fiddles with his computer and says "same fare" (doesn't make any sense, but why rock the boat by asking questions) - I look at Don, then tell the clerk "do it". That's why we are camped tonight on the side of the road outside scenic Cordova and will return to the ship in a few hours to continue our journey to Whittier.

MV Fairweather - one of two Fast Ferries in the fleet

That's Cordova in the distance