Whittier, AACC, and Girdwood

We all wanted to drive through the Anderson tunnel to Whittier for two reasons:
1.  We wanted to drive through a tunnel that a train also goes through.
2.  We wanted to see a town where everyone lives in one of two buildings.

So off we went.  The tunnel is one lane and cars and trains take turns going through it.  It uses a computerized traffic control system that regulates rail and highway traffic. The tunnel is 2.5 miles long and takes 6.5 minutes to travel through.  It is the longest highway tunnel and longest combined highway/railroad tunnel in North America.

The tunnel entrance.

Inside the tunnel.

Waiting our turn.  

Once you are through the tunnel, the tiny town of Whittier is nestled at the base of mountains that line a fjord that extends into Prince William sound.  More than half of the population of 220 lives in a 14 story condominium that also houses the city offices.  The remainder of the people live in a condominium called Whittier Towers. 

The Wild Catch Cafe

A train entering the tunnel. 

We had lunch at a small diner called the Wild Catch Cafe, drove around the town (which didn't take long), watched a train enter the tunnel, then took our turn going back through.


After stopping briefly to give the dogs a break, we went to the AACC, or Alaska Animal Conservation Center.  Again, even though the goal here is to rescue orphaned or injured animals, I get sad seeing them penned up.  However, we did get to see some animals close up, and that was nice for picture taking.  Here are a few pictures we took.

Jackie, Steve and I drove into the town of Girdword later in the afternoon because I wanted to see Alyska, the great ski mountain of Alaska, and to shop at the Mercantile store there.  OH MY GOSH!  I am so glad we never tried to come here to ski!   I wouldn't even have made it down the bunny slope!  

Back at the campground, we had another great group of people to visit with around the campfire, and there was even a guy playing the guitar for us.  It was a great evening! This community campfire pavilion is really great.  

The PHONE! Portage Glacier and the Campfire

Hallelujah!  Steve has a phone!  We drove the 56 miles to Anchorage this morning and went to Fed Ex at the airport where they handed Steve a package from Verizon.  Yay!

We headed for the nearest Verizon store and eagerly went into the mall where it was located.  The picture below tells you what we found!

So we found and went to the next nearest Verizon store where a young (very young) man named Chris was able to transfer all of Steve's data from the "cloud" to his new sim card.   There was a bad moment when Chris couldn't activate the phone, but he figured it out (bless his heart) and all was well at last.  Steve is once again a happy camper with a phone!  To celebrate, we went to Golden Corral just because we haven't seen one for months.

Chris, the Verizon guy, at work!

The first smile we've seen in days!

Back in Portage we decided to go to see the Portage Glacier even though it was cloudy and spritzing rain.  This was a very nice one hour cruise aboard the MV Ptarmigan in spite of the weather.  It was nice and warm in the cabin, and a ranger on board gave us a lot of information about the glacier and the surrounding areas

Portage Glacier

A small iceberg.  

The Grant Glacier nearby.  

On the way back to the campground we stopped at the Williwaw fish viewing platform and saw salmon spawning.



Back at the campground,  Corky met another Chesapeake, then we enjoyed happy hour around the campfire with a variety of folks from many places.  I was shocked  to find a very young man from my hometown of Rockingham, NC who was traveling with his grandparents from Connecticut!  What a coincidence!

My friend from Rockingham!

Homer to Portage

We said a fond farewell to Homer and made the journey back up the Kenai Peninsula and across to Portage.  The Portage Valley RV Park only has electricity (30 AMP) and water, no TV, and weak wi-fi,  but it makes up for  all that in the view.  We have our own waterfall in front of us, a rushing glacial stream behind us, two beautiful ponds, and mountains all around.  It also has something we really enjoyed--a community fire pit in a large covered pavilion.



The saga of the phone continues:  We got a call from Fed Ex in Anchorage.  The phone is there at the airport, but guess what?  They don't deliver to Portage!  They pass within 1.3 miles of our campground on the way to Seward, but they don't deliver here.  However they agreed to hold the phone for him to pick up.  We will try to do that tomorrow even though Steve has almost given up on it.

More Shopping, the Elks Lodge, and Beach Combing

Well, we just HAD to go to the Better Sweater again because Jackie had not been there yet, so back to the Spit we went.  Jackie and I had a lovely time while the guys waited not-so-patiently in the car.

We decided to stop by the Homer Elks Lodge for a drink before going back to the rigs.  What a beautiful lodge!  It is located right on Cook Inlet on some prime property.  The pretty bartender made an excellent martini complete with a garlic and jalapeño stuffed olive.

The view from the Homer Elks Lodge

When we got back to the campground, we all went down to the beach.  Jackie gathered rocks for her collection, Steve took Corky for a swim in the icy water of Cook Inlet, and Precious and I took a walk.

Headed for the beach.  

Corky is loving it!

About Steve's phone:  the guy from Verizon called back as he said he would, and it seems that everything is all set for the phone to be delivered to our next campground tomorrow.  Fingers are crossed all around.

Shopping, A Rainy Happy Hour, and Whales

It was a cold, rainy day, so Steve and I set out to do some shopping.  We started in Homer at a remarkable store called Ulmer's, or the Homer Mall.  This is all one ell-shaped building, but it houses an amazing variety of shops, all in one store...not separate buildings.  It has a Tru-Value Hardware store at one end and a quilt shop at the other end.  It has a pharmacy, a Hallmark store, a sporting goods store, housewares, clothing, shoes, toys, and other items.  There is only one checkout station for all these various shops.  I loved it because Steve was happy browsing the hardware section while I shopped in the quilt shop.  What an interesting place.

We progressed from Ulmer's to the spit, where I shopped in my favorite store, The Better Sweater.  Then we went to see the Seafarer's Memorial which is a monument to all those lost at sea.





We had a great happy hour with two couples from Maine  (Linda and Ralph, Jolyne and Emory) that were camped next door to us.  Even a light rain couldn't keep us from enjoying their company as they were leaving the next day.




That evening, we were treated to the sight of 4 whales spouting and rolling in the Inlet beside the campground.

There really is a whale spouting in this picture!

Flight Seeing

It is always a good day when you can cross something off of your bucket list, and today was one of those days for me!   I got to take off and land in a float plane!   In between the take off and landing, we got to do a lot of sightseeing!

Our pilot, Wes Head ,  of Beluga Air, LLC, called about 8 a,m. and said he could take us out about 10:30 so off we went.It was cloudy outside, but Wes said the blue colors of the glaciers are enhanced by cloudy weather, so no worries.  We boarded the DeHavilland Beaver at the pier and taxied out into Beluga Lake.   We were soon headed out over the Homer Spit and Cook Inlet with  Wes as our excellent guide, pointing out landmarks and relating interesting stories about what we were seeing.
Although the day was cloudy and spritzing rain, the takeoff was very smooth and very exciting as well!  We flew past our campground  on the Cook Inlet side, then curved back to fly over Homer Spit where it was easy to pick out all the landmarks.  We flew over Kachemak Bay where , laced between the mountain peaks, rivers of ice flow from the Harding Ice Field forming Alpine glaciers.  These are unique in that they form in mountain valleys creating their own moraine lake instead of calving into salt water.  We got up close and personal with Grewingk, Portlock and Dixon glaciers which can be seen from Homer, then examined Wosnesenski and Doroshin which are only partly visible from Homer.  We saw two large herds of mountain goats, small native villages, remote cabins, and a privately owned island in Halibut Bay that features a gourmet restaurant (the Saltry)  and an art gallery. Wes kept us entertained with facts about the area, local lore, and bush pilot stories.  Shown here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures we took.

Homer Spit small boat harbor.

Small white dots are mountain goats.  

Privately owned island in Halibut Cove.  

All too soon it was time to return to Beluga Lake, and we had the smoothest landing I have ever experienced in a plane.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip and our pilot, Wes.  It was an experience worthy of a bucket list!

Beluga Lake

Happy passengers and their pilot!

After reliving our experience over a good Mexican lunch at Don Joses, we all retired to our rigs.  Unfortunately, Steve checked his email and discovered that his new phone was being sent to our home instead of here tomorrow.  He could not contact anyone at Verizon or at Fed Ex because they aren't open on Sunday.  He had to get up at 3 A.M. to contact Verizon which opens at 7 A.M.  Eastern time.  The problem is still not resolved, so stay tuned for developments.