Girdwood, Portage Glacier, and Whittier, Alaska

Another great day in Alaska.  The weather has been much better than expected, which is unusual for Alaska.  Here is today….

We started out in Anchorage and had a repeat breakfast at the Snow City Cafe.  Our waiter told me I was honored to get the coveted “Pug Mug.”  The cafe has all different kind of coffee mugs.

After breakfast, we started driving toward Seward.  We didn’t make it far, only to a lookout point.  These cool rocks surrounded the parking lot.

Next stop–Girdwood. We went on the Aleyeska Tramway at the Aleyeska Resort.  The tram climbs a 2000′ vertical.  Atop the mountain, there is 1000 inches of snow annually and the staff works hard on Avalanche control.

A pup we met at the top

Just a few miles down the road, we stopped at Portage Glacier

One of the most exciting things that Erin was dying to share with Ryan and I was a trip through the Whittier Tunnel.

Whittier Tunnel is a 2.4 mile long ONE WAY tunnel into a mountain.  The tunnel runs on a schedule — 15 minutes into Whittier, 15 minutes closed, 15 minutes out of Whittier, repeat.  I took a video but it is too large to upload right now with limited computer resources.

Some nice photos from Whittier.
Prince William Sound. This area wasn’t impacted by the Exxon-Valdez oil spill.

These flowers are made of metal

Then the MOST EXCITING PART OF THE DAY!!!!  BEAR!

Confession: we were not in the wild. We are at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. From their website “WCC takes in injured and orphaned animals year-round and provides spacious enclosures and quality animal care. Animals that cannot be released into the wild are given a permanent home at the center.”

WOW amazing, huh?

During our drive south….

We didn’t make it into Seward until 9pm so looks like we will be exploring it tomorrow.