Whittier

We camped at Portage (for the third time!), and Jerri was unimpressed when Bart moved the RV while she was showering.  Truth be known, it was right where she had left it, but because there were several of the same rented RVs in the parking lot, she was a little confused.  

This was the day dedicated to Whittier.  On our way to the tunnel, we stopped at the Boggs Begich Center.  Amazingly, between the last time we were there and today, an iceberg (a large one) had appeared in the lake.  

Whittier is a quaint little town that for years was virtually cut off from the rest of Alaska.  No roads went to it, so only those with boats or planes could access it.

That changed in the early 2000s when the train tunnel that was built by the military in the 1940's was converted to a multi-use toll, tunnel.  At the top of every hour, cars and trucks can go to Whittier; and at the bottom of every hour, they can go out of Whittier.   Two hours each day, the tunnel is closed so that it can be used by the trains.

It is a nifty deal and it works well, despite the fact that driving on the embedded rails is a little squirrelly.

We found Whittier to be a fun little town.  There isn't much to do there, but Kenneth and Melinda did find a museum that I wish we had seen.  We did manage to find the candy store, the ice cream shop, and the restaurant . . . as well as the fish store!  The Sweetwater Cafe was a quaint bar with seats outside.  Although it was dampish, we stayed dry.

We added to our fish provisions so we could have some salmon for dinner, and then it was time to go.