It is 10 past 11 at night and I am sitting on the beach in Valdez to get a wifi signal, and I am cold. I am very cold. In fact I am freezing my proverbial nuts off. So I am NOT going to write lots now - Will update tomorrow. (4.6.12 Now updated)
But basically, went down beside the fjord, Turnaround Arm, and Portage Glacier, from Anchorage, sun out, train with waving passengers beside me, with the most unbelievable view possible. Words would fail me even if I wasn't cold !! It was simply one of the most divine Elise drives ever. (Have I said that before ?) Seriously, just jaw dropping, and to be bombing down there with Elsie purring, it was almost too good to be true. It was THAT good that in a break in the traffic I actually got up over 100 mph, just because it was that kind of day. And then it got ................better........
Had to go through a single lane tunnel that takes traffic both ways AND a train ! See inside photos - hardly believable, 2.6 miles of it ! And it was built by an Aussie !! Anton Anderson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portage_Glacier_Highway
Whittier is WEIRD. Everyone lives in one of two buldings - I mean EVERYONE. Everything else is warehouses. Snow this winter was so deep they were having to dig out street lights !! And in the middle is the Buckner building - Abandoned. More later, but it is a US Army thing, and is just sitting there abandoned !! Amazing story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittier,_Alaska
Caught Glacier cruise as they slipped the ropes off, and had a great time on the boat for 5 hours. Got put on a table with 2 lovely girls, Siiri and Stephanie who were good fun. Siiri was born on Kodiak Island and has a Russian surname linking her family back to the Baranof times when Sitka was the Russian capital. Stephanie was from ??? East Coast ?? Sorry Stephanie !! Anyway, thanks for making the trip fun. Enjoyed your company.
Poured with rain during night, but more of that tomorrow. For now here are the pics for the day. They speak for themselves, and as usual do not even come close to portraying how good the views were even 10%. Photos just cannot capture the grandeur of this place.
