Have you ever driven in a train tunnel before? For this unique experience, go to Whittier, Alaska.
The train tunnel we drove through. 
The train pulling into town a few minutes after we drove through the tunnel.
The only way to drive to Whittier, Alaska is through the active train tunnel. All the cars queue up in front of the train tunnel and at a specific time you all drive through the tunnel. It is only wide enough for one car, so each end of the tunnel and then the train have a schedule they stick to. You have to keep track of the schedule or you will need to wait for a while before going through. That is not altogether a bad thing though because the scenery you get to take in while you are waiting is absolutely amazing.
Whittier is a sleepy little port town on Prince William Sound, surrounded by some of the most spectacular natural beauty I have had the privilege of seeing. Some cruise ships come into port here, but there wasn’t a lot of visitors there when we paid our visit. We had a wonderful walk around the town and took pictures of the scenery and visited a few gift shops. We also had a wonderful lunch at the China Sea restaurant. It was really good and very gluten-free friendly. What did we all order there? Well, we’re in Alaska at a seaport–Halibut of course!! It was fabulous. We all had various preparations of halibut.
Whittier’s coolest building 
The harbor 
Beautiful waterfall 
Wow!!! 
Amazing massive wall of waterfalls 
Really pretty glacier
Unless you’re fishing or going out on a charter tour, there isn’t a lot to do in Whittier. But the scenery and the experience of driving through the train tunnel is well worth a trip there.
Our next stop was another port town on the Kenai Peninsula–Seward. We were fortunate to find a great spot right on the waterfront. You couldn’t beat the view, but your neighbors were a bit close by.
Goes for blocks 
Fishing from shore 
Bike/walking trail 
Sea otter taking a snooze right in front of our rig.
It isn’t every day that you wake up, look out your front window and see a sea otter taking a snooze and this view.
It was absolutely glorious. The only problem was that you were sharing it with hundreds of your “closest” neighbors–very close neighbors. We stayed here for almost a week though and enjoyed the view, attended church, rode bikes, went for walks, and did couple of the activities in the area: Exit Glacier and the Kenai Fjords National Park (this one will be its own post–It was amazing!!!!!).
Near Seward is the Exit Glacier. We decided to hike to the glacier on Saturday with Mom and Dad. It is about a 1.5 mile out-and-back trail and it is quite easy. You hiked to the glacier viewpoint and it was pretty cool (literally). The glacier creates its own wind, so there was a cool breeze coming off the glacier.
Later Mike and I intended to hike to the Harding Icefield (6-8 hour hike), however, the park service had closed the trail because of an aggressive mother bear with cubs hanging around the trail. So instead we took the hike that went onto the glacier moraine and to the base of the glacier. It was such a cool hike that we were actually glad that our original plan was thwarted. At the base of the glacier there was a large volume of water coming out of an ice cave at the base. The cool thing was that above that there was a waterfall cascading down the iceberg, through a hole into the ice and then falling into the river of water coming out of the iceberg in the cave. It was really spectacular. The other amazing thing is just how massive these glaciers are. While we were standing just outside of the “danger zone”, a piece of the glacier broke off and fell into the glacial river below it. That is the reason the park service said not to go up any further than we are standing for our picture. Huge chunks the size of houses can break off at any moment. It was also interesting the difference in temperature at the base of the glacier. I was in short-sleeves when we hike to the overlook but wanted long-sleeves and actually and extra layer when at the base. What an amazing experience!!!! This trip has been full of awesomeness!!!!
Can you find the man hiking in the danger zone? 
Exit glacier base
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church building in Seward was small, but probably one of the most beautiful ones as far as the materials used. It had amazing wood everywhere and smelled of cedar in the chapel. It was really nice to partake of the sacrament with a nice cedar smell. The branch there is small but there were tons of visitors there that day.
