Last Visitors: Whittier (Friday, May 4, 2012)

Sandy, Ken, and Jon waiting for the Whittier tunnel to open

Jon and Rochelle in Whittier

Whittier boat harbor

Jon, Danielle, and Nate looking out over the Whittier boat harbor

Nate, Jon, and a very large anchor

On Thursday evening, Jon and I drove up to Anchorage to pick up our last Alaska visitors. Jon's brother (Nate), Nate's girlfriend (Danielle), and Jon's Godparents (Ken and Sandy) flew up for a week long stay. We spent the night in Anchorage on Thursday before heading out for our adventure Friday morning.

We drove to Whittier, a small town only accessible by a 2.5 mile single lane tunnel used by both cars and trains. The tunnel opens every half hour to travelers going in and out of Whittier. To get out of Whittier you travel through the tunnel on the hours. To get in to Whittier you travel through the tunnel on the half hours. At 10:30am we were driving through the Whittier tunnel, right on top of the same tracks the trains use. At 25 mph we traveled through the 2.5 mile tunnel, the longest tunnel in North America. It was eerie, but exciting. Once through the tunnel, you are immediately in the town on Whittier. They still have quite a bit of snow. After checking in for our ferry ride, we explored the small town.