Nov. 9th, 2008 at 6:23 PM
We grabbed a quick breakfast this morning and waited to disembark. That whole process went fairly smoothly. We were docked in Whittier, a tiny town about an hour from Anchorage. It's a very strange place. They only have 300 residents during tourist season and a population of 100 in winter. Most of them live in the same apartment buiding ("Begich Towers") off the lovely Prince William Sound. We boarded a coach bus with about 50 other people and got a quick (and I mean really quick) tour of the town. We had to kill time because traffic can only leave the city on the hour, and traffic can only come into the city on the half hour. Trains can come through whenever they want.
Why such a strict schedule? Because Whittier is only accessible by a single lane road that runs 2.6 miles through a mountain. The railroad tracks run on that same road. The tunnel is only open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. in the summer and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the winter. Apparently animals take refuge in the tunnel if it isn't closed. But this also means NOBODY can get in our out of Whittier during the closed hours. Including ambulances. Or women in labor. And there's no hospital in the town. A little backwards, no? Apparently the residents are also extremely resistant to any change or growth, so they fight to keep the status quo. Weird as it is, there's something to be said for a town that refuses to be over-industrialized or controlled by chain conglomerates and Wal-Mart.
We enjoyed a gorgeous ride through the Chugach mountains. So many fall colors on the mountains right now. The only bad thing about the ride... was that it definitely smelled a bit funky. Either someone had drenched themselves Eau de Olde this morning or the close quarters just amplified the natural scent. I mean no disrespect -- I'm sure I don't smell like roses. It was just... unpleasant. Probably exacerbated by the fact that I was really beat from our week of constant activity. Anyway, we got to Kenai Princess Lodge around 12:45. What a change from our cruise week! This place is SO mellow. We're in a cabin with a wood burning stove/fireplace and a deck view of aspen trees and a mountain.
We walked the nature trails around the lodge and probably saw 10 different types of mushrooms and lichens and fungi in just one mile.
We used the spotting scope at the main lodge to watch a mama bear and her 3 baby bears on a nearby mountainside. After that, we grabbed some lunch (bison chili and a corn muffin for me and salmon sliders with pineapple and green onion aioli for Justin), then walked around the grounds for awhile. Definitely kept our eyes peeled for bears.
After that, we came back to the room and watched Wedding Crashers until it was dinner time. So very relaxing. Dinner made us miss the ship, as we now have to pay for food. Ouch. We're uesd to "free" five course meals and endless snacks at our beck and call. Oh well, this is probably a good detox from our gluttonous lifestyle. Dinner was good, though - Justin got a monstrous & meaty pecan crusted halibut steak and I got thai salmon. We had berry cobbler and ice cream for dessert.
Chatted with the very friendly table of people next to us for awhile and from what they said, we're going to really enjoy the upcoming week. They are heading south and start their cruise portion this week. So now I'm finally caught up on the journaling, and I am going to kick back in my leather chair and watch the crackling fire. Life is darn good!
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