We’ll be coming through the mountain....

Ok, so now we have a P.O. Box, an apartment, and a working car. Does this mean we can start finding a life???? Yea, but I still don't want to have to have to do wash.
Sometimes our conversations will fall a little on the strange side. Other times they are just downright weird. Perhaps that stems from being raised by the circus and living in a barn. Or it could have something to do with the water. Lately I am very suspicious about the water. I think it may have given me an ulcer, but that is a whole other story.....

Today we decided that we needed to throw snow balls at each other and learn how to fish with dip nets. My real motivation was to wash my hands in a glacier fed waterfall. I have heard it is good for your skin. So off we went. We headed south, not sure of exactly where we were headed, or when we would arrive. All we knew is that there were supposed to be glaciers to the south and we were hot on there trail. The views were amazing. We drive along the Cook inlet for about an hour passing snow capped mountains and open prairies. Eventually we came up to hundreds of cars parked along the side of the 2 lane road. At first I thought that they were giving away fee a/c units, but later realized that they were actually fishing...Well, sort of. What they were actually doing was standing shoulder to shoulder with dip nets, trying to scoop fish out of the water. I had never seen ANYTHING like this before. Fishing with a dip net. Not just any dip net, but 10 foot long dip nets. This is something I just have to try. I have fished with poles, lines, reels, nets, but never a dip net on a 10 foot pole. I have this nagging feeling that I may be in need of some new fishing gear.....

Next, on to Portage glacier. As we discovered, to get the best view you have to take a ferry. Unfortunately the ferry only has 2 schedules. One is for a 5 hour trip, the other is for 10. We did not have that much time to spend, but decided that we would have to come back another time and take a ride. The pictures of the glacier cruise are amazing. Since we were surrounded by mountains and there was still snow on the ground, we decided it would be a good idea to have a snow ball fight. Off we went, hiding behind the shrubs, ducking for cover, and hitting each other with hard packed snow. What fun.

On we pressed, past the hundreds of dip netters, beyond the gorgeous mountains, past the ice filled shores, onto the world’s longest tunnel - Over 2 miles long. I actually had heard about this before. This tunnel is only open once every 30 minutes. It is a one lane road that goes right through a mountain. Not only is it used by cars, but also by trains. Yes, you drive on train tracks to get through the tunnel. Luckily it has been designed so that both cars and trains can travel through with few problems. As I guessed, we arrived at exactly the wrong time. We had to wait 30 minutes to get through. I was really starting to feel like this may not be worth it. I would later be proven wrong - very wrong. So we are finally let through the tunnel. Before being let through, we are instructed to keep our headlights on at all times, drive no faster than 25, and leave at least 100 feet between you and the car in front of you. Ok, not a problem. As we enter the tunnel, it seems just like what I would have expected - Dark, tunnel like, and wet.... Then it all changed. There were no longer smooth tunnel like walls. They were replaced by rough stone walls. The wet walls soon gave way to waterfalls flowing down the sides. The roof dripped from water seeping down through the rock. Driving on the railroad tracks caused the car to veer from side to side. Needless to say it was not only an amazing drive, but slightly nerve racking.

Once on the other side we were greeted with more amazing scenery. We had arrived at Whittier. The Princess cruise ship was in port and the town was filled with tourists. We decided to turn around and start home since it was getting late and we needed to secure our hotel. As we were waiting to get through the tunnel, we were greeted by not cars coming through the other side, but a train. We sat and watched a train coming through what we would have to pass through in several minutes. On we went, through the tunnel, past the ice, next to the mountains, on to home....