Taking the Scenic Route to Seward

Today I arrived in Seward, AK after a day and a half of travel from Valdez. My trip began yesterday morning at 8 am, when I boarded the ferry in Valdez that brought across Prince William Sound to Whittier. It was an overcast day, but it was very beautiful, and a lovely way to say goodbye to the area. The ferry ride was almost 6 hours long, and pulled in to Whittier around 1:45 pm.

Ice from Columbia Glacier

Whittier in the distance

After getting off the boat, I wheeled my very heavy luggage (the train porters even had trouble with it) to the train depot, about 2 blocks away, and waited for the train. It was a longer wait than I would have liked, and the depot was nothing more than a three sided tent with concrete blocks for benches. The weather turned cold and rainy just as I got to the depot, and I shivered as I waited for my train to arrive (about 3 hours).

The train ride from Whittier to Anchorage was beautiful, but the rainy weather made it difficult to get any good photos through the train window. I took a few pictures, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the views. One highlight of the trip was going through the Whittier tunnel, which is two and a half miles long and the longest railroad tunnel in North America. The tunnel is actually shared by the railroad and the highway. Cars can only go through the tunnel one lane at a time so there is a computer system that regulates eastbound, westbound, and train traffic.

Heading out of Whittier

Approaching the Whittier Tunnel

Goats on a cliff near Anchorage

The train pulled into the Anchorage station around 9 pm. I stayed the night at the Arctic Adventure Hostel, which offers free shuttles from the train station. I was completely exhausted so I went to bed early so I could wake up for another day of travel to Seward.

In the morning, I took the shuttle to the depot for a train to Seward that left at 6:45 am. The trip was fabulous, traveling right next to Turnagain Arm near Anchorage and through a gorgeous, glacier filled mountain pass.

Turnagain Arm

Lots of tunnels

Enormous glacier

Lovely mountain lake

Pulling in to Seward

Sarah met me at the train station in Seward. It was so wonderful to see a familiar face so far from home! We started lugging my bags across town to Sarah's apartment, stopping on the way for some delicious halibut tacos at Sarah's favorite local restaurant. Then we finished the trip to her place and got settled in a little before walking around the adorable main street and stopping in some of the cute shops there. We also picked up books and movies at the library. I am so happy to be here and to have a week with Sarah before she heads back to Florida. I miss everyone from school, and it will be a long time before I see them again. This should be a great week and I am looking forward to it!