14 Glacier Boat trip

     It was a perfect day today.  We drove south out of Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm.  The tide is huge here and was rushing in to the tidal flats.  It can rise up to 28' in some places.  When the tide is out the tidal flats can be very treacherous.  They are quick sand and people can get trapped in the sand and drown when the tide comes back in.

     We got to Portage Glacier and saw the beautiful lake and mountains surrounding the glacier.  It has a great Visitor Center with many good exhibits.   Eventually we go to the Whittier Tunnel.  It is over 2 miles long and traffic moves one way each half hour.  It is quite the engineering feat.  We did not have to wait too long for our turn to go through the tunnel.
    Once we got to Whittier there was some time to walk around and visit some little gift shops along the quay.  There is one huge building in this small town.  It was an army barracks for WWII.  The boat trip was great.  We had very good seats with a good view through the windows.  It was quite windy on deck because the catamaran was moving along at 45 MPH.  We saw a lot of sea otters and seals, but only one whale.  We took a lot of great pictures of the many glaciers and saw several chunks break off and fall into the ocean.

    Everyone really enjoyed the trip.  It was a wonderful last day with the whole family.  Tonight Arik and Jenn and Terry and Connie leave for home.  I will really miss them.  We have another week with Matt and Amanda.