Whittier, Alaska...or A Very Long Post on the History of a Teeny Tiny Town

I have a hard time making myself sit down and do a post...1) it frustrates the heck out of me, because I don't know how to make it do what I want, 2) it takes forever for my pictures to upload, and 3) I just have little patience for it.  But, I really don't want to not have some sort of record of our life here, and I know you all are just so interested in what we do with ourselves up here.

First off, even though these next pictures don't show it, we have had some amazing summer weather.  We must have had a full month of sunshine and temps getting close to 70 degrees.  That might not mean much to those of you in the lower 48, but to us it has been like heaven.  Alas, as I enter this post we have had rain for 3 days straight and termination dust was spotted on the mountains yesterday.  (BIG, BIG FROWN)
 

The July 4th weekend found Rick and I with not a lot to do.  The boys were hanging out with friends and working, so we took one of those days and made a little road trip to Whittier, Alaska.  It is about a two hour drive south of us.  We had heard a little about the Whittier tunnel so we thought we would just go check it out for ourselves. 

We stopped at Portage Glacier Lake first.  It is on the Anchorage side of the Whittier Tunnel, just a few miles from the entrance.  You can see Portage Glacier peeking through the valley.  It wasn't too many years ago, that the Glacier went all the way to the lake. Global warming is real!

This iceberg wouldn't do much damage to the Titanic, but still cool to see it floating in the lake.

Waiting for our turn to enter the famous Whittier Tunnel.  This tunnel connects the rest of Alaska with Whittier. It is the longest train/automobile tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles.  From 1960 until 2000 if you wanted to drive a car into or out of Whittier you had to drive it onto a flatbed on the train.  The tracks are now imbedded into the road and on the hour the trains go through the tunnel.  Cars, trucks, etc. go on the half hour at $12 a round trip. 

Watching the ravens while we wait.  The state bird of Alaska is the Willow Ptarmigan, but I really think it should be this bird.  On trash pick up day the streets are invaded by these birds picking through everyone's garbage.  It makes me think of the movie "The Birds"

 

Driving through

 A pretty Alaskan picture

We really went to hike a few trails and get out on the beach, port, or whatever it is called but it was drizzling the whole time and we weren't too prepared because it was so SUNNY when we left home.  Well, Rick was prepared, because that is his middle name!  I was sure I would not need my rain jacket.  We did do a little driving around and found a museum - a hall really with lots of pictures and info on the history of this town of just less than two hundred people.  And for the price of $3.00 we learned all we wanted to know and more!

The military used the port at Whittier for transporting all their troops into Alaska, thus the Tunnel which was built by them and completed by 1943.  They also built this building to house their troops, it was referred to as the "city under one room".  It had everything in it (much like an aircraft carrier does - including dining halls, movie theaters, and a bowling alley).  It was abandoned in 1960 when the military left and was seriously damaged in the 1964 earthquake.  It is still standing because it is too expensive to demolish.  It is filled with asbestos and all the debris would have to be shipped out by train or boat.

Now it is home to the homeless, teenagers and bears who can't find a decent cave for the winter.  I would have loved to walk through it's halls just after the military left.  I so hoped I could walk through and find some little treasure, but Rick who knows too much about brittle steel and concrete spoiled that for me.  Besides, at this point its pretty obvious there was nothing left unless I wanted to start a beer can collection

 This 14 story building was the 2nd one built for military housing and offices.  It survived the earthquake better and is now privately owned and houses the majority of the residents of Whittier.  The first and 14 floors are zoned commercial and it has definitely earned the "city under one roof" title.  It also houses the city offices, police department, post office, grocery store, laundromat (you have to sign up for a time slot), vending machines and snack area, and a few B&B units. 


All you ever wanted to know about Whittier and more! After a couple of hours sight seeing we drove back through the tunnel and headed for home...but, not without a stop at the Portage Glacier Cafeteria where we had the best, best hamburgers ever.  (Just ask Analee and Josh - certainly worth a trip to Alaska for!)