June 10 Sunday. Today we disembark our ship in Whittier near Anchorage and change to a land tour on our way to Denali National Park. Today we meet our traveling companions the Rauscher’s from northern California and are taken to the Alyeska Hotel for a restful afternoon.
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| Alyeska Hotel |
We pass through the Whittier tunnel, which is 2.5 miles long the longest highway tunnel in North America, and the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds. The one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions, and it usually needs to be aired out in between trips with jet turbine ventilation, another first!. This unique design enables a single lane of traffic to travel directly over the railroad track saved tens of millions of dollars in construction cost.
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| View from the top of Mount Alyeska |
We arrive at the 300 room Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska, approximately 27 miles from the city of Anchorage. It a sunny day approaching 70 degrees F. Mount Alyeska is part of the Chugach mountain range and the Alyeska Resort is the largest ski area in the state. There is a tram that ends three-quarters of the way up the mountain and at the top houses the Seven Glaciers restaurant where we have an incredible dinner.
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| Dinner at Seven Glaciers |
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