Now it's time to start our journey toward the ship and the next phase of our adventure. To get there, we are going to be boarding the McKinley Express, a glass-domed train that will take us to the port of Whittier, where our ship awaits us. We were told we would be boarding at the Depot.....um, THIS is the Depot?
Exactly! We all waited in our groups in what seemed like the middle of nowhere...and then found our seats in the appropriate cars and headed out...
Again, the color and clarity of some of the photos were greatly affected by the windows in the train cars....but the beauty is still there!
The mud flats are a common sight here as this area of Alaska experiences the second highest tides in the world, only being surpassed by those in the Bay of Fundy.
Our train.....
Reminds me of the lyrics, "...amber fields of grain..."
I know that Alaska has lakes a'plenty.....but there are also many, many glaciers of varying sizes...
We weren't able to get photos of all the cool things we saw...including a cow moose and her calf, dall sheep on the mountainside, and the coolest....beluga whales in the inlet! The train actually stopped so that we could watch the pod....!
Shortly after that excitement, it was our turn to go through the tunnel into Whittier. This tunnel was originally built for trains but over the years has become a multi-use tunnel for both vehicular and train traffic! We made our "appointment" and when we exited the tunnel....there she was, the Pacific Princess....our home for the next 7 days!
Boarding was much simpler than I remember it being in Ft. Lauderdale....our guides on the train had all our paperwork filled out and we were already cleared for boarding by the time we got there....just walked right on!
After the mandatory safety drill and a quick supper, we settled into our stateroom and now we look forward with anticipation to this part of our adventure!
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