Day 3 of Our Alaska Adventure, March 18th

On Monday morning, we got up to head to the mountains and see the water. 

When we looked out over Turnagain Arm, part of Cook Inlet, I took lots of pictures and looked for Mt. McKinley.  We saw it under the a big cloud.  

We drove on Seward Highway.  It was a pretty drive and there were lots of things to look at.  

The reflection was really really cool because you can see the mountains in the water.  

We also saw a river along the other side of the mountains.

We went into a little tunnel.  

                            

Dad drove us down to Portage and we were going to see if we could go in the super long tunnel there.  It takes you to another little town called Whittier.  The tunnel is the longest tunnel in North America.  The girl at the cash station said it was the second longest tunnel in the world.  

It is called the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. 

We found out that the tunnel just stays open 5 minutes at a time so you can just pass through once every hour.  We would have to come back tomorrow.  

We had lunch in Girdwood.  Girdwood is in the valley of the Chugach Mountains near the end of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet.  There are seven glaciers around Girdwood too. 

 We went to Chair 5 for lunch.

I had a cheese burger for lunch.  It was good.....but it was super cold in that place.

Mom wanted coffee so we went to The Grind in Girdwood.  I got a hot cocoa too.  They had tons of toys in her too.  They had a giant, life size Storm Trooper from Star Wars in the corner.

Next we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  They was a lot of animals there that were hurt, orphaned, or abandoned living here.  

You can read so much on the website too.

We first saw a porcupine and moose.

Dad and I waved out the window at Mom.

There were tons of bison.  They were really big.

I had fun taking lots of pictures on my iPad here too. 

There was a bald eagle and owls in cages.  He let me take his picture. 

 And the two owls did too.

 There were also bald eagles and hawks flying around outside.  This one was really close up in a tree.

By the gift shop, there was a lynx in a cage.  She was not happy and growled at us.  She had a sister in the cage with her.  They were eating steak for lunch.

 Dad videotaped her and the lynx banged on the cage with her giant paws.

When we looked over the frozen water, we wondered how animals got across and if anything came to live here from there. 

 We stayed at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood.

I couldn't believe when we found the resort.  I thought, "Oh man, that is going to be an awesome resort."

When we looked out our window I thought it was an awesome view from our place.

We took the tram to the top of the mountains.  I thought it was going to be really scary but it wasn't at all. 

                                                 

We rode up the mountain in a little cart like thing.  It was nice and warm. Dad told me 60-80 people could fit at one time. 

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Big pulleys controlled the carts.

At the top of the mountain it had a cool view.

I couldn't believe all of the snow!  

 Mom and I looked online at the Alyeska Snow Report.  They have had 634 inches of snow this year!

It was really pretty coming back down the mountain.  It wasn't scary at all.

Back at the resort, Mom took my picture by this giant bear. 

And Dad wanted to have coffee by the fireplace.

This is me and my Dad hugging in the elevator on the way to dinner.  

We ate at a really nice restaurant called the Aurora Grill.   

Dad wrote a nice story.  

I drew a picture of a big crazy, contraption war.  And Mom had apple cheesecake in a jar with little cookie moose antlers.  

When we got back, Mom, Dad, and I watched The Hobbit. 

They even came by and gave us chocolates and water.  Mom liked what the chocolates said on them too....

Life Should Always Be This Sweet!  

This was an awesome trip to this hotel.  It was really cool.

Tomorrow we are going through the super long tunnel to Whittier and then to Valdez.  I can't wait for another awesome day.