Traveling Around Turnagain Arm

Everything in Alaska is breathtaking. We passed through Turnagain Arm which is part of Cook Inlet. It is surrounded by snow capped mountains on both sides. The tide was low but the water glistened and glimmered in the sun. Linda kept watching for whales. How awesome is our creator God to design such beauty.

We went to Whittier. In order to get to the town we had to pass through a single lane tunnel which was 2 ½ miles long. This tunnel is also shared by the railroad so there are scheduled times to go through it.

If you take a cruise ship to Alaska, Whittier is a Port of Call. There are also many private boats docking in this harbor. It is the gateway to Prince Edward Sound.

We viewed the Portage Glacier in Moose Pass in this area also.

Then we continued our drive to the town of Hope. This town is really where the gold rush started in Alaska in 1888. The first dirt road to Hope was built in 1972. Before then their mail was delivered by dog sled.

We had lunch at a roadside cafe. While there we had a long visit with two Korean Airline Pilots which must have rented some motorcycles and ventured out a Anchorage and drove three hours just to eat there. Our waitress was from New Zealand. She’s married to an Alaskan and lives in Hope. Here husband was 400 miles away doing brick work with his Dad in Glenallen. She said he’d be home for supper as his mode of transportation was a light airplane.

We sat down with a crusty old dodger who was 79 years old. It looked like he hadn’t showered or washed his clothes all winter and his finger nails were blackened with dirt. We asked him what he did for a living and he said he just mines for gold.

Another strange character came in who looked like he just woke up from hibernation. He was writing a book about a survival incident he had in Alaska. Who knows how long he’s been writing this book.

Next a girl with a feather in her hat came in to the restaurant. She said she was the town historian and she gives people lessons on how to pan for gold.

Non of these folks had running water in their shacks but were quite content in life.

Before long we knew all their names and shared our life adventures.

The crusty old dog (the one we were afraid to sit next to) bought us lunch. His name is Bob. We both shook his hand and gave him a hug.

It was humbling to hear their life stories and for Bob to buy us lunch. Doug asked the Heavenly Father why He led us down this path today and put these people in front of us? He felt God was showing us how much He loved lost and lonely people.