Day 4 Coach ride to Anchorage/Whittier
We were booked on the train from Talkeetna to Whittier but due to flooding ended up going by motor coach directly from McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge to Anchorage and then on to Whittier. That was a little disappointing though talking with some on the ship who did the train I'm not sure we missed too much and we made the trip in about five hours, three hours less than by train. I did notice that during much of the drive we were very close to the tracks so saw most of the scenery we would have seen on the train.
Speaking of that, one toy I had which I really appreciated was the MapsWithMe app on my Android phone. This app allows you to download maps of states, National Parks and regions to your phone and then without needing a data connection you can find your way around, determine your location, etc. It shows roads, rivers, rail road tracks, points of interest, etc.. The maps are not quite as detailed as say Google Maps but are very good. So I was able to keep track of us the whole trip both on land and sea. And by setting markers all along the route I can look at the whole trip. I also added date time markers to each point on the map so I can see when were where and how long it took. I highly recommend the app to anyone interested in such things as both cell phone and Wi-Fi connections are sporadic making the normal phone mapping tools ineffective.
The drive was pretty much uneventful through a wide range of landscapes. We did not see any wildlife on the ride. We enjoyed about an hour and a half in down town Anchorage and had a nice Chinese lunch in the mall.
The drive from Anchorage to Whittier could be described as spectacular as we skirted a mountain range on the immediate left of the bus, sometimes within feet of the road and water on the right with another mountain range just a few miles further right. The views were remarkable. The highlight was passing through a long, single lane tunnel that shared trucks, campers, cars and trains. Each hour the traffic switches directions so if you miss your hour, you just sit and wait! Fortunately busses with passengers get priority, after trains, so we didn't have to wait long. It is am impressively long tunnel! The driver said they have been trying for years to build a bridge as an alternate but so far have not been able to find anything solid for the pilings to stand on.
Whittier is just east of the tunnel and is a very small community obviously primarily for ships coming in and out. It was quite surprising to see the huge Grand Princess just sitting at the dock out in the country! It made quite a contrast to its surroundings.
According to the ships log, "...at 8:16pm we let go our moorings lines, thrusted off the berth, and put our engines ahead to move clear of the dock. Grand Princess set various courses through the 'Passage Canal'. We rang 'full away on passage' at 9:20pm officially ending our departure, and starting our voyage. Later during the night, Grand Princess rounded Cape Hinchinbrook exiting Prince William Sound." Of course most of us were asleep by then! The deck 11 cabin we had was very comfortable with a "private" balcony on the starboard side, in this case facing out toward the open ocean though with all the islands around we seldom actually saw open ocean on the entire voyage.
Under Construction...
Speaking of that, one toy I had which I really appreciated was the MapsWithMe app on my Android phone. This app allows you to download maps of states, National Parks and regions to your phone and then without needing a data connection you can find your way around, determine your location, etc. It shows roads, rivers, rail road tracks, points of interest, etc.. The maps are not quite as detailed as say Google Maps but are very good. So I was able to keep track of us the whole trip both on land and sea. And by setting markers all along the route I can look at the whole trip. I also added date time markers to each point on the map so I can see when were where and how long it took. I highly recommend the app to anyone interested in such things as both cell phone and Wi-Fi connections are sporadic making the normal phone mapping tools ineffective.
The drive was pretty much uneventful through a wide range of landscapes. We did not see any wildlife on the ride. We enjoyed about an hour and a half in down town Anchorage and had a nice Chinese lunch in the mall.
The drive from Anchorage to Whittier could be described as spectacular as we skirted a mountain range on the immediate left of the bus, sometimes within feet of the road and water on the right with another mountain range just a few miles further right. The views were remarkable. The highlight was passing through a long, single lane tunnel that shared trucks, campers, cars and trains. Each hour the traffic switches directions so if you miss your hour, you just sit and wait! Fortunately busses with passengers get priority, after trains, so we didn't have to wait long. It is am impressively long tunnel! The driver said they have been trying for years to build a bridge as an alternate but so far have not been able to find anything solid for the pilings to stand on.
Whittier is just east of the tunnel and is a very small community obviously primarily for ships coming in and out. It was quite surprising to see the huge Grand Princess just sitting at the dock out in the country! It made quite a contrast to its surroundings.
According to the ships log, "...at 8:16pm we let go our moorings lines, thrusted off the berth, and put our engines ahead to move clear of the dock. Grand Princess set various courses through the 'Passage Canal'. We rang 'full away on passage' at 9:20pm officially ending our departure, and starting our voyage. Later during the night, Grand Princess rounded Cape Hinchinbrook exiting Prince William Sound." Of course most of us were asleep by then! The deck 11 cabin we had was very comfortable with a "private" balcony on the starboard side, in this case facing out toward the open ocean though with all the islands around we seldom actually saw open ocean on the entire voyage.
Under Construction...