Friday August 11 - Whittier

We boarded the dome train this morning for our 9 1/2 hour ride to Whittier to board the cruise ship.  The train is lovely - two floors with dining on the first floor and comfy seats and a glass domed top on the second floor.  Rich, our guide gave a running commentary on local politics, Alaska oddities, etc.  We saw a moose, a quick glimpse of Denali without most of its cloud cover, swans, dall sheep, an eagle, Nellie says she saw sea otters (but it was really a rock) No it wasn't (Nell).  Everyone else saw black bears, but we missed them.  Too busy eating lunch.  It felt good to get off the train.  We had a quick dinner buffet, the mustered for our drill on wearing lifejackets, in case ship catches on fire or hits an iceberg.  Then we did a self-guided tour of this huge floating hotel.  Now we know where to find everything.