Trains, Glaciers and Ice Worms

Willem and Jason headed to Whittier via the Alaska Railway. Willem was in shock, very quiet and taking in all the details. At the train park he prefers the steam train as it's quieter so he was a little concerned about riding a diesel train.

Jason and Willem boarded the train half an hour before taking off so Ellie and I kept ourselves entertained as we waited to see them off. Ellie was in heaven playing peek a boo with Jason and Willem. I would toss her in the air toward the window and she'd giggle and giggle.

Checking out the views from the dome car.

Making friends

Having a snack in the dining car.

The blue ice is a glacier

Going through the tunnel to Whittier. There is one lane in the tunnel that is shared by cars and trains. It feels a bit like going into a cave or what we imagine going into a mine would feel like as you are in the tunnel for 5-10 minutes.

They made it to Whittier!

Train at the station in Whittier

Whittier picnic spot. Miracles do happen, both kids are looking!

From Whittier we could see several glaciers.

We then drove to Portage to go hunting for ice worms. At the visitors center they had a talk on Bald Eagles going on, so we joined in. We had seen quite a few in the sky and one at the zoo but were still surprised by how large they really are. Definitely needed its claws trimmed! Also learned that having a bald eagle feather in your possession could cost you $10,000 and several years in jail. Even more reason not to touch any bird feathers on the ground!

Beginning our journey to find the elusive ice worms. They've found these small worms in the snow fields here that can only survive when the temperatures are between 28-38 degrees. We were intrigued and it sounded like a lot of fun for the family. It was a short 1 mile hike to the ice field and we were

View from the bottom of the ice field.

Tuckered out after all that walking:) The kids nap meant Jason had a head start on digging for worms. But the worm evaded him.

When the kids woke up they were excited to hit the field. Ellie loved crawling on the snow/ice though it was a bit cold.

Willem made a valiant effort with his spoon and trowel but there were no worms to be found, which is good since Jason ate a good amount of glacial ice. Don't want to bring any parasites home.