Whittier ended up being a very short stay. We had toyed with the idea of taking the ferry from there to Valdez, and this small industrial town with underground tunnels connecting the different buildings (active remnants from WWII) did not sport a campground so we had booked a condo in a historic building overlooking town and harbor. Historic in this case meant a soviet-era inspired concrete 14 story bunker, town meant the fish processing center, but the harbor was nice! If we would have been able to see it, of course. And we could only get tickets to the ferry two days later. So, we turned around and headed for different adventures! Anchorage was only a few hours away, so we ended up wallowing in luxury (i.e flush toilets and wifi) before pointing Homer the Roamer north. Denali was shrouded in clouds and tourists so we kept pointing north after deciding to come back at the end of August.

Our next big animal adventure was completely unexpected (aren’t those the best?!). She materialized herself in the form of a giant moose with her calf in our camp ground. It was 11.30pm, we were just leaving the hot springs and there she was, no more than 40 feet away, contently sticking her head under water munching on delicious grass. The baby, who was all legs, rested next to the pond waiting for mom to be done. Zack and I ran on adrenaline shot legs as fast as we could back to the camper, grabbed our cameras and ran back to shoot a million pictures in the semi darkness.We got to spend a good 15 minutes in their company, before they decided they had provided us with enough entertainment for one evening and so they trotted off to keep doing whatever it is that moose do. What a thrill it is to be so close to wild animals!

We are pointing Homer north once again. Our goal is to drive to the arctic circle in the next few days. if we make it over we will have crossed the arctic circle twice this year - on opposite sides of the North Pole!