We changed plans today. Instead of riding 30 miles to stay in Girdwood just south of Anchorage, we decided to ride 200 miles down to Homer on the tip of the Kenai Peninsula. We took a detour along the way to go through one of the coolest tunnels I've ever seen.
The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America, and the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds! It provides the main access to Whittier. The one-lane tunnel must be shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions, and it usually needs to be aired out in between trips (with jet turbine ventilation, another first!). This unique design that enables a single lane of traffic to travel directly over the railroad track saved tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a new tunnel. (That was copied from their website.) Check out the videos below taken by Susie.
While riding through Whittier we saw a group of MotoQuest motorcycles go by and got a big wave from who we later found out to be Phil the owner. Then, when we checked into our hotel in Homer guess who was staying in the room next to us? The 4 guys from the UK. I kid you not.
When we registered at the Ocean Shores Resort we struck up a conversation with Mike who later informed us he owns the hotel and he upgraded our room to have full water view for free. He also owns the building where we had dinner which was very good.
This video is taken by Susie from the back of the bike in the middle of The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel
This video also taken by Sooz is of us emerging from the tunnel
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