The town of Girdwood and the Alyeska Ski Resort lie about 40 miles south of Anchorage.  In good weather, this drive, and its continuation south to Seward, is like nothing in the lower 48.  Mountains, rising  4,000 feet above the ocean, hug the shoreline seemingly giving just enough room for the road to be built.  Across the Turnagain Arm, an inlet from the Pacific Ocean, it looks as if the mountains rise straight up from the ocean floor.  Absolutely breath-taking.