Farewell to Seward

The Guest Blogger writes again.

OK, I lied. We had one more day in Seward! We sailed (or zoomed along) on a Kenai Fjords Tour. We were fortunate to see bald eagles, cormorants, Horned and Tufted Puffins, sea lions, sea otters, Dall's porpoises flying along our bow waves, harbor seals and Humpback whales (three of'em!), and lots of glaciers flowing downward.

 

Guess it was very odd to see any Humpbacks this late in the season...by now they're usually on the way to Hawaii or thereabouts.

 

Hard to see these puffins, Here's a better shot of one:

 

 

Puffins spend their entire lives at sea and propel themselves through the water with their wings...their feet are only used as rudders. They only come to land when it's mating/nesting time. Puffins raise one chick that both parents feed.

 

 

The glaciers absorb all colors of the spectrum and convert them into energy...excepting blue.

 

 

 

Even though it was 65 degrees in Seward that day, we wore all sorts of winter gear...good thing, because we were continually blasted by a glacial wind as we roared along!

 

 

 

The captain was able to get up close and personal with some waterfalls and wildlife, since the rocks of the mountains plunged hundreds of feet deep at the water's edge.

 

 

ZzzzZZz...For some of us, the Dramamine and the cozy interior proved overwhelming.

Anyway, a good time was had by all. As in other parts of Alaska, we noticed visitors from many countries and all sorts of languages being spoken. Tres bien!

 

So we got up Sunday morning and drove north to Anchorage again...where we discovered the Anchorage Sunday Market...with 300 vendors promised! I thought, "Swap meets in Minnesota have nothing on this!" Except...maybe only 100 vendors were there today. I did see some nifty Alaska designed tees and purchased one. Score!

Sally, your sun dance worked: THREE days of sun for us! Tomorrow Mike takes me to the airport. All in all, a terrific state to visit...some parts looked eerily like northern Minnesota...and some parts looked like Norwegian fjords with snow-capped mountains. Loved it!

 

 

Seward: Last day on the Kenai Peninsula

Marne, the Guest Blogger is back! We arrived in Seward Thursday afternoon, Aug. 22 in the rain. It slowed while Mike got the RV set up and we went into town and walked the wet streets. Seward is the "Mural Capital of Alaska," and we discovered big murals around every corner. (Is every city "The Capital" of something?) Nicely done murals, too, by the Mural Society. Here are two:

 

 

 

The above building is the public library. Mike pointed out how the façade changes colors as we walked past the building...sort of like iridescent fish scales or bird feathers:

 

 

An orphan from Seward, Benny Benson, was in 7th grade in 1927 when his design was chosen for the Alaskan flag. On his design submission, Benny had written the explanation: “The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear — symbolizing strength.” Way to go, Benny! Wonder who designed the Minnesota state flag?

 

 

 

Mike liked the whales atop this shop awning:

Mike liked the whales atop this shop, above. And I like the pod of whales swimming high in the air in the Alaska SeaLife Center, below. See them swimming down above the stairs?

 

 

 

 Who could patronize a Starbucks when this cute cup offers coffee?

 

 

We've noticed these signs everywhere on coastal Alaska. When a tsunami is imminent, Alaskans will be at the ready!

 

Friday morning we awoke to silence. No rain on the RV roof! We got up and hiked to Exit Glacier, (thanks for the idea, Randy). We were blinded by the sun and wore way too many layers, but had a great time. This is what we pictured doing when we considered visiting Alaska! 

 

We asked a fellow hiker to take this photo...proof we were both actually in Alaska at the same time.

We continued the climb about an hour past this "Edge of the Glacier" viewing spot, (about 900 feet total?) but didn't even get 1/4 of the way to the top. If we had started earlier, we could've made the 8-hour, round-trip hike to the top and back. Right. We both said, "Oh, darn."

 

 

There were signs on the road to Exit Glacier indicating where the glacier had extended to in the past century.

 

 

Seward was the starting point, Mile 0, of the original Iditarod route which was a supply line of goods to central and northern Alaska. It now known as a long-distance sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome.

 

 

 

I snapped a few of these waterfront pics while Mike unsuccessfully tried some geocaching. We watched all sorts of fishing boats returning to port. Tomorrow, a day cruise---hopefully we'll see wildlife, sea life, glaciers in the SUN.

Homer: Halibut Capital of the World

Tuesday morning Mike and I left Anchorage and started a day-long drive south on the Seward Highway towards our next stop on the Kenai Peninsula. Gorgeous views of mountains, glaciers and eerie green rivers of glacial water greeted us at every breathtaking turn, in spite of the rain. After we turned onto the Sterling Highway (all Alaska highways are named), we went through towns with histories of Russian settlers mixing with the native Dena'ina Athabaskan---towns like Soldotna, Kasilof and Ninilchik. I should investigate their histories sometime, but maybe not tonight.

 

It stopped raining briefly (above) and we stopped at Deep Creek Beach near Ninilchik to enjoy windy views of  Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt, and skip rocks. A campground and day-use area are at the beach where Deep Creek enters the ocean. Mike was excited to note the location so he could camp here someday if he returns to Alaska. Tractor-assisted boat launching was interesting to watch as the charter fishing boats were pushed into deep water and headed out into Cook Inlet.

 

So we arrived in Homer and Mike got the RV set up in a brief interlude between rain storms.

 

Above: The view from our RV site on right on the water. At low tide we were astounded to watch a bald eagle THIS close to us steal a gull's catch.

 

Homer, we discovered, is a famous destination for sport fishermen. It boasts the title, "Halibut Capital of the World." Every other business is a fishing charter outfit on Kachemak (catch-a-mack) Bay. The charter operations are all by the marina out on Homer Spit, a thin spit of land extending from downtown out into the bay.

 

 

 

We had planned to take the water taxi across the bay to Kachemak State Park and do some hiking around glaciers, but the dang rain never let up. It is still pouring as I type this! So, we explored colorful Homer in the rain (fifth consecutive rainy day for Mike), visited museums, ate fish tacos and taco salad at the Cosmic Kitchen (and skipped McDonald's), bought gifts and postcards, drove the entire Skyline Drive high above town, shopped the Spit and watched episodes of Northern Exposure in the RV. But we did not fish.

 

 

My new, very warm, very felted, wool hat. I can laugh at the rain! HAH!

 

Fortunately, the shops had boardwalks above the puddles. Liz, thanks for the loan of your hiking boots!

 

We ended our Homer visit by enjoying delicious local halibut and salmon at Captain Pattie's. We leave Thursday morning for Seward, Alaska.

Marne and Mike in Anchorage

From Marne, the Guest Blogger: Mike picked me up at the Anchorage airport in a light rain at noon. After a brief visit to the RV and studying an Anchorage map, we strolled the downtown area and started snapping photos. Downtown Anchorage is a compact, walkable city with a very brief settlement history (not counting thousands of years of Native American people, of course).

We first visited the Oscar Anderson house, right downtown facing Cook Inlet. Oscar was the 18th (non-native) person to come to the then tent-city location. Short story: he worked hard and prospered and built this very Midwestern-looking house, (the first wood-frame house in the settlement) for his family in 1915. It's said that his ghost still walks the upper story, Liz! Oooooooo.

 

Anchorage didn't seem to have the older, traditional architecture that we expected. No brick or granite buildings like the downtowns we are used to, but rather lots of 50s-style buildings and contemporary homes and offices.

 

 

 

Lots of orange in the buildings, Allie---I thought of you. This looked like an early parking ramp newly painted in a sophisticated gray/orange combination. Mike and I escaped the rain in a pub right across the street and enjoyed an Alaska beer. Here's a sporting goods store:

 

Below: The very large, modern performing arts center. No skateboarding allowed. We saw some skateboarders elsewhere and wondered if they all stopped and walked when they reached here.

 

Below: Interesting bright orange, curving sculptural element on top this building...a completely different horizontal decoration of concrete or stone on the next side.

 

 

Flowers are everywhere downtown, including these in silvery trashcans marching down the pavement. And in front of the Visitor's Center. Note the grass growing on the roof.

 

 

I found some of the bright pink Fireweed seeds (in foreground) to bring home. Kay tells me that Alaska seeds do well in Minnesota. Most places where I inquire about seeds tell me that everyone had them earlier in the season, but they're hard to find now. Rats.

 

 

 

Well, here's more of a traditional municipal building: City Hall. Unfortunately, we came exploring on a Monday afternoon, and all historical sites and museums are only open Tuesday through Sunday. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 20th, we leave for a day's drive to the Kenai Peninsula.