Saturday July 2

 

On Friday we picked up our motor home rental and headed for south for Seward.  This has to be one of the most picturesque drives anywhere.  There were lots of scenic turnouts for photo ops, beautiful mountains on one side and the Turnagain Arm waters on the other side.  We looked for Dall sheep, eagles, and moose.

Upon our arrival in Seward we found it quite populated for the 4^th of July weekend with many campers, tents, and motor homes.  The 4^th of July is the annual race up Mt. Marathon.  This is a very steep mountain right in Seward and is the 2^nd oldest foot race in the world after the Boston Marathon.  The trek up looks pretty rugged but nothing compared to the very steep way down.  Too bad we will be gone by race day.  It is said that racers are usually quite banged up, scratched, and covered with mud from sliding much of the way down.  The town is pretty crazy right now.  I don’t think these racers are the fitness people but more of the wild and crazy genre.

We dined at Ray’s Waterfront and had spectacular fresh Alaskan seafood once again.  Later we sat on the waterfront and watched a sea otter dive for food, then come to the surface and eat.  He kept us entertained for a long time.  

Finally we all agreed it was bedtime even though it was still as light as it was at noon time.  This “midnight sun” thing is a very difficult concept to live with.  It is hard to go to bed when the sun is shining – we just aren’t programmed to do that.

Saturday we arrived at the Kenai Fjords dock for our cruise – 8 ½ hours on the boat seeing all kinds of wild life:  we saw sea lions, otters, seals, puffins, eagles, dolphins, LOTS of whales, and spent time at Aialik Glacier watching it calve (parts of the glacier face break off and fall into the water).  The whales are very entertaining – they seem to know they are being watched and put on a great show.

The cruise culminated with a stop at Fox Island for a dinner of fresh salmon, King crab legs, and prime rib.  We all agreed this was a phenomenal trip.  Everyone was tired after a long day on the water.  It will be impossible to show anyone all the pictures we took.

Finding internet to post the blog is not quite as easy up here.  Wireless internet is not as convenient as going to the coffee shop, even cell phone reception is very spotty.