Days 49 - 50 - July 19 - 20, Seward, Alaska

First full day in Seward, we went to the Alaska Sea Life Center, and had an exclusive Puffin Experience, where a facility employee gave a powerpoint presentation (and live birds) on the Puffins.  It was extremely interesting, and I left the experience well-informed on the life, breeding, and feeding of the Puffin family.

 After the Sea Life Center and Puffin experience, my cousin-in-law, Chris Swain, met us at the campground.  He lives in Kenai, and came from Anchorage on his way home, more than an hour out of his way.   Great visit with Chris!  We smoked a tri-tip, but unfortunately, the meat thermometer malfunctioned, and told us that it was done before its time.  So, we had very rare tri-tip - unusual for me!

 On a more positive note, Chris came back the next day with some smoked salmon, since the stuff we served the previous day, purchased in Homer, was not good at all.  We stowed the salmon in the refrigerator, and took Chris to dinner in Seward at a local brew-pub.

 The next day, Dianne and I took a boat tour with Kenai Fjiords Boat Tours, and had a great time seeing Orcas, Puffins, Sea Otters, and of course the Aialik Glacier.  More tidewater glaciers to come, yet this was the first, and we had a wonderful time listening to the moans and groans, and cracks and pops of the glacier.  We did not see any spectacular calving at this glacier, but more to come later!

Puffin Experience

Puffin

Me and Chris


Stellar Sea Lions

Pod of Orcas

Stellar Sea Lions

Aialik Glacier

Aialik Glacier

Aialik Glacier

Aialik Glacier

Aialik Glacier

Aialik Glacier

Route from Seward to Aialik Glacier



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 53 - July 23 - Palmer to Valdez - 262 miles

Image
We followed the Matanuska River from Palmer, along Highway 1, past Moose Creek and Chickaloon, to the Matanuska Glacier.  Impressive sight, but no photos.  The air had quite a bit of smoke, so it was not too picturesque.  In Glenallen, we made a right turn onto Highway 4, heading south toward Valdez.  Shortly, we pulled into the visitor center for Wrangell-Elias National Park.   Wow, would have never known that this national park is the size of Switzerland, with more mountains.   Again, smoke obscured the sky, but we were able to see the outline of one of the volcanos.   Like Denali, most of this national park is wild, as there are only two unimproved roads entering the park (60 mile dirt road).  After the visitor center, Highway 4 headed south through the Copper Valley, heading up to Thompson Pass. It was a little drizzly going over the pass, which is only 2600 feet, but drops down to sea level in five miles.  Not like the Sierra Nevada, whe...
Read more

Day 67 - August 7 - Telkwa, BC to Prince George, BC -

Image
Another non-eventful day of driving, our last day with the Fantasy RV Tours caravan.  So sad that we will be saying goodbye to everyone tonight. I went for a short bicycle ride after we were set up, then we prepared for our farewell dinner.  It was a nice event, and every rig was awarded a certificate for something special (or not so special!)   Dianne and I were awarded a certificate for the most surprising entertainment, meaning the bagpipes, which came out for the first time way back in Fort Nelson, and were requested many times throughout the trip. We agreed with several fellow travelers that this was not "goodbye," but rather "see you on the road."  We fully intend to keep in touch with this group, and to stop in and say hello when we are in their area of the country. After the dinner, I played in the park, wearing my utility kilt.  Everyone appreciated it, including one of our travel mates who came out of his rig in his underwear to take photos....
Read more

Day 63 - August 3 - Nugget City, Yukon to Dease Lake, BC - 170 miles, 9.9 mpg

Exiting the RV Park, we were supposed to turn left after 1/2 mile.  Well, the navigator missed that part, and we wound up going almost all the way to Watson Lake, 13 miles later. We realized the mistake much earlier, but there was no place to turn around.  On a more positive note (well, not really, not wanting to capitalize on others' misfortune...), nine rigs missed the turn.  Some realized earlier than others, and were able to turn around earlier. On a more positive note, it was a beautiful drive through forested valleys and mountains.  We came across a momma bear and two cubs.  The cubs were wrestling in the middle of the road.  I stopped well away, but an oncoming car was not slowing down.  I stood out on my running board, and waved my arms, trying to flag him down, even though my flashers were on.  He finally stopped, and the passenger was taking photos of the momma bear to the right of their vehicle.  She did not like that they were s...
Read more