World United States Alaska Anchorage

Wonders in Alaska 2012

Seward and Back in Anchorage Jul 15, 2012

We’re back in Anchorage after spending two and a half days in Seward. The weather was “challenging” to say the least. It was cold, windy, and drizzly the whole time. It seems the average summer temperature in Seward is in the low 50s and a sunny day is rare. I don’t mind the cold but throw in the constant drizzle and a little wind and I’m uncomfortable.

Seward is located on Resurrection Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Alaska. Resurrection Bay was named by Russians who arrived there on Easter Sunday in 1792. It is a beautiful setting, surrounded by mountains and the water is a gorgeous aquamarine color. The town is named for William H. Seward who negotiated the purchase of Alaska.

On Wednesday we took what was supposed to be a boat trip to Kenai Fjords National Park which turned out to be a trip to nowhere. It was freezing cold, raining, and windy and the bay and gulf were churning up pretty good. The Captain took us out into the gulf but had to turn back; the ship was rolling and bucking and lots of people were getting seasick. We did see some humpback whales, stellar seals, and puffin but because of the rolling of the boat it was almost impossible to get photos. I finally gave up after taking pictures of mostly sky. I’m including a few of the ones I got but they’re not very good.

We stayed outside on the deck as much as possible; we were afraid we’d get seasick if we stayed in the cabin although it was much more comfortable in there; also because of the rain you couldn’t take photos through the windows. At one time we were on the third deck with no cover and it was so rough we couldn’t walk across the deck to reach the stairs. Once we got back into Resurrection Bay the rolling stopped and the crew was able to serve the prime rib and salmon buffet.

A National Park Ranger goes out on each trip and ours made the trip fun despite the weather, he kept telling us how lucky we were because we were having a real Alaskan Adventure. They gave us a partial refund because we didn’t make it to the National Park so we may try another boat trip when we get to Valdez. I really want to see a glacier calving and get some photos of wildlife.

On Thursday we went to another part of Kenai Fjords National Park north of Seward and took the 1.2 mile hike up to Exit Glacier, one of the few accessible glaciers. It was awesome to stand just a few feet from the glacier and breathe in the fresh mountain air (which I really needed after that climb).

In the afternoon we went to the Alaska Sealife Center which is Alaska’s only aquarium, located right on Resurrection Bay and partly paid for by funds from Exxon Valdez after the oil spill. It houses most of the sea life found around Alaska. I could have watched the Puffin all day long; when they’re underwater they seem to be flying. Afterwards, we walked along the street in town and shopped. Of course, Judy hit the quilt shop.

We arrived in Anchorage Friday to much clearer skies and even some occasional sunshine. Saturday we went downtown for more shop browsing and had our first reindeer hotdog from a street cart; it was surprisingly very good. Then we took Judy to the airport for her long flight home. We missed her right away; she added a lot to our fun (and adventures).

It started raining shortly after we dropped Judy off and has been raining ever since so we’re staying in and just chilling today. We have to decide what we’re going to do next.