July 27 -- August 1, 2010

We arrived in Seward in the early afternoon.  Found a great spot in the City campground right along Resurrection Bay with our back window facing out over the water, looking at the glacier covered mountains on the other side.  We don't have hookups but who cares with this view!  Pat and Bernie managed to snag a hookup spot with water and electric ($30).  Ours is $15!  Tomorrow we are going to go on a cruise to see Kenai Fjords National Park, leaving at 10:00 a.m., and returning at 5:30 p.m.  The weather has a 40% chance of rain tomorrow but we'll see!

7-28-2010:  A beautiful 7-1/2 hour cruise to see glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park.  No rain, calm seas.  A buffet lunch was available, too.  Salmon and prime rib.  Saw humpback whales, puffins and many other bird species, sea lions, and one pod of orcas!  Returned at 5:30 p.m.  Nobody got sea sick but I noticed a whole lot of heads nodding off on the way back.  This puffin picture is not mine -- couldn't get close enough!  But I love these little birds!

Holgate Glacier -- the color of the glacial ice is extraordinary!  As the boat maneuvered closer, the temperature was markedly cooler.  All of the glaciers come off of the Harding Ice Field, a remnant of the last ice age.

A small fishing/tour boat next to us while viewing the Holgate glacier.  I loved the pieces of floating ice.  The crew on our boat snagged a small piece and chipped ice off of it for "glacial ice margueritas."  Of course, I had one -- the ice is so dense you don't dare try to bite into it otherwise you will be looking for replacement crowns, or may need a crown after you broke off a tooth!

We returned to the rig and opened up a bottle of champagne to celebrate our 41st anniversary.  What a gorgeous place to celebrate!

This is our campsite at the city campground in Seward -- a beautiful site.  We watched the sea otters play all day behind the rig.  There was a paved pathway all along the front along the water, so walking was definitely happening for me -- even in the rain.  

We also visited the Alaska Sea Life Center which is much like the Monterey Aquarium but with the local sea life on exhibit.  All of the fish up here are much larger.  We especially noticed the rock fish as being very large compared to ours off of the California coast.  

 

7-30-10 through 8-1-10:

Our next stop will be the Elks in Homer, again, for the weekend.  It's fishing season here and all of the locals around the Anchorage area migrate to Homer, Seward, and Valdez to chase whatever is running and right now it's salmon.  So we are staying put until Monday, 8/2/10 and then we have reservations at a park in Valdez, Alaska.   

We usually have internet access so keep in touch.  Love to hear from you all!