Seward AK and the Exit Glacier

July 10, Thursday- Happy 64^th to Lin!!

  Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Lindle!!  We were going to make a red velvet cake to celebrate as that is his favorite, but instead he wants biscuits for dinner tonight.  So, I’ll mix up a batch of homemade biscuits tonight. As many of you have heard, that is what Lin says when people ask how we met.  He always tell everyone that I made biscuits like his mother’s and when we went to meet his grandpa, I had made a batch there also.  As they were both eating and with mouths full, Lin asked his grandpa, “is she worthy?” and he said with his mouth full of biscuit, “oh, yeah!”. 

   This am is rainy here in the Kenai Peninsula.  Sitting at the RV table watching the cars head to the waters at Seward with lots of boats in tow.  Looks like the clouds are set in for a while.  Hoping to get to see some of the whales there!! Maybe they aren’t worried about the rain…

Loving the mountains behind the Cruise ships docked here in Seward. 

We will head toward Seward, AK…have a reservation at the Military Seward Resort at 1pm.  Hoping we can park early if they have any openings. 

  Got to Seward, but they were full, so sat in their office area so Lin can watch Cable (he’s in withdrawal!!) and I can work on the computer on the blog and emails.  The rain is coming down pretty hard, so today may only be a drive around town to see what’s here.

  The town is a very cute little town, we did a quick run thru to see where everything is, more exploring tomorrow if the rain stops.  We did a drive out to the Exit Glacier, but only to see it, not walk out to it, the hike in the rain is not an option!!

Portage Glacier

July 5, Saturday

  A drive around the State Park, the view from up on the mountains down to the town is amazing.  Finally saw a moose on the side of the road, but he was too shy for many pics.  It was a bull though, at least a young one according to the antlers.

July 6, Sunday

   A lazy day today, rainy, so I am staying tucked into my little RV and sewing all day.  This quilt top is scraps from a quilt I finished in Branson Quilt retreat.  All the scraps from the first quilt, actually are put together in a pattern to make another lap sized quilt top.  I will need to put a few extra border pieces around it to make it longer, but I am pleased with it. 

July 7, Monday-Portage Glacier

  Up early to head south around the Turnagain arm, where Capt Cook in 1778 was looking for the famed Northwest passage, found this huge inlet instead, no outlet, so had to “Turn-again” back out to the sea.  Lots of signs saying not to walk on the mud flats at low tide, QUICKSAND!!  So what do we see walking out there? Lots of tourists!!  Maybe that is Alaska’s way to “weed” out the weak? 

   Supposed to be some of the highest bore tides, and we are hoping to see some beluga whales or sea lions. The bore tides here reach more than 33 feet.  The “bore” is an abrupt rise of tidal water just after low tide, moving rapidly landward, formed by a flood tide surging into a constricted inlet such as the Turnagain Arm.  This foaming wall of water may reach a height of 6 feet and is very dangerous to small craft.  Our Portage Glacier tour starts in a few hours, so we have lots of time to drive slowly looking for wildlife on the way.  Alas, they are hidden again!  Everyone keeps telling me there are Moose everywhere in Alaska, but I am starting to not believe them.

  The Glacier tour is amazing, to be that close to a Glacier, listening for the cracking of the ice, watching bits of ice fall into the lake, the blue is so pretty and clear.  Was able to see small pieces that had fallen off into the lake.  

The Glacier has been receding for over 200 years. It used to be the whole Arm was solid ice.  I guess all that “Global warming” was started by the Europeans when they came across!

Decided to stop at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center since we haven’t seen any wildlife in the wild.  These are animals that have been found in the wild, hurt, etc. and then are put back into the wild after healing.  Did see Bald Eagle, Bison, MuskOx, Caribou, Reindeer, Black and Brown Bear, Fox, Porcupine and finally my Moose! Had to get his picture behind bars, but now I know they are real. 

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July 8, Tuesday-is it a Moose?

  More broken stuff…the toilet this time, and we hope it’s actually preventive…the valve is leaking and afraid to go off with the thought we came home to a flooded floor in the bathroom and worse!!  Our am spent with hands down the toilet!   Had enough time to go to at least 2 quilt stores in Eagle River and Palmer, a few miles north of Anchorage.  Then headed back to the RV on the old Glenn Highway hoping to catch a glimpse of a moose…we were rewarded at the first turnout of a moose eating trees in someone’s yard.  So much for looking so diligently around marshy areas, the moose have given up on that and now are in the yards!!

July 9, Wednesday-Driving to Seward

    Heading out of Anchorage today.  Going South, young man…oh wait, that’s another story.  We want to go toward Seward on the Kenai Peninsula.  Looking forward to whale sights, sea lions and more moose!! Oh, and of course the bears in the Kenai area.  They keep saying the bears are feasting on the salmon in the rivers there. We will see….

  Stopped at Beluga Point, great view of Turnagain Arm, whale and beluga sighting area.  Our friends, Val and Chuck had also stopped, so we had time for another photo-op. 

But no sightings of any whales today, the water is very calm.  Skies are overcast and predicting rain for the next couple of days, so I am guessing the wildlife is hunkered down as they don’t want pics with their hair all a muss. 

  Tried a few of the turnoffs on the way to Seward, finally decided on one only a few miles north of Seward with a view of trees and mountains, a short walk to a lake. 

More Touristy things in Anchorage, AK

July 1, Tuesday

   Really an errand day today, but we did find a Fred Mere’s grocery store.  I am loving them…a cross between a very high end Walmart, Whole foods, JCPenny’s and a home depot.  They even have furniture!!  You don’t get any better than that. Wish they had them in Texas. 

   A few more quilt stores, think I’ve seen them all now here.  Driving around the coastline where we thought we would see some moose, but no luck.  Had dinner at a downtown Thai restaurant and met a guy from Texas!  Working on the Alaskan Pipeline here all the way North in the Arctic Ocean.  Wow!!  He paid for our dinner before we could know it…way to pay it forward.  Now’s our chance to pay it forward to someone else this week. 

  

Heading back to the RV, I’m reading a few interesting tidbits to Lin about the area and we come up on a MOOSE!!  Yeah, right on the side of the road on the base.   

She was intent on watching a bicyclist; she wasn’t moving at all and staring him down.  She must have had a calf close but we didn’t get a glimpse of it.

July 2, Wednesday

    Lots of driving around the town today to see more Moose, but they are very hidden from us…waaahhhh…did have some time to see the Ulu factory, a few museums and the famous Chocolate Adventure.  Great place to taste a few pieces of chocolate and pick our favorite. 

July 3, Thursday

   Our friends, Valerie and Chuck have gotten into town and we decided to just do the sightseeing tour again around downtown.  See the parks, Ulu factory again and lots of tourist shops.  Lunch at F-street station, Lin’s favorite for seafood.  I love the salad there! The Salmon is amazing. We walked into the Hilton for coffee and they Honor Flag just happened to be there and were setting up.  Got to see it being brought in, and placed on the table.  It will be in the July 4^th celebration tomorrow.  The story behind  the flag is that it memorializes those Heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for their family, community and country.  It also serves to foster education of the American public regarding all Heroes, past and present and their organizations, including police fire and our nations’ military. 

  Shortly after Sept 11, 2001, a flag was gifted to Chris Heisler by the Texas House of Representatives.  He felt compelled to take action during a horrific time for the US and he set out for Ground Zero with the flag.  Along the way, he organized one of the longest police motorcades in the history of the US, bound for Ground Zero bringing many tokens of support together with the other agencies. Since then the US Honor Flag has paid tribute to those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

  Chris Heisler was bringing the flag back to Anchorage, AK to celebrate Our Nations Birthday!!

Interesting fact: the flag is only handled with white gloves, never touched with the human hand.  Very touching…

July 4, Friday-Happy 13^th Birthday to Hannaruth and our Country!!

  Hannaruth is celebrating her teen 13^th birthday in our Nations Capitol and   

The town of Anchorage is celebrating with the reading of the Declaration of Independence, and a festival.  Got our fill of Corn Chowder, Reindeer Sausage and Kettle Corn, then headed to the Alaska Museum.  Very hands on and informative.  I didn’t know much about the Earthquake of 1964, 9.2 on the Richter scale.  

So many of the towns were devastated and didn’t recover from it.  One area of town such 6 feet and is still that low.  The downtown area had massive damage, but Anchorage was able to recover.