Anchorage and Seward

We retraced our route from Katmai and returned to Anchorage via King Salmon. We spent part of the next day touring the city and shopping. I was again impressed by the Alaskan love for flowers. There were window boxes and planters almost everywhere we looked. Even the weeds sprouting in the streets were beautiful!

Then there were other attractions that caught my eye!

Somehow, I resisted the temptation. Instead, I spent a good deal of time (other) people watching.

In the afternoon, we began our drive to Seward. On the way, we stopped to watch Dall sheep at the precise area where the guide book said they would be.

As might be expected, the scenery along the way did not disappoint us. We went past Turnagain Arm, so named by Captain Cook because of the dramatic changes in the tide. His ships were forced to turn again and again as the water levels rose and fell.

That night, after arriving in Seward, we had an enjoyable meal at Ray's - a very appropriately decorated seafood restaurant. For some reason, the waiter got an exceptionally good tip. We walked along the waterfront and saw boats of many kinds as we watched a heavy fog roll in. This fog would last all night and into the next day when we had planned on taking a full day boat tour of Resurrection Bay. The fog was so heavy that when we arrived at the pier, we were told that the tour had been cancelled for the day and we were greatly disappointed. But sometimes such a disappointment leads to better things. We consulted our guidebooks and decided to go to Exit Glacier, a part of Kenai Fjords National Park.

What a fortunate occurrence! The fog turned the entire area into a mystical wonderland. Although it was only mid-August, some of the leaves had started to turn. Although it is not evident in these pictures, the fog muted these colors and added a subtle beauty to the scene. It gave me a feeling of enchantment. And then there were the glaciers - I had seen them from jet planes, small planes, boats, and in the distance from the ground. But this was unreal. I had heard about the blue color of glacial ice before, but I was unprepared for its intensity. And the cracks and fissures and shapes were also more than impressive. After this extraordinary experience, I was happy that we had missed the full day tour of Resurrection Bay.

Later that day we went back to Seward and visited some of the local sites, looked at the ships in the harbor, visited a beach, and watched . While sitting in a small, local restaurant we listened in on a conversation of some of the local fishermen who were discussing problems caused by the Exxon Valdez mishap.

The next morning, we took the half day tour of Resurrection Bay and saw wonderful scenery, Sea Otters, seabird colonies, and countless Bald Eagles. Had we been able to take the all day trip, we would have gone further and I am sure we would have seen even more. But, we had seen much of this on the Seacomber and the previous day's fog had presented us with an unforeseen gift.

We returned to Anchorage for the flight home pausing along to view the Dall sheep and admire the scenery. And so a wonderful vacation, filled with new and exciting experiences, came to an end.

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