61 Day Alaska Caravan: Day 40-43

August 20-23, 2016

Day 40

Today our travel day took us to Seward AK, a 163 mile ride much of which was backtracking of our drive to Homer.

Our campground for 3 nights is a few miles north of Seward, Stoney Creek RV Park. All things considered better than some sites we've had, at least it's not a 90* site, it's a nice angled pull thru with a decent size yard.

After getting set up while the weather held we headed into Seward to check out the waterfront.

After our travel meeting we talked our friends Mike & Liz into checking out one place in town before calling it a day.

Day 41

Today started early, at 7:40 we were on our way to the Alaska Sealife Center. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill it was realized there was no place to help rehabilitate the affected sea life. With money from Exxon the Alaska Sealife Center was created.

In the afternoon we headed over to Seavey's Ididaride Dog Sled Tours. The Seavey name is well known in the Ididarod circles, a few generations of Seavey's have won the race. In Seward they give rides with their younger dogs pulling "sleds",  you then have a chance to see and hold some of the puppies and they end the tour with a talk about the Ididarod race and what is involved. The first Ididarod race took place in 1973 and took just over 20 days. The 2016 winner, Dallas Seavey, finished in 8 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes, and 16 seconds. You can read more about the history of the race here.

That evening we went out to a local restaurant "Chinooks" that had been recommended to us. Had the best halibut fish and chips of the trip so far, if you ever find yourself in Seward we highly recommend Chinooks.

We were entertained by this sea otter during dinner.







Day 42

A late morning bus ride to the Kenai Fjords NP Visitors Center and then the boarding of the cruise ship. With the yucky rainy weather it was a tough day for seeing much of anything. Dave would later describe this cruise as the cruise from hell as his motion sickness got the best of him. When I heard the captain announce she was going to take the ship out into the Gulf of Alaska for a peak I knew Dave was wanting to kill someone. Needless to say our 5 hour cruise seemed like an eternity to him as he spent much of it outside in the cold windy rain just trying to keep from tossing his cookies. He did manage to get a few decent pictures though he has no recollection of taking them.

Day 43

This morning started with an adventure at Stoney Creek Canopy Adventures where we went zip lining, rappelling and crossed 3 suspension bridges. Our tour guides Matt and Rob made this a fun experience for all of us.

To top the day off we learned through our driver to Stoney Creek Canopy Adventures of a place, JR Fisheries, to get fresh frozen fish at a decent price. Our freezer is now stocked with halibut, salmon, a little rockfish and a little bit of shrimp. Mona Liza there will be salmon for dinner at Lake Louise just no salmon heads though.

We didn't make it to Exit Glacier as the weather never cooperated when we had the time, oh well some things must be left till our next trip to Alaska.

Until next time...