Thursday morning was another rainy one in the interior. I grabbed a quick run early then most of our group headed back into town to the Denali Brewing Company to watch the USMNT vs. Germany game (it started at 8am local). It was a small crowd, mixed of locals and tourists, crowded around the TV behind the bar. They had self-serve coffee, water, and iced tea…then opened the bar and offered biscuits and gravy for the 2nd half. I don’t think anyone took them up on the drink or food offer, but we appreciated them offering us a place to sweat out the game.
Post-game, we packed up and departed the wet Talkeetna with a big day of driving ahead. A couple hours in, we stopped in the Wasilla area where we had an interesting experience finding the trailer of the guy who rescued my planner. Then we grabbed lunch at a sandwich shop before continuing southbound. Our end destination for the day was Seward.
As we made our way south in the early afternoon, the skies finally started clearing again for the first time in a couple days. The environment also changed to more densely packed mountains and lakes…very scenic.
We reached our final cabin stay of the trip and unloaded. This cabin was smaller, but laid out with an open floor plan and a huge cook’s kitchen (with Viking range). Once settled, Susan and I took a walk while the rest of the family got short workouts in. Then we headed into town to see what Seward was all about. The town in a fishing and shipping hub for Alaska and is also where many of the cruise ships dock. The town itself is small, with a couple commercial districts at each end of about a mile long set of parallel roads. We chose the Chattermark, which was not very crowded, but had good food and a small but locally focused beer selection. The service was also very friendly. After dinner, we relaxed at the cabin the rest of the night before our early boat tour the next day.
Friday morning we were up and going at 6:45 to get to the port by 7 to check-in for our Kenai Fjord National Park Cruise. The 6 hour boat trip took us about 100 miles total in a large horseshoe out of Resurrection Bay and into the neighboring bay that makes up a portion of the Kenai Fjords National Park. As soon as we embarked we passed some sea otters reclining in the bay…a good sign of things to come. Before we even made it out of Resurrection Bay we also had some bald eagle, dall’s porpoise, harbor seal and orca sightings.
Ships in the harbor
Sea Otter & Dall’s Porpoise
Group of Orcas (with baby in the middle!) & A couple Harbor Seals
Once we cruised the rough waters into the national park, we saw a humpback whale before witnessing a bald eagle on the hunt. It captured a fish too large to lift from the water, so instead swam backstroke with it to shore before jumping out and adjusting its hold to take the fish back to eat. It was amazing, as were the pictures Susan captured of it.
Our destination in the national park was Holgate Glacier where we slowly cruised to about 1/4 mile away and watched the glacier break off into the bay. On our way back, we hit some rough waters and many of the passengers were feeling sick. Lily threw up on me twice. Our captain knew it was rough going so cruised quickly past sea lions…luckily we found more later when we got back to Resurrection Bay and back on our feet. Our tour ended with sightings of many sea-birds including puffins. It was an amazing cruise aided by a spectacularly clear day in a normally rainy area.
Humpback Whale
A few birds by the glacier
Ice falling from the glacier
A puffin & A sea of seagulls
Sea Lion
With our cruise tickets, we also got free access to the Alaska Sea Life Center, an aquarium and rehab center for local wildlife. Here we got more up close access to the wildlife we saw on the cruise along with those that were hiding beneath us. The center also included many interactive exhibits to convey the human impact on the oceans…it was worth the visit, especially at no cost. Leaving the center, we rewarded ourselves with a gelato treat for a hard day’s work.
After an already eventful day, it was back to the cabin where I took a quick run before I got to play in the fancy kitchen. On the menu was surf and turf (sirloin, shrimp, and salmon) with roasted potato hash and ginger garlic carrots. Mom added some garlic bread to the mix and we feasted. As I was prepping, a number of birds including hawks and eagles gathered around the river behind our cabin. A couple of us ran out with cameras and captured the group hunt of a fish, which eventually went to the eagle with the rest of the birds conceding.
Saturday morning was taken leisurely before starting our journey back north toward Anchorage. We attempted to stop for a couple hikes along the way, but chose our routes poorly (one was flooded) so only managed short walks. We did get to check out some of the ski town of Girdwood where we stopped for lunch.
Once back in Anchorage we did some last minute shopping at the Saturday Market we visited when we first arrived. Then we checked into our last night’s accommodation which was pretty shady, but near the airport for our super early 5:50 flight Sunday morning. I took a run around the seaplane airport that is adjacent to the major airport and got to see a few float planes take off and land. That evening since the weather was nice we had our final dinner on the rooftop at the Snow Goose. Susan and I went all out and split the Alaskan king crab legs.
Sunday morning came way too early and the whole day was spent travelling (and losing time to time zones). It went smoothly though, with Lily sleeping for 5 hours on the two flights combined. Another solid vacation in the books.
Now, looking forward to the 4th of July weekend at the lake.
