Some time in Seward Alaska
The original plan was to stay a whole week in Seward, but after talking with others that have spent time there and work over the Internet, we decided to stay undecided. See, when a cruise ship comes into port – and they do daily in Seward – the thousands of tourists flood the cell towers and kill any data which some of us need to work. While Kerri and I felt we could suffer through a few days, the entire wee was just too much to ask. But, as it turned out, the data signal was not much an issue anyway, so that concern was moot.
We still only chose to stay a few nights. Just enough time to explore the town and attractions, visit a local restaurant or two, and hike into Kenai National Park. This involved some early mornings to try and stuff activities in before the work days began.
The Alaska Sealife Center was right down the road from the City Campground and was checked off our list right away. Luckily they stay open fairly late during peak season so it could be accomplished after work and dinner.
The surprise stars of the place were the hugely adorable Puffins. These little wonder-birds have adapted their wings to suit flying under water, which they do better than you could possibly imagine. Their submerged flight was not the coolest thing about them though, as their curiosity of us humans topped it. It would be easy to believe that it was us on display for their entertainment, not the other way around. Nevertheless, they would approach within inches and just stare, with the tiny little brain clicking away trying to figure out what that big black thing is in my hand. Go figure… I really like Puffins.
Finally, Kenai Fjords National Park (my 68th National Park) was our next stop to hike up to Exit Glacier. This is pretty much the only thing you can do in this park without taking a water-taxi in. Not a long hike by any means – about 1 mile – but in the end we were a bit disappointed. Every sign leading up to the glacier said, “you can touch, but do not climb on the glacier”, yet upon arrival to the glacier we were cordoned off by ropes and signage. While amazing to see my first up-close glacier, I was also really looking forward to a frozen finger or two after.
A quick resupply of some necessities (milk and beer) while we had a Safeway and we were off the next morning to spend a few days in Hope again before having to spend a week in Anchorage to finalize things for the trip back through Canada and into the lower 48 in a few weeks.
