We're back from our Seward-Homer sidetrip. Wow! Does it ever take a long time to get anywhere around here! Don't let the maps fool you. Things look close but they are miles from each other! It took us a good chunk of the day on Monday to get to Seward, though we did take a few side trips to Whittier and to Portage Glacier. Didn't see anything in the form of wildlife on the way to Seward but the scenery is breathtaking. I love the flat, silty rivers with high, snowcapped mountains behind. Pictures just can't do it justice! Everything is so green and beautiful right now, also. I'm sure I mentioned the flowers and plants before, but, again, I'm so amazed by their beauty. They are 10x the size of anything I have and with 10x the blooms!
In Seward we went to the Sealife Center. It's kind of like a mini aquarium. The exhibits are very well done. The main purpose for the center is research and rehabilitation but they make some of their money off of educating the public. The kids liked the seals and the stellar sea lion. My favorite were the sea birds. I was even so lucky as to have a puffin hop onto my shoulder from a rock I was standing on! Even better - he left me a present! It was pretty cool to have him grooming my hair and ear for a minute or so! The keeper was walking over to get him off of me but I was hoping she would take her time! I posted a picture of my friend for all to see. Unfortunately, I couldn't twist around to get a picture of him on me and none of my family was with me - how disappointing!
After the Sealife Center we walked on the docks where the fishing charters were coming in with their catch. What funny men you have out on those boats! They were all so proud of their fish! Women, too, but they were a little less boisterous about it all. The ugliest fish there was the ling cod. It looked like it had a belly full of salmon but it was just...guts!
I was so wanting to take a wildlife cruise but it was looking hopeless as Richard wanted to get an early start in the morning. I just happened to walk into the office of one of the companies offering the tours and they just happened to have space available on their evening cruise - leaving in an hour! It was the only evening cruise offered! I was so excited! So we hurried to check into our hotel and hopped aboard - with 1 minute to spare! They surved a buffet prime rib dinner with dessert - all you can eat. Yummy - but the best part of the tour was seeing the thousands of birds in their natural settings. The boat took us beyond the end of the road so the only way to get to the locations we were at was by boat. I was impressed that several people had built cabins way out there! The park ranger on the boat said that several years ago, the state of Alaska sold 5 acre sections in an auction. THey sold for $300.00! I would buy it just to have it! Again, the only way to get to your property was by boat but still...
Like I said, we saw birds in their own environment. We saw bald eagles, kittiwakes, murres, grebes, horned puffins, tufted puffins, oystercatchers and on and on. My favorite was to see the nesting kittiwakes feeding their babies on the sides of what look like sheer rock cliffs. We also saw some baby stellar sea lions (I didn't hear when the ranger told us where the adults were) and some harbor seals. The kids were impressed with how close the boat would get to the sides for us. Within about a foot in some places - Steve wasn't too thrilled with that! We were also able to see bright colored jellyfish and schools of salmon ready to spawn.
Richard rented our hotel rooms for us in an army R and R camp. Pretty cool!
We drove to Homer on Tuesday. Again a long day of driving but lots to see. In Homer we saw our first moose! We took a side road by the airport and came upon a cow and her calf. They were pretty nonchalant as they ate their dinner on the side of the road! On the way home yesterday we also saw a bull in a swampy area but there wasn't anywhere to pull off and take a picture. Bummer!
The spit in Homer is definitely right up my alley. Our hotel was at the very end of the spit and appropriately called Land's End. The little tiny shops were fun to poke through and we had great fish and chips for dinner (I don't think I'm allergic to halibut! Yippee!) The fisherman at "The Pit" were fun to watch. They were trying to "snag" the salmon who were spawning. Big ones! Dylan even tried his luck with a hook and some line he had found. Not sure what we would have done had he caught one! The water in this little area would just ripple with the schools of fish coming through! Homer also boasts the famous Salty Dawg Saloon. Unfortunately, I didn't get to drink a beer at the bar but we checked out the hundreds of dollar bills posted on the walls. Looked for yours, Robyn, but couldn't find it! Do you have one there? If I remember right, the Salty Dawg survived the 1964 earthquake that destroyed so many businesses. You can see by the picture that it is a bit sunken!
Today we are back in Palmer and heading off to the musk ox farm and Independence Mine. I'm sure we'll get more pictures! Tomorrow we head to Denali for 2 nights so hopefully I'll have an update before we go. For sure when we get back.
I'm looking at the 5 pics I was able to add and then looking at the other 200 I would like to add! I can't wait to share everything with you all! The first 3 pictures are from Homer - Salty Dawg Saloon, Dylan trying to snag a fish and the cow moose. The flower picture is an example of the flowers we see and the birds are the feeding kittiwakes from our cruise.
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