This is us starting out to go the Seward. I got out to take a picture of the wildflowers and left John and Boone in the truck. Can you see them?
Can you imagine driving 5 hours with constant views like this? That is what Alaska looks like most of the time. Every time we go around a new mountain there will be a lake or a river or a glacier. The water is so pure and clean and different shades of blue.
Speaking of glaciers, John and I got to meet one up close and personal. This glacier is Exit Glacier at the Exit Glacier National Park in Seward, Alaska. It was about a mile hike to get to this position which near the bottom of the glacier. After the hike up it was nice to experience the cool temperature from the ice. We look like we are close to it but we are not. This thing was huge.
We met the Bauer family at Exit Glacier Park in the parking lot. Frank, the father was taken back with the fact we drove all the way from South Carolina. He saw our license plate. One thing lead to another and we all became quite acquainted with one another by the end of the hike. In the picture is Frank, Ruth, Danae, me, Seth, Boone and Ryan. The Bauer's have a dairy farm in Wisconsin. We enjoyed the day together so much they came to our camp in the evening and we did smores on the fire. It is actually about 10 o'clock in evening and not dark. Danae is a photographer and she shared her website with me. Her work is beautiful. She does amazing pictures of the cows on the farm. Ryan gave Boone a good run. Seth roasted the marshmallows. As I said before, we have been so blessed to have met such wonderful people on this trip.
In the campsite next to us was a military family stationed in Alaska. They were from Sumter, SC and had been there 7 years. They had three wonderful teen aged daughters. We enjoyed getting to know them.
A man associated with the Stoney Creek Campground was in the business of taking individuals salmon fishing. So during our stay in Seward John caught a silver salmon. It is in the freezer.
Above are pictures of the Seward port. The top picture is a celebrity cruse ship. The boat from the Deadliest Catch was working out of this harbor too.
This body of water is a very large fjord with mountains on both sides and is named Resurrection Bay.
John immediately met a young man wearing a Gamecock visor. He was from Aiken, SC and was in Alaska for his brother's wedding. We later met a lady wearing a Georgia Tech tee-shirt. The boat holds about 150 people so those meetings are not so common. We also met some men from Bardstown, KY at the Exit Glacier that knew the Wheatly's, our Daughter-In-Laws family. It's so much fun to have these interactions so far from home.
The cruise included a salmon and prime rib meal on Fox Island. We spent about an hour on the island. The meal was really good.
If you look at the top of this 650 ft rock mountain you can see some tiny army bunkers. This small mountain is surrounded by water. Soldiers were stationed there to watch for the Japanese enemy. The cold conditions they survived must have been horrible.
There is two sea lions on these rocks. You have to look real close.
We all know that I am no photographer. But I didn't take these pictures of the humpback whale. Actually there are two whale out there. In John's defense, the boat was rocking and swaying back and forth. He now has a new camera.
We also saw sea otters, orca's and dolphins. Not to mentions many types of birds and bald eagles.
Needless to say I enjoyed everything about Seward, Alaska. The views are unbelievable. The next stop is Valdez.
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