Seward

Judy. After our second disappointment at the cancellation of our Denali flight, we headed south to Seward. A long-time friend of ours had been a ranger in Alaska, and had suggested it as a good base. Unfortunately, the rain and clouds obscured the beautiful drive—no belugas at Beluga Point, and no Dall sheep at Windy Point. 

But when we arrived at our little cabin, Hemlock Retreat, the clouds parted just long enough for us to see Mt. Eva through the trees. The cabin was cozy, and well-appointed, and that night we slept well.

Mt. Eva from our back porch

Our cozy cabin

While I was eating my breakfast the next morning, next to the sliding glass doors, a young bear wandered up and peered in. I guess he didn’t like my looks as he turned and walked off before I could get a photo. Over the next several days, he showed up several times, and we finally got his picture. 

Homer Seward the bear looking for a snack

Rain or no, we headed into Seward. First stop was a smoked fish facility, where we tried the dips the young man offered us. We couldn’t quite place his accent till he let slip that he was originally from Turkey. Well, that set off another conversation! 

At the Resurrect Art Coffee House we nabbed the only empty table, then offered seats to an older couple when they got their drinks. What fascinating folks! Dot, as it turns out, is a famous painter in Alaska, and has lived there for 51 years, arriving there with her husband in the seventies to start and manage fish canning facilities. Her stories were riveting. Her brother, Devananda, arrived five years ago when she asked him to come live with her. Devananda has been a devotee of Rajaneesh (now known as Osho) and was the fifty-first member of the village they built in Oregon—remember when the cult was kicked out? There’s a documentary about it that’s worth watching, called “Wild, Wild West.” We sat with them for two hours, and, if they hadn’t needed to do their grocery shopping, we’d have kept them there longer. 

We normally cook at home, but since it was my birthday, we got reservations at Ray’s Waterfront, a famous fish restaurant on the harbor. What an incredible meal! And we got to watch harbor seals swim around.

 

Crab and sparkling wine--a nice starter!

While the rain curtailed our hiking plans, we enjoyed the quirkiness of Seward. Rain or no, people walked or jogged in shorts and sweatshirts. The only raincoats we saw were on us tourists, and there were plenty of those getting ready to board for the Inside Passage cruises. 

In case you lost something...

And in case you went the wrong way...

 

Repurposed train cars into a mall

One of my favorite examples of how funky Seward is came from the Public Safety Report of the SEWARD JOURNAL: "A caller reported on June 19 at 2:09 PM that on June 19 at 8:36 AM an individual in a gorilla suit broke into their yard and left behind a rooster."

One of dozens of murals--Exit Glacier, painted by Dot

We wandered the Best Western Hotel, which was a kind of gallery for Dot’s paintings, and we drove the town to check out the murals. Seward is the “Mural Capital of Alaska”. 

Mural at the Welcome Center

Sea critter

Different sea stars than I've seen before

We went to the Alaska Sealife Center—creatures so different from the ones we see in the south! 

We drove around Resurrection Bay (so named by the Russians because they arrived during Easter Week), to a fishing campground on one side and the hauntingly beautiful Fourth of July Beach (NOT named by the Russians) on the other. 

Fourth of July Beach

On the one sunny morning, we hightailed it to Exit Glacier, spotting a moose by the side of the road, and taking a hike with young Ranger Teagan. She has lived here all her life, and began coming to the park when she was in grammar school. There were 45 in her high school graduation class. Then she decided to go to Boston University, where there were 5,000 in her freshman class. Brave chick! The glacier itself was beautiful, but, sadly, has retreated a long way. I’m glad we saw it. 

Exit Glacier from the 2005 point. It's retreated a long way since then.

Closest I've been to a moose--from inside the car!

Another day we drove the three hours to Anchorage in hopes of catching the flight to Denali, but it, too, was cancelled at the last minute. The lemonade, as Ted pointed out, was the overwhelming magnificence of the drive, since the clouds had parted. When we got back, we chatted with Colin, our host, and learned about his winter environmental work around the world. We’re hoping to meet up with him in New Zealand, after he finishes some studies of the Antarctic. 

The little nuthatches and Stellars Jays enjoyed the bird feeders

Much of our time in Seward was spent reading in the cabin, and just relaxing. While it’s not what we planned, we were reminded that sometimes it’s good just to live somewhere—go to the grocery store, pick fresh raspberries, watch the birds at the feeder, meet people, and enjoy what’s there. We slept hours every night. I guess we needed it.

Seward Highway

Ted. The second time our floatplane trip to Denali was cancelled, we rescheduled a third time, knowing that would mean driving up from Seward, where we were now based. 

Our friend Clark, who lives in Minneapolis, once explained to us that Minnesota has two seasons; winter and construction. Alaska is much the same so we knew our trip back to Anchorage could take anywhere from two to three hours. 

Before we left, we called the company to make sure they were flying that day. They weren’t sure but we decided to try. Yeah, it took nearly three hours and, yeah, fifteen minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart, the flight was scrubbed. So, now we had to drive back to Seward.

Fortunately, the Seward Highway rivals Alberta’s Icefield Parkway as one of the most beautiful roads I have ever driven. Glaciers, rivers and beautiful mountains are all around us. Talk about waterfalls - on one mountain, Judy counted 14 waterfalls!

Turnagain Arm

About halfway back, there is a place called the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which is a sanctuary for rescued animals. We saw a lot of critters there that we had not seen elsewhere, including brown bears. We had learned that brown bears and grizzlies are the same species but the ones that live in the high country usually have a lighter (grizzled) fur. I was intrigued to see my first ever musk oxen and was surprised how little they were – not much bigger than a prize winning hog back in Georgia. 

Elk at AWCC

My first Musk Oxen - cute little buggers!

We also took a side road down the Kenai River to Cooper Landing to see all of the fishermen. Apparently the Kenai and Russian Rivers are world famous. We hoped to spot the brown bears, known to compete with the humans for salmon but had no luck. 

Drift boat on the Kenai River

Even though we were disappointed not to see Denali (and no, we did not schedule a fourth attempt), we made lemonade out of lemons and had another great day.

Quote du Jour

"What you do not see, do not hear, do not experience, you will never really know."

- Anders Apassingok, from Lore of St. Lawrence Island: Echoes of Our Eskimo Elders 

Exit Glacier

Ted. Seward is the home of Kenai Fjords National Park which features easy access to a glacier called Exit Glacier. The amusing name comes from a 1968 expedition across the adjacent Harding Icefield that exited via this glacier. 

Arriving early for a 10:00 am ranger walk, we happened upon an example of the local wildlife. 

Judy took this shot of Miss Moose from the safety of our car

Ranger Teagan is a young ranger who grew up in Seward and is a student at Boston University. I can’t imagine the shock she felt on her first visit to that big city. During the walk, which took us near the base of the glacier, Teagan told us a bit about the fauna and geology of the area, as well as a bit about life in Seward. 

Judy trailing Ranger Teagan

It was a fun outing and we never saw a drop of rain the whole time!

Rain

Ted. I have a feeling that when I look back on our time in Alaska, rain will be the first word that will come to mind. The weather has not ruined our visit but it has definitely shaped our time here. 

The morning after we landed in Anchorage, we were scheduled to take a half-day trip to Mt Denali by floatplane. We were called two hours before departure to learn our flight had been cancelled due to weather. They were able to fit us in on a flight going out the next day, but that too was scrubbed. Since it rained pretty steadily for the two days we were in Anchorage, rather than stroll the streets, we visited the Anchorage Museum. It was just…OK. 

On the third day, we drove down to Seward. The clouds parted occasionally to give us glimpses of what must be majestic views on sunny days. 

Resurrection Bay & Seward

Arriving in Seward, in the rain, we were cheered by the cozy cabin that we had rented in the woods outside of town. As it turns out, we would spend many hours sipping coffee, or wine and watching the antics of the local birds at our bird feeders. 

Apparently, our cabin is a stop on the daily tour for a young black bear. He would often stop to watch Judy through the sliding glass door. She even named him. 

Howard Seward the Bear

We would have several adventures during our time here but outings were invariably timed to breaks in the weather.

Resurrection River

North (but mostly West) to Alaska

Ted. Way back in 2010, Judy joined several friends on a visit to Alaska. Ever since then, she has been promising to take me there. Not only was the scenery unparalleled, it would be the 50th state that I had visited (a goal that Judy herself had accomplished a few years ago). Well, the time had finally arrived! 

It is not easy to fly from Edmonton, Alberta to Anchorage, Alaska. We first had to fly to Vancouver and then to Seattle. We boarded our third flight of the day around 8:30pm (local time) and taxied out onto the runway, only to be told that there was a mechanical problem with the plane. In my experience, it is always better to learn about a problem on the runway than at 35,000 feet so we had no objections when the pilot returned our plane to the gate and asked to get off. Fortunately, we were able to rebook another flight departing three hours later. We landed at 2:00 am (local time) and staggered in to bed around 3:00 in the morning (exactly 24 hours after waking up in Edmonton). 

The next morning, we were scheduled to take a floatplane from Anchorage up to Mt Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. Unfortunately, the mountain was socked in with bad weather so that flight was scrubbed. We picked up our rental car and grabbed some excellent Mexican food at El Jefe Taco Joint but spent most of the day catching up on our sleep. 

The next morning, we tried once more to fly up to Denali but again the flight was cancelled. By now it was time to drive down the Kenai Peninsula to our home for the next eight days – the small fishing town of Seward. While the weather was still pretty wet, we were able to sneak some glimpses of the beautiful snow capped peaks and raging rivers. The photo below was taken from the deck of our little cabin in a hemlock forest. My first impression was most favorable!

Mt Eva

Edmonton

Judy. Word on the street was that we shouldn’t bother going to Edmonton—nothing there. Well, that waiter could not have been more mistaken! 

We chose a Servas stay for the first two nights with Sharon, whose delightful personality jumped right through the phone to us. Sharon was a great host, giving us, as Patty did, a downstairs “apartment” as well as time in her dining room, eating some yummy home cooking, including a welcoming dinner of Ukrainian food. 

Sharon

One of the things we were looking forward to in Edmonton was their famous Fringe Festival, so on our first night, we drove downtown, parked and just walked around, catching a couple of buskers, and spending a fun few of hours talking to Jay and Sherry, a couple with whom we shared a picnic table. Jay’s been an Atlanta Braves fan since 1969, so he shared some great stories about traveling to the States to see games. They both had wonderful suggestions of things to see and places to eat in town, and we all bragged on our grandkids.

Jay and Sherry--check out Jay's vintage Braves cap!

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The next morning we drove outside the city to visit the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Several people had recommended it, and it did not disappoint! Evidently Canada was a favorite destination for Ukrainian immigrants. The “village” here was filled with houses, churches, farms, and shops that had been moved from their original locations. Several buildings had guides dressed in costume to answer questions, or explain the uses. It covered the years 1900-1930, when the bulk of immigrants arrived. Our absolute favorite was a replica of an original hut, called a burdei, where the costumed guide explained that they were only allowed one trunk, and brought their millstone, farming tools, two panes of glass, and two shirts each. Talk about downsizing! 

Burdei--their first homes

Our costumed guide in the burdei

Note the Ukrainian writing on the wall

Ukrainian Orthodox Church--one of three different churches

We spent the afternoon chatting with Sharon, and that night, she took us dancing at the Canadian Legion Hall, where she dances four nights per week! (She also plays badminton and pool regularly.) She says when she retired at 50 (she’s now 73) she promised herself that whatever she did must involve movement. Sharon is a real go-getter, and sure cut a rug on the dance floor. She was so popular we didn’t see much of her, but we chatted with Lee and Elmer about Canadian football!

Our one dance

 

At Sharon’s suggestion, we visited the St. Albert Market the next morning when we left her home. Wow! Biggest I’ve ever seen! If they don’t have it, you don’t need it. 

Crowds at the St. Albert Market

We checked into our hotel on Whyte Ave., just a couple of blocks from the Fringe Festival. 

Edmonton's Fringe is the largest in North America

Badges

Advertising shows

Friendly volunteers

                

Buskers

If you’ve never been to one, find a way! They’re all over North America and the UK, and are a great way to see good, interesting, and plain old funky performances. We caught three, and our total bill was about $33 each. People are happy to be there, and the atmosphere is so much fun! There are more shows I wish I could have seen, but it was time to move on to Alaska.

And that’s a story for another post.

Two final memories from Jasper

Ted. On my post about the Icefields Parkway, I neglected to include a photo from the most famous spot. The Athabasca Glacier comes down to within a half mile of the parkway and one can walk almost to the edge without a guide. Here is my photo from that spot.

We did have one last adventure before leaving Jasper. One morning, Judy and I rode the SkyTram up to Whistlers Peak (elevation 8,100 ft). 

It was a fun ride with a short hike from the top of the tram to the summit. Here are a few photos including a distant view of Mt Robson (elevation 12,972 ft) which is the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. We had glorious weather and clear skies. The tram operator told us you can only see Mt Robson about 30 days out of the year. Lucky us!

The Jasper SkyTram

Jasper and the Athabasca River below

Mt Robson (snowy peak on the right) 75 miles away

Jasper and Patricia Lake

 

Judy.Several people had told us about how beautiful Jasper is, sort of Banff before it became Banff. What a lovely surprise! It was an open, normal mountain town—sure, lots of shops and restaurants, but much calmer than the more famous towns. 

Our little cabin

We rented a cabin at Patricia Lake Bungalows, and were again pleasantly surprised at the friendly and easy check-in. There are probably 25 cabins on the property next to the lake, and, although they’re close to each other (and each one occupied), we felt as though we were distanced from others. A short walk took us to the lake, where families were swimming, canoeing, paddleboarding, and kayaking, all still seeming less crowded than anyplace else we’d been. 

A quiet morning at the lake

While Ted was checking us in, I got into a conversation with a young woman named Christine who was waiting to ask some questions. She not only gave me suggestions for things to do in Jasper, but in her hometown of Edmonton as well. That evening we were sitting on the picnic table eating our pizza, when Christine appeared at the cabin next door. After exchanging pleasantries, she said, “Our whole family is here celebrating my father-in-law’s seventieth birthday. Would you like some wings?” Sure! 

Christina (R) and family

And that’s how we wound up at a Vietnamese Canadian birthday party, eating like kings, talking about sports, and learning to cut up jackfruit, which, by the way, is delicious. 

Anton cutting the fruit

See what happens when you just say “yes”?

We had so much fun, though, that we slept through the aurora borealis that appeared in the early, early morning, and had to be satisfied with the videos a staff member posted. I guess you can't have everything.