Seward, AK

July 11, 2012                       Day 33/60                            Soldotna to Seward, AK

As it turns out, the guys did not catch anything on their guided trip on the Kenai River. Ok, that isn’t strictly true. This is the way I heard it….Luca and rick had been tangling their lines the whole trip so it was not surprising that it happened again on the last cast of the trip. As they untangled their lines, Rick’s line fell below the water line. When he pulled it up, there was a small rainbow trout on the hook! I can only imagine the looks on their faces to see this fish so effortlessly caught after a whole afternoon of fishing for salmon. Rick decided to throw the guy back.

Today was a short drive day, only about 100 miles. We took the Sterling Highway to the Seward Highway. The weather started out ok but soon turned dark and rainy. We didn’t see much on the drive but an occasional view of the glacier blue Kenai River or lake. We stopped at Tern Lake at the junction of the highways in hopes of seeing some wildlife but only saw some gulls and artic terns.

When we checked into the Air Force Campground in Seward, we heard that people were catching red salmon over “across the bay.” Well, that is all Rick and Mike needed to hear. After lunch, they headed out to see what they could catch. The rest of us went to the Alaska Sea Life Center. It is a nice small aquarium but also has rehabilitating animals and rescued animals that can’t be released. It is located on Resurrection bay but it was too cold and rainy to stand outside to admire the view or look for belugas or sea otters. They have three indoor/outdoor areas – 1 for birds like puffins and ducks, 1 for sea lions, and 1 for harbor seals. The birds were very tame and not at all concerned that we were in their enclosure. There wasn’t even a divider to keep the birds and guests separate. There was an aquarium employee to make sure we all interacted appropriately though. One of the sea lions posed very nicely with an over the shoulder glance followed by a very full yawn. This I caught on film.

After the center, we went a few blocks over to a small shopping block (could have been “old town”). We went in and out of several of the shops designed to separate the cruise ship passengers from their money. There wasn’t a cruise ship in town so we did our best to support the local economy. Without the crowds form the cruise, the shop people were very attentive.

Rick and Mike returned home empty handed again. They were undeterred, however, and were eager to return at high tide when the fish were said to be in high quantity. So after Rick’s delicious chicken dinner, they headed back out to try again. They left just before 7 PM for the 8 PM high tide. We didn’t hear or see them until 10:30 when they arrived back at the trailers. Rick had caught 2 salmon! One was probably a silver salmon and the other may have been a chum (dog) salmon. Even though the boys were already in their pjs, they wanted to watch Rick clean the huge fish. They put rain gear on over the pjs and headed out. They returned too quickly as the fish station building in camp was closed for the night. Mike drove Rick back down to the beach to clean the fish. It was a late night for all with the excitement and added noise of Rick getting ready for bed. Then I didn’t sleep well due to my cough. Rick probably didn’t either. There is just nowhere to go with a noisy cough in a 26 foot trailer. (Yes, I took a cough suppressant, propped myself on every pillow I could find, hydrated, and did all the other things Kaiser’s website recommends.)

Rick and Mike plan to head out for the morning high tide at 9 AM (well, get there at 8 for the high tide at 9). The rest of us are sleeping in a bit.

July 12, 2012                                       Day 34/60                            Seward, AK

Mike and Rick left about 8 AM for more fishing. While they were gone, we slept in and had a leisurely morning. About 10 AM, we decided to walk over to the Army RV Park across the street to check out their gift shop. It wasn’t much so we headed back to the trailer. When we got there, Rick and Mike had returned each having caught a good sized red salmon. They each had a big smile on their faces. It was nice to see. They cleaned these in the fish house. We were all so happy that they finally had caught something.

After lunch we went to Exit Glacier. It was a long walk out to the edge of the glacier with some ups and downs in the trail. I was worried about my mom as her knees have really been bothering her. Mike helped her along and she was determined to go all the way to the edge. Beginning on the road in to the glacier, there were signs displaying a year (1869, for example) showing the glacier’s location in that year. There were pretty little flowers all along the trail too. We couldn’t touch the glacier itself but we could see the gorgeous blue coloring in some places. On the rocks on the trail we could see where the glacier had scraped the rocks. Far away on the hillside we saw a black bear.

After the hike we went to the harbor area in search of snacks and sea otters. We found snacks for everyone, expensive tourist shops, but not otters. A group had just come in from a fishing trip and their catch was hung up for the obligatory photo op. Other tourist stopped to check out the catch (us included). The next thing you know a guy is proposing to his girl in front of the fish they caught. She said yes. Not being a fan of fish or fishing myself, I had a hard time seeing the romance in this, but she seemed very happy.

Rick made some of the salmon for dinner. The boys and I had leftovers. Then Mike and Rick went for one last fishing attempt in Seward. They returned empty-handed. Everyone enjoyed nice, long, hot showers in the camp shower facility.

Maybe it was the hike, or the shower, or the medicine is finally working. Whatever it was, I finally got a good night sleep. No coughing. Felt awesome.