Alaska - Day Seventeen: 4437.6 miles to Girdwood, AK

We woke up the morning of our cruise to Kenai Fjords National Park to rain...

Knowing that we were about to embark on a 7.5 hour cruise in the open water of the Gulf of Alaska with an all-you-can eat buffet lunch, I took TWO of the motion sickness pills my sweet sister gave me before we left home.

We followed the dark blue route (including the blue dotted lines)...

Thankfully, wildlife doesn't care about the rain. :)

The trip down Resurrection Bay was just fine. The water was quiet and calm with lots of waterfalls to see along the shore. There were also lots of sea birds like puffins, bald eagles, kittiwakes, murres, and cormorants. We saw sea otters (including mamas with babies), scads of Steller sea lions on the rocks, mountain goats (including 2 nannies with kits), and whales (7 humpback & 7 orcas)...

For a while we were followed by the seven members of the AK6 pod of orcas...

Then we went through the Harding Gateway and reached the open water of the Gulf. It wasn't good. Quite a few people who probably didn't think they got seasick found out they did. The poor crew worked hard doling out sea sick bags, ginger ale and blankets for those who made it out to the fresh air on deck.

Since we got our own private table for the duration of the cruise, we played several games of Kings' Corners...

Once we were back into the quiet waters of Aialik Bay, it was time to eat. I wish I had taken a picture of the spread they put on. But I was so busy stuffing my face, I totally forgot. The food was AMAZING! The best prime rib I've ever had and perfectly prepared wild Copper River salmon. Even the side dishes were great! Thanks to my meds, I got to join Chris for seconds. :)

As we continued up Aialik Bay and the Holgate Arm, we started to spot glaciers in the distance...

Then we arrived at the rugged, and very blue, Holgate Glacier...

Right after leaving Holgate Arm we ran into a raft of otters...  (don't worry, we didn't actually run into any otters)

Pedersen Glacier in the distance...

You don't realize how big Aialik Glacier is until you notice there is a boat sitting at the base...

The air coming off the glacier was so cold that the rain hit your face as little pellets of ice... Brrr!

You could hear the ice creaking and groaning. Sometimes it sounded like gunfire in the distance...

Then we heard a rumble like thunder... The glacier calved!

Then you could see the waves breaking against the ice and rocks...

It was one of those moments where you are in awe of the power of God and His magnificent creation!

Then all was quiet again except for the distance rumbling, creaking and cracking...

Just before leaving, crew members picked up a piece of glacial ice from the water for Glacier Margaritas... (they even made virgins for the littler passengers or those of us who had taken their motion sickness meds) 

Near Porcupine Bay, we saw a sight that very few people ever get to see (and our guide said he'd never seen in 10+ years). A humpback whale breached! And then he breached again. And again. And again...

While scientists cannot agree as to why whales launch themselves out of the water, landing back on the surface with a tremendous splash; I'm pretty sure this guy was simply having fun showing off!

He did it over a dozen times! It got to the point where you could time when he would do it again. He'd show his tail, disappear for a bit and then propel himself high out of the water with a mighty splash. 

Just before getting back to Seward, we had several Dall's porpoises following the boat and playing in the bow wake...

After such a once-in-a-lifetime experiences, it was hard to be impressed by anything the rest of the day.

And we certainly weren't impressed by the fact that we had to fill our radiator before heading out of town... :(  But we were grateful for the very nice liquor store employee who let us come and fill up our water jug. :)

We ended the day at the rather rustic Crow Creek Mine campground...

Alaska - Day Sixteen: 4338.2 miles to Seward, AK

Backtracking isn't nearly as much fun since you are driving by so many of the same things you've already seen. And if the weather doesn't clear up, it's really the same. But there were still a few places  and things we missed on the Kenai on our way back to Seward.

For one, we saw a moose and three bald eagles. We didn't get pics, but we did see them. And we finally got a pic of one of the many moose signs we saw along the roads. Believe it or not, this wasn't the highest number we saw!

We also drove the Anchor River Beach Road to the most westerly point on the North American continent accessible by continuous road...

Then we hit the Kalifornsky Beach road towards Kenai, the biggest city on the peninsula.

When a friend on FB saw that we were on the Kenai, she suggested a stop at The Moose Is Loose for donuts in Kenai. Since we were heading that way anyway, we stopped...

BEST DONUTS EVER! Not only were they HUGE but they were fantastic! I also got a roadkill cinnamon roll...

Drove out to Captain Cook SRA for lunch and hopes of seeing three of the major volcanoes in the Alaska Range: Mt Spurr (11,100') which erupted last in 1992, Mt Iliamna (10,016'), and Mt Redoubt (10,197') which last erupted in 2009. No such luck...

We had a Dolly Varden Nut Brown from Kassik's Brewery while in Chitina and really enjoyed it. So we had to stop in to see what else they had while in Kenai...

Our windshield wipers weren't doing a great job and with the weather not being so stellar, we stopped at the WalMart in Soldotna to pick up a new pair in case the rain got worse. And while we were there, we picked up a few souvenirs...

Then it was back to the Seward Highway and a stop at Exit Glacier...

When you drive along the road towards the glacier, you see a sign on the side of the road about 1.2 miles from the parking lot that reads 1815. This is where the glacier ended in 1815, you can't even see it yet. You first catch a glimpse of the ice at about the 1899 sign. There were several signs along the trail to the glacier, all marking where it was in a certain year...

2005 was the year Zack came to Alaska with Grandpa and Grandma...

They say it moves about 50 feet every year...

We hiked up as close as you can get...

Seward is named after William Seward, US Secretary of State (he was wounded the same night Lincoln was assassinated) and was instrumental in arranging the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. It was also the starting point of the Iditarod Trail to carry mail to Nome over 938 miles. Resurrection Bay is an important ice-free port that was founded in 1792 on Easter Sunday by a Russian fur trader and explorer.

Even though the 4th of July hype was all over, it was still hard finding a place to camp in Seward. We didn't have much luck south of town either, but we did see a sea otter...

For the first time, we called a modest hotel away from the water. When they quoted us a price of $250 a night, we got over the shock and drove to the gigantic municipal campground in hopes they would still have space...

God is good! Not only did they have a space but it had a view of the water and free wi-fi. And it turned out to be the quietest campground we'd stayed at yet. With about 300 spaces, that's saying something...

On the downside, our late dinner at the Seward Brewing Co (the only place still open) was probably the most disappointing meals of our entire trip. :(