Our last day in Seward, AK
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2008
1
7
14
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
Seward,
Alaska,
United States
Thursday, August 21, 2008
We arrived at the charter office, and there were nine seats left. We bought our tickets and got in line (we were second LOL), and took our seats on the upper enclosed deck. We departed at 10:00 a.m. with Captain Mark and 125+ passengers. It was a little chilly, especially when the boat went full-throttle.
Our first sighting was a bald eagle and a few puffins (which are really cute by the way). For all you bird lovers out there we also saw some Cormorants, Black Oystercatchers, Common Murre, Horned Puffins and Tufted Puffins. We then caught a glimpse of our first Gray Whale.
Soon it was lunch time and we were given a chicken wrap, apple, carrots, granola bar, and some yucky lemonade. Then we saw some sea lions, harbor seals, and some cute little sea otters floating on their backs
Embarking on our trip to the Kenai Fjords
. We also saw many glaciers along the way, and in particular the Aialic Glacier. We parked the boat in front of the glacier waiting for it to calf. Calving means that the layers of ice begin to melt underneath, and large chunks fall into the sea. It's an incredible sound to hear the ice cracking off and swooshing down the side of the glacier into the sea.
Our trip was a circular route, and we then made our way back to our starting point. Along the way we encountered a Humpback Whale. We also saw some dall's porpoises, which were swimming in a pod and were quite shy about playing with us.
We stopped at Fox Island for a salmon bake (and chicken for those non-fish lovers). It was buffet style, with some tasty desserts. We then skipped some stones into the Alaskan Gulf Bay. Everyone boarded the boat for our return trip to shore. It was uneventful, but we all agreed that we had a great time and the trip was very worthwhile.
We then re-grouped and loaded ourselves into the van for a last look at Seward (and our bunny friends). We went to downtown Seward and perused the shops. We bought a few things and then went back in the van to our home-away-from-home.
After we arrived home, we went back to the docks to check out the fish situation. There weren't as many boats coming in at the time. We saw some big fish, but not like the huge ones we saw yesterday.
Nancy and Dee are chomping at the bit to go fishing possibly on this trip, but it's rather pricey, and we can't convince our travel partners to go along LOL. Well tomorrow is a another day, we're off to Homer, so we'll catch you later.
Oh, I almost forgot. The man who tried to steal my fanny pack on the ferry ride from Valdez was on our boat trip. I can't believe he continues to stalk me!!!
Comments
Hello from Celina
It looks like you are having an amazing time! Thanks for all of the updates! Enjoy!
Love,
Matt, Kristy, Mason and Jessica
Where's the Blog?
For the past week I hurry home to see what new adventure there is on your vacation But, today I see there is no new BLOG. What is going on? Did you forget about us so soon or did you just get tired of writing it? LOL Carol