Dear Diary,
We awake to thunder and a very overcast sky we can see the Kenai Peninsula is socked in. Rain soon. The tide is out and not much action in the inlet. We are reminded of the force and effect of Matanuska Glacier now very receded miles away, the glacial silt that clogs the inlet and harbor and the sight of two enormous erratics at the botanical garden. Rocks from glacier are strewn everywhere but the two boulders sitting isolated and out of context are real eye poppers. We have watched the harbor dredger busily keeping the channels open of glacial silt, much of it coming from the Mat Glacier, as well as others. This is not an ice free port so the dredger might get a rest in winter. We were so happy to escape animal contact yesterday we forgot to mention the still remaining foxholes dug during WWII. We came upon a couple of them with signage. They lined the high banks of the creek. Very eerie to see them there and know what there were used for. We have been seeing small groups of young Asian men walking around town and last night at the restaurant some were having dinner. We thought they were military and guessing they were off the docked frigates. It turns out the frigates are Japanese navy on training maneuvers. We have repacked our things and have breakfast at the club for the last time. Onward into the day. Stop by Brenna's to drop things off at the apt. She is at work. On to Seward, eastern coast of the Kenai Peninsula, about 2.5 hours from Anchorage. We pass Potters Marsh where migrating birds, especially gulls, are nesting. Then south into Turnagain Arm in the heavy rain. Doesn't matter what the weather this drive is in our top 10 and it rates very highly in most travelogues. A few sheep with lambs are visible. The tide in this fjord is going out and the wind is pushing it too so there are a lot of white caps. These Alaska tides are the second highest in the world. Not much snow left on the mountains but avalanche slides are still melting. Our friend John was a road worker for the state. In 2001 there were multiple avalanches all along this highway following the steep fjord mountains, it was so impacting that people were marooned in Girdwood and not able to get through for days. Big howitzer type gun/canons were fired into the first avalanche and the path was deemed safe for the road workers to go in. John and a railroad worker were sent in with the big cats to clear, John the road and the other fellow for the rr tracks. The news film crew were present filming the progress. John says all of a sudden he sees the camera man grab his camera and tri-pod and start running. Just that fast an avalache was on top of him. Luckily he was in a cab so the snow went over him and he was able to dig out. But the rr man, with no cab, was pushed off the rr tracks into the water of the arm. Unfortunately it killed him and miraculously John survived. It was soon after that, that major road changes were made through the route. Avalanche is still a danger but the road is not so close to the chutes. Some human error was involved in predicting the stability of the snow but the road improvements will help. We can't help but think of this happening as we cross Beluga Point. We see a couple immature eagles but not much else in wildlife. As we drive into Turnagain Pass we note there is not much low snow. This popular snowmobiling area usually holds its snow until late but this year not so much. Lots of beaver activity and the Summit Lodge at Summit Lake is beautiful and the only business on this stretch of highway. The road is excellent, a few repaired areas but good passing lanes and conditions. There are waterfalls and rushing water through all of the valley. We pass the Hope Jct exit. We had a great family time there last year. Continuing on the Seward Highway, the road narrows but conditions are still good. A series of lakes, glacial and snow streams and waterfalls and little towns. Very dense close forest. We come upon the Kenai Lake that spans both highways. It's glacial and very blue, very distinctive and feeds the famous Kenai River. We drive around Seward a little and finally find the remains of the Jesse Lee Home. It is derelict but protected with a high fence. A bittersweet history. The Methodist Church ran these kinds of homes for native children, taking them from their homes and raising them to inculcate values and language and vocational training. Not a proud moment in our church's history, nor the Alaska territory at that time. But from that place a young native boy named Benny Benson designed the beautiful Alaska state flag used to commemorate the admittance of Alaska into the union in 1959. It is a simple flag but filled with symbolism. Talked with a local and he said they won't tear it down and have talked for years about renovating etc. Parked downtown and walked through all the gift shops and funky art galleries. One of our new faves is the old UM Church converted to art and coffee house. There are still many historic buildings in place even though this town was devastated by the 1964 earthquake, and still has evac signs all over. We stop off at the Sea Life Center that is excellent and a feather in Seward's cap. But we don't go through the center but just look around and check out the gift shop. We stop off at Showcase Lounge. A very old pub that looks like it's stuck in the 60's. It is still smoking allowed and it feels and smells strange to be in it again. The servers are characters, as in all these small towns. The owner is a Jim Beam decanter collector and the bar is lined with every kind you can imagine and he has at least 300 in storage. We share a halibut basket, very good and very different. It was almost as if they just put the chunks right into the fryer. They say it was battered but not much. Was actually pretty good. There is a For Sale sign outside and we think the Showcase may become another tourist shop. Too bad. We were in Seward in 1984 for July 4th, not many places for families, a lot of rough fisherman bars. Bill Sheffield was running for governor and visited the bars to solicit votes. The 'voters' came out of the bars and formed a parade behind Bill wherever he went. Pretty funny to watch. In some ways the main street is starting to look like Anchorage with the shops like Starfish springing up. We take time to take pics around Resurrection Bay but most peaks are cloudy with a peek at a few glaciers. Looking out to the sound the rounded hills that sit in the Bay's mouth are shrouded in fog. It reminds us of the beautiful Kenai Fjords family trip we took last summer and while a clear day is preferable, the fog makes it more interesting. We drive down to the harbor and walk those shops and look in the water for animals. None today. There are no charter or commercial fishing boats active in the harbor right now. This area known for halibut and silver salmon. There are few campers and we could pick our spot unlike our last trip over July 4th. We take pictures of Marathon Mountain high above the town, the site for the famous July 4th Marathon. We see the Ak train depot for the first time, it's really buried in an industrial site but the depot is very nice. Much of what is happening in Seward is geared around the cruise ships and their schedules. The prices on everything is high, they have a sales tax unlike Anchorage that does not. We are careful about what we buy, we try to buy in museums etc. Gas is 4.51 here, 40 cents higher than Anchorage, ridiculous. We decide not to go back to Exit Glacier as we have done it the last couple years. We stop by a large nest by the road, not clear if is eagle or osprey. Pat drives back, retracing our path. Views are still beautiful but change with direction and light. People are in small boats fishing in the high pass lakes, for grayling and char we are guessing. By the time we get back into the Arm there is a big storm in Portage Valley, glad we're not there today. The Arm is emptied by the tide and the mud flats are exposed. Looks like hooligan might be coming in, a few people are at 20 mile creek. As we round Beluga Point there are wind surfers on the low tide water. The wind is brisk here and they are getting quite a ride. It's got to be very cold doing it and the mud is unstable, maybe a bit foolhardy but thrilling. We saw a shark study being conducted in Seward, sharks are not something anyone talks about up here. Assuming they are low in number. We meet Brenna and Zach for dinner at Pizza Olympia. Grandma greets us with big hugs. Today she likes Brenna, but she is fickle. One write up said the food is good but the grandkids run around and one kicked her in the ankle. It's that kind of place, but no kids today. New waitress who obviously isn't Greek and has no clue how to pronounce the dishes. The gyro is still very good and that's what we came for. Settled at Brenna's now for a few days. Got some USPS flat rate and shipping some things home. Could swear we didn't buy that much this trip and we have a couple weeks to go! Very tired, time for sleep. Mileage: 200 miles Travel Time: 5 hours
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