Bidding Farewell to the Seashore

You know how those video travelogues always have the cruise ship sailing out of the harbor and the guy with the British accent says, “As we bid farewell to …………….”? Well, I think that tomorrow we will be leaving the fabulous southeastern shores of Alaska and will be headed for the “interior”.

In Valdez we were on Prince William Sound and in Homer we were on Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay, in Seward we are on Resurrection Bay and the Gulf of Alaska in the North Pacific. All are wonderful and have distinct personalities but if I had to choose one it would be Valdez.

We left Homer on Wednesday and drove slowly up the Kanai Peninsula stopping often to check things out. The Milepost (Alaska Travel Planner) makes it possible to anticipate upcoming attractions and alert RV’s to pull-outs big enough for their rigs. Alaska has bad roads but lots of pull-outs. The law requires motorist to pull out when they have five vehicles behind them. This isn’t always possible but it does help. Wildlife sightings are a different ballgame. Everyone just leaves their vehicle in the road and takes pictures.

We missed our turn and took the Kalifornisky Beach Road out to the town of Kenai. This proved to be providential since we passed a great seafood retailer at Snug Harbor. We bought fresh King crab legs, deep sea scallops, smoked halibut, and frozen chowder. We also saw a herd of caribou on this road and we visited the excellent museum in Kenai.

We are in the City of Seward municipal campground right on Resurrection Bay. The City has 10 cg’s spread out along about two miles of shore behind the town. There is a paved walking trail with fire pits every 12 feet or so. It is easy walking to everything and in the evenings is like a promenade with folks and kids and dogs strolling along. We can see the boats coming and going to the port. Last night everyone gathered to watch a huge cruise ship back out of the harbor and get turned around in the bay. It is also Very noisy here. At 3:30 this morning I took Percy out and there were still campfires and conversations going on. It has been a fun experience but I think we are ready to move on.

On Thursday we spent the day on a Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. We saw three glaciers, (one of them calving), and lots of gorgeous cliffs and islands and waterfalls. Also saw whales and seals and birds. It was a fantastic day. Yesterday we went to the Exit Glacier section of the NP and did a Ranger-led hike up to the Edge of the Glacier. We also visited the Alaska Sealife Center, a marvelous aquarium. My favorite part was watching the Puffins “sail” under water. Today we went back to the NP and walked along the flats of the Resurrection River.

Night before last I steamed the crab legs. We ate them with fresh corn-on-th-cob and drawn butter. Last night I sauteed the scallops in a white-wine, herb, and olive oil marinade served over linguine. We have wonderful bread from Three Sisters Bakery in Homer. Would you believe we have both lost weight?