Trip to Alaska: part 2

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The second half of our busy week was centered around Seward and the Kenai Fjords. It was an early morning train departure from Anchorage, but this ride was even more scenic than the ride to Denali. We had lost our sunshine though, so everything had that southeast Alaska look to it.

In Seward we stayed at the Windsong Lodge, a large yet comfy place several miles out of town. There was a hotel shuttle every hour, so it was easy to get around. We found an excellent coffee shop ("Resurrect Art" converted from an old church) complete with art for sale and reading material. There's also Yolys Bistro in the old downtown on Fourth Street with a Thai cook and great curry soup that comes in a huge bowl. I found a lovely yarn shop (A Flyin' Skein) that sold qiviut and bought some to knit a scarf for Jenny's birthday. We also found a book store with both used and new books, public bathrooms that were CLEAN ( a tourist town "must-have"), and an otter floating offshore near the harbor who posed nicely for a video. There was a mile-long walk along the shoreline from the harbor with tour and fishing boats to a big sea-life center at the other end of town. Seward was great for walking, even in the rain.

We did the Kenai Fjords cruise in the cold and rain as well. The ride was pretty rough during parts of the tour and we had to deviate from the preferred course due to conditions. The birding was excellent: tufted puffins, horned puffins, kittiwakes, murres, and even rhinocerous auklets. Of course eagles. We also saw sea lions up close and orcas from far away. One pod we saw was known to our captain, and he explained that their numbers were dwindling as they hadn't reproduced since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. On a cheerier note, we stopped at Fox Island for a salmon dinner. They even met the boat with a wheelchair for one of the tourists. As we came back to the Seward harbor, we got a good look at one of those amazingly cute sea otters.

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Photos

Sunrise, Alaska RR station, Anchorage
If we didn't get enough morning coffee at the inn, we could always get more on the train. We opted for a full breakfast on the train, and Mom stuffed herself with reindeer sausage. Now we're off to Seward, and the Kenai Fjords. The RR trips are all day trips, but some pretty pricey tours joined us with their own passenger cars and one even had its own dining car. We all enjpyed the same scenery, schedule, engineer and engines and RR stations.

Alaska Railroad
Here's our train on its way to Seward

The train to Seward
You can even see glaciers on this route

Float planes on Kenai fjord
Off the road, the only way in was to fly in or go by boat to reach these isolated small settlements.

Glacier in Kenai Fjords
Looks kinda cold, doesn't it?

Glacier close-up
An icy shade of blue

Glacial ice samples
They hauled these on board for us to have a closer look

Sea lion
Notice one of the ones on the right has some writing on it - research, I suppose

Seward harbor with otter
First we noticed the sailboats, then we noticed this little creature lying on his back tethered with kelp, chomping away on something good. Later I got a neat video of him.

Jenny at the Gallery/Coffee House
Resurrect Art had a lovely little garden off the entrance, and an old church interior filled with work by local artisans, plants, booths and tables with papers and magazines, and great coffee and tea. We enjoyed ours with salmonberry-rhubarb scones.