Seward took it’s time coming out of the clouds!

Recorded June 24, 2009

It’s a short 130 miles from Anchorage to Seward. Plenty of Alaskans head out to Seward and Homer to vacation in the summer. When Linda asks the lady at the information center along the way if the forecast was for the current rain to continue, she said “the forecast is always for rain…it’s a Rain Forest.” And so went our visit to Seward, Alaska. It was real plain that the area was beautiful even with the storm but it must be magnificent on a clear day. The Rugged mountains were still painted with snow and hiding among the low clouds that seemed to just cling to them. The inlets with the rivers coming down to the ocean everywhere make the area a magnet for every kind of fisherman. Saltwater fishing from the banks, deep sea fishing, lake & stream fresh water fishing, you name it they are all here! This is one of the few roads on the trip that we will be retracing. We are hopeful that the weather will be clear on our next passage.

It was pouring when we arrived. That would have been sort of OK but it was also very cold. I’m such a Californian. I do not do cold well. We wanted to go to the Alaskan Sealife Center but opted to wait until the next day & maybe some sun.

In the morning it was sunny for a bit then intermittent clouds and rain but still really cold! I was able to get a few pictures that seem to capture the essence of the area. It is spectacular. At the Alaskan Sealife Center we learned the Seward is at the mouth of Resurrection Bay. Alaskan Sealife Center was built as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 with mostly funds from the settlement. It is a full aquarium & research facility plus an animal rescue & rehabilitation center. We spent most of our second day in town at the center. We would have loved to browse the town but for the chill.

On Wednesday we got our wish because it was warm… well warmer ….like 50 degrees instead of 40! When we got up it was beautiful. The lingering clouds were clinging to the mountain tops. We drove 9 miles to Exit Glacier and walked the half mile path to the look out point. It was not as cold as we expected.
We were able to see the marks of where the glacier had receded from the past 130 years.

From the glacier we did get to down town and by 2:00 PM we packed up our coaches and were on our way in the direction of Homer for the next few days.