From Palmer to Seward

We left Palmer and headed South to Anchorage and beyond. The weather report was calling for rain for the next 2 days but as we began the day it wasn't raining . . . yet. The 1st stop of the day was to return to the Cache Across America Alaska because we forgot to get the 3 digit code while we were there the first time. A nice 1 mile loop hike (again) around Reflection Pond and we were really on our way.  About 10 miles before Anchorage it started to rain so the plans to geocache the Alaska Star were fading fast. Al has been having some trouble with his ear and we weren't sure if it was infected so we decided to find a walk in health clinic while we were still in a populated area. 2 hours later and an Rx from the nearby Walmart Pharmacy and we we on our way yet again. Driving down the Seward Highway is probably a pretty drive but on this day the wind was blowing and the rain was coming down so what was the best course of action? Find a brewery to visit.

 Girdwood Brewery at the base of the mountain for Alyeska Ski Resort. The brewery tasting room was ski themed and they had a blueberry Kombucha which was delicious. Al had the IPA because they were out of the stout.

After the brewery we made our way to our campground for the night. a kinda pricey typical Alaska style gravel parking lot campground. This one had nice showers but porta potties for facilities and snow nearly in the campground.

The drive from Portage Valley to Seward was about 100 miles and we wanted to arrive early in the day to assure a spot of our choice in the city campground and get the lay of the land before we had to be up and at the dock for our day long boat cruise in the Kenai Fjords.






Seward in the Summer is a tourist town plain and simple. The prices here are higher than most everywhere else we have been. The rain has continued . . . not a downpour but a constant drizzle. You need a raincoat but not an umbrella. One of the interesting things in this "city" is the murals painted everywhere. There are over 20 and I tried to take a picture of all that I saw . . . some were better than others.

See the birds painted above the windows?

Of course we had to check out the local brew pub. Seward Brewery. . . . good brew and good food.

We set the alarm to be sure we were up and ready for our boat cruise. This is one part of the trip I have been looking forward to since it is a wildlife viewing cruise. We arrived at the check-in counter only to find our cruise had been cancelled for today due to rough seas outside of the harbor . . . Bummer. Fortunately our schedule is flexible and we were able to reschedule it for Tuesday. Now we needed a plan B for today since we were suppose to be out all day. A walking tour and some geocaches as the sun eventually broke out and the evening was fine . . . chilly but fine.

Does this look like a stormy day at sea? Not to me but apparently outside of the harbor the seas had 8-10 foot swells.

and here is a picture for Sean

Guarding  the harbor

Stating the obvious 

The start of the original Iditarod Trail

And one more of the sea of campers here by the waterfront.

Tomorrow we leave Seward and head toward Ninilchik.