Alaska Vacation Day 2

 

Day 2 of our Alaska Vacation had us leaving our comfy cabin on the Knik River and heading down to Seward for an evening stay.
Things got off to great start when 13-years after starting our initial search to find a Moose (this began when we moved back to Maine) we finally saw one and it was right down the road from our cabin (actually the first two we saw jumped out on the road in front of us, but quickly scampered away). From that point on we were seeing them left and right...ok...maybe every once-in-a-while, but when you were like us and running on no-Mooses for a decade, it seemed like they were coming out of the woodwork.
After the sighting, we made our way to Anchorage (found a Starbucks) and headed South to the Turnagain Arm and the Seward Highway. Several scenic stops later, we crossed into the Kenai Peninsula. We stopped off in Copper Landing for lunch, than worked our way through Fisherman traffic (the salmon were running heavy) and headed to Soldotna and Kenai, before backtracking and driving to Seward. All in all another great day of weather - some wind and cooler temperatures - but we did hit 70 degrees again.
Once we checked into our hotel, we shot straight out to Exit Glacier which comes off the Harding Ice Field. Exit Glacier is receeding back up the hill and a sign showing where it stood in 1998 really give you an idea how these big masses of Ice are always on the move.
After the hike, we settled in for a healthy dinner of Stouffer's Mac and Cheese and Haagen Das Ice Cream (ok, maybe my definition of healthy).
Tomorrow, we're off to Whittier for a 26-Glacier Cruise and then another road-trip to Wasilla for an evening stay.
Moose Count: 6
Whale Count: 0
Bear Count: 0
Dall Sheep Count: 2

This one didn't jump out at us...but he did seem intent on a stare down

 

Panorama View of the Turnagain Arm - just south of Anchorage on one of the most beautiful highway drives in America
 

Julie working on getting the Dall Sheep Count up at one of the scenic stops in the Turnagain Arm


 



Standing above the edge of the Exit Glacier off the Harding Ice Field. This thing is pretty good size...if you look closely, you might see some teenie-tiny people off the path to the right side.

Alaska Vacation Day 1

Yes, it's been a while. Yes, we've had lots of exciting things happening in our lifes - and we'll catch up on all of those events as soon as we get back. But for now, both Julie and I are crossing off the list, the only state both of us have not been to - Alaska.
We headed out of Seattle this morning and in three hours -almost less time than it takes for us to drive down to see Adam and Brook - we landed in Anchorage, where the natives were very quick to point out that they were experiencing an incredibly hot summer (it ramped up to a scorching 72 degrees today). But we'll take it (see one of our earlier posts about our cruise to the Bahamas). In fact, short of a projected small shower or two, the weather is supposed to be abnormally hot.
Tonight we are staying in Palmer which is Northeast of Anchorage by about 45 minutes. Actually we are a ways out of Palmer on the Knik (kah-nik) River at the very end of a gravel road. And we're staying in a nice little cabin, cozy enough for the two of us. It's nearly 10 PM as I do this post and the sun is still way up in sky and it's light enough I could be golfing!

The cabin big enough for two!

 

This one is for Greyson...Papi and Grammy haven't seen a moose or a bear yet (not to mention a Polar Bear)...but we did have an in-coming helicopter from a Glacier Tour land at the cabins.

Julie at the top of Hatcher's Pass. This was an old mining community with great hiking opportunities if you got there early enough to do so (gate closed at 9 PM and we got there at 7:30 PM)



Almost 10 PM and the sun is still up and going strong.



Looking back down to Palmer from the top of Hatcher's Pass. That's our little Ford Focus in the background. It should be a nice brownish-red color by the vacation's end.