Orr Travels: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Seward, AK

6-30-2013 We have enjoyed walks to town – along the water’s edge – along with some murals. A bit of history – the 1964 Earthquake destroyed the water front buildings, along with the petroleum industry (have since moved to Valdez). The water front now has wonderful city parking for RVs from the harbor to town. Perfect for summer travelers and allows plenty of space for storms and possible tsunamis from earthquakes.

The Aquarium is quite interesting – especially the sea birds.

The Library is a beautiful building – the various sky colors change the tile colors throughout the day.

And sometimes we walk to the harbor to watch the boats come and go or to watch folks come in with their catch of Halibut and Salmon. A neat mural is there to greet travelers.

Today the day may be socked with with clouds and drizzle, but we can still watch and enjoy the tides, boats, sea otters playing, and birds coming and going. We watch with binoculars the folks climbing Mt Marathon – hope for race day – July 4th – it is a lot drier without so many clouds. Town is busy with all the tenters and RVs. Things will so be hopping!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Still in Seward

6-27-2013 We continue to enjoy Seward. The weather is still a mystery – starts sunny, turns cloudy or cloudy and turns sunny. The sun rises just to the left in front of us, sets, somewhere behind us on the left. The moon comes up to our right. The temperatures pleasant. The tides fascinating. We often see cormorants, gulls or eagles on the old pilings just in front of us. Now and then a sea otter comes to play. The ship continues to load coal. Cruise and fishing boats zoom in and out.

Decided to take another cruise… the waters are calm. The sky is blue. The scenery delightful. Today we saw Dall porpoise, orca whale, kittiwakes, puffed tuffins, sea lions, cormorant, mtn goats.

Where Resurrection Sound meets the clear Pacific…. all the way to Hawaii. The waters are exceptionally calm today.

Sea Birds nesting, sea lions napping……..

Cruising back to port at Seward

Yes, another great day in Alaska!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Seward

6-25-2013 We continue to enjoy Seward. Tide, Clouds, Boats and now a Coal Ship. Coal is shipped by rail from Healy, AK. The ship will take coal to South America.

Seward is known for its 4th of July Race up Mt Marathon. It’s only 3022’ – with a general 38 degree angle. Steepest slopes 60 degrees. Record time for this 3.1 mile fun 43:23 minutes. WOW!!

We are parked below the mtn….This town of ~2500 will swell to 40,000 for the 4th of July activities. We have volunteered for some crowd control the day of the race.

Today we walked to the beginning of the mtn trail……1st time racers must run the mtn at least once before the race itself.

Check You Tube for several videos on the challenge or the website http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mt+marathon+race&qpvt=mt+marathon+race&FORM=IGRE

While walking along the water today we saw an RV with a SKP decal – of course we had to knock and say hello. Surprise! We had met David & Linda Hatcher at Gillette Escapade 2011. They too are here to see the 4th of July Race and festivities. Also heard Mike and Terri Church will be here to watch the race. A small world indeed.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Hope, AK

6-22-13 Time to take a scenic drive to Hope --- about 75 miles. Hope is on the Kenai side of Turnagain Arm. We were in luck to finally see a Bore Tide - The bore tide is a huge wave or series of waves that advance down Turnagain Arm in a wall of water up to 10-feet high – depending on the height of the tide. More details can be found at http://www.alaska.org/advice/alaska-bore-tide The tide today was not huge, but could be seen in sections as it advanced back up Turnagain Arm.

We stopped for lunch at the Sea View Café – Yummy food! Enjoyed the mountain, lake, stream views along the way. Stopped at Moose Pass for the Summer Solstice Celebration

Enjoying the views from our water front property in Seward….. Watching the clouds, tides, boats move in/out. Easy walks to town or to the harbor. Denny still hasn’t met a stranger. Hope to see that full moon after midnight, but doubtful with the clouds.

Life is Good!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Seward, AK

6-20-2013 Went to visit exit Glacier with a ranger walk/talk the other day in the sunshine.

Then a ride around the bay. Interesting tents even with a stove at a Fish Camp – no luxuries here, this is a man’s place.

With a cloudy day, it’s time to visit the Aquarium here in Seward. Kittiwakes up close.

Puffins are always delightful. They prune for hours it seems as they fluff, dive, flop and sputter.

This Sea Lion was a character!

And of course some fish……

The Day is changeable as we have had overcast, sun, more overcast, a few drips of rain….. but the views are enjoyable parked along the bay in Seward, AK

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Seward, AK

6-18-2013 – Arrived in Seward to continuing sunshine and warm weather. Seward has terrific RV parking right along the water. Wonderful views just across the bay…….

Earlier we saw Bald Eagles sitting on the posts. But for now the Cormorants have taken over.

And the Harlequin Ducks were neat to see too!

With weather changes coming decided to take the boat trip today.

Beautiful blue skies, greenish water and Kenai Mountains surrounding us. Glad to see there is still snow on those peaks.

Yippee --- our 1st Whale! Well just a tale!

And a few Seals along with another nesting area for Kittiwakes (one of the many of the Gull family)

And then the clouds moved quickly in and around

We met a cute otter – just relaxing by himself…..

Oh my, just look at those clouds roll by…..

Home again, and only a few drips of rain. Glad we took the boat trip Tuesday as Wednesday was cooler, a few more drips of rain and the clouds moved in to hide the mountain tops. That’s okay, need a day to relax as bit too.