Seward and Beyond

Seward/Anchorage/Willow/Talkeetna, AK – Sunday, August 14 thru Saturday, August 20, 2011

We ended up only 43 miles from Seward, AK on the 13th, so we got into town around 12:30 (early for us). We found the Iditarod City  RV Park with only 10 sites right on Resurrection Bay. No hookups, but only $15/night, right next to the Alaska SeaLife Center and walking distance to downtown.  Weather was overcast with rain. We only have one night here because we have to be in Anchorage on Monday night for our Tuesday (7:30am) appointment for BG generator oil change, so off we went to explore.

Seward is known as a city of murals, so we went to search for some.

We took this picture on our walk, it is not a mural, but a glacier in the mountains seen over the tops of the buildings.

Back to camp to dry out and relax. Great views and remnants of pilings. Seward sank about four feet due the 1964 earthquake. We also had a few otters swim by. And saw the cruise ship leave.

Some people don’t have sense enough to come in out of the rain, but when you have a great fire going on the beach, umbrellas work fine.

We decided to do the SeaLife Center on Monday thinking it would be less crowded. Turns out, not really. We are amazed at how busy things still are this late in the season. This was a really neat place. EJ wanted to see Puffins on this trip and she got her fill, up close and personal at the Seabird habitat. There were several types, rhino, tufted and horned. They are real show offs at times.

Here are some other exhibits we enjoyed.

We went out on the observation deck and looked out in the bay. We saw this otter just floating alone. We watched for awhile and thought something was wrong, but luckily he was just sleeping. When he got close enough to the shore, his head popped up and he looked like “where am I'” or “how did I get here?”

After a great time at the SeaLife Center we headed out to Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. Great hike right up next to the ice.

Didn’t get on the road to Anchorage until after 6pm. One advantage to going so late is the scenery has a different look.

Made it to Anchorage around 9:45 at the Cummins service center. Parked and called it a day.  Tuesday we spent getting maintenance done. Big Guy generator oil change, dash AC checked (working now, but not sure why), and Elemente 'oil change. We got through around 4pm and headed north hoping to miss the heavy traffic.

We went through Wasilla, but Sarah wasn’t there. We ended up in Willow, AK at the Willow Trading Post to camp. Not many sites and no one else was there, but it worked for us. They have a laundromat, and we are in need, so that’s what tomorrow will bring. We had two Sandhill cranes land near our site and found some interesting mushrooms at the edge of the woods.

Ended up spending two nights in Willow then off to Talkeetna, AK, an important Denali activities center and otherwise tourist town. We stopped at the visitors center at the Parks Hwy and Talkeetna Spur Rd to get some info. There are a few RV resorts down the road, but in town would be a little tight for BG. They told us we could camp there and take the car in (14 miles). Nice spot, the price was right (free), works for us. Of course it is still raining some, but off we went.

It is a very small town, about 5 streets long and 3 streets wide, but it has a lot going on. The Alaska Railroad comes through, it is on the confluence of 3 wild, glacially fed rivers (great fishing), and it has an interesting past with mining, trapping, trading, and mountaineering. Many of the original buildings are still in use today.

We had lunch one day at the Wildflower Café. Interesting building and Frank really enjoyed the variety of beers on tap they offered. The wall behind the bar is actually the side of a storage container that the taps are mounted on and the kegs are inside.

The town is really quaint and they are proud of their heritage. They moved and reused many of the old structures and one business is even run out of an Airstream trailer.

Things close up early, so we ended up staying another night just to enjoy more of the town. We missed the Denali Brewing Company yesterday and had to try their sampler.

Time to head out, Denali is calling. The drive up the Parks Hwy is really beautiful. We stopped at a rest area that had a wonderful Alaska Veterans Memorial.

We stopped about 50 miles south of Denali at a wayside camp area. The sun came out and we walked around and checked out the fireweed. This plant grows everywhere and is used as a weather predictor. Supposedly when the flowers are all gone and the stems turn brown, winter is here. From the looks of the ones we saw, we better get moving.

BG Miles Today	361	BG Total Miles	6953
Eat Out total $	833.05	BG Total Fuel $	3827.34
Entertainment total $	487.88	Total Camping $	1020.91
E Miles Today	121.9	E Total Miles	2189.6
E Total Fuel $	461.07	Day # of Trip	75 - 81