RoadNotes: Slowly Approaching Seward

Exit Glacier Road Pullout, Seward, AK – July 30, 2014

Our mornings rarely result in an early departure and this morning was no exception. We thought we would wait an appropriate amount of time for the early risers to have already stopped at Fred Meyer and done their business. After boondocking for 6 or 7 nights, we were also in need of a dump and fill and Fred Meyer has the necessary facilities for accomplishing this. It’s a well stocked grocery store and it even has a Starbucks. Another welcome feature is that they are happy to have RVs stop here and stay over night knowing they will spend lots of money in the store.

However, our well laid plans soon ran into a snag. It appears that not all the other campers got the early start message. This was the line to get to the dump station. If you look at the left of the picture, you can see “Big Guy” waiting patiently for his turn. It took an hour to get through this line. The fresh water fill was what was slowing everyone down. In the meantime, EJ got Frank a Starbucks coffee to make the wait more tolerable and also some last minute groceries.

Then, since Fred Meyer had pretty decent fuel prices we decided to fill up. It took half an hour to get through that routine. This store is in an excellent location and everyone going to the Kenai Peninsula has to pass by here. And most of them stop.

All duties attended to, we continued on up the highway to where the Sterling intersects the Seward highway. Coming down here a couple of weeks ago, traffic going in the direction we were now traveling was backed up for miles waiting to get through this intersection. Since the salmon net fishing season was winding down, we were counting on this no longer being an issue.

But fate had another treat in store for us. Just past Cooper Landing, traffic came to a complete halt. We are only 8 miles from the intersection, so we hope that isn’t the problem. It must be a wreck. Hope it’s not a bad one.

We’re stopped right next to a grocery store and an espresso hut. We watch as folks leave their cars parked on the highway and walk over to get a coffee or a bite to eat for lunch. Hmm, they must know something.

After 20 –30 minutes traffic begins to move again. First we see the tow trucks but no wreck. Then we see an 18 wheeler laying over on its side by the edge of the road.

Traffic returns to normal, and we decide to ditch our original plan of staying over to explore Cooper Landing. If you don’t fish, there’s not much else to do there. We make it to the intersection with no more problems and turn right to head to Seward.

Along the way we enjoy more outstanding scenery.

We had read in “Days End” about some boondocking spots along the Resurrection River. We land there and disconnect the Element to run into town to check out the Iditarod Campground which is where we want to stay while in Seward.

On the way we check out Exit Glacier NP and plan on exploring it later.

When we get to the campground, there’s one spot available and while we sit there trying to decide if we want to go get BG and stay here tonight, someone else pulls in and claims it. So we head back to Resurrection River to enjoy the peace and quiet.

And our wildlife sighting for the day was this flock of ducks swimming furiously against the swift current instead of flying to where ever they were going.