As they say – ‘it’s the journey not the destination’. So diversions and stops along the way are always good. While the morning’s destination was Seward, there were stops in Cooper’s Landing for gem panning, lunch and bear ‘hunting’. All objectives were accomplished – but the two bears were fleet of foot and pictures are not available;-)

Next stop, our new ‘home’ for two nights – Sourdough Sunrise B&B in Seward (and one of our favorites). Not only were the accommodations great, Richard & Sue (the owners) made sourdough pancakes every morning and were full of local information. The greeters on the way into Seward were a couple of Bald Eagles. Little did we know, an Eagle would be waiting for us at the B&B, too – –

The major event here was the Kenai Fjords tour into the Kenai Fjords NP – one more NP under the belt! The trip was iffy, due to weather, but came off perfectly. It was another cold, rainy day but none of the animals seemed to mind and the glacier calving was superb. The boats are quite comfortable with plenty of cozy room inside, bathrooms and food. Departure time was 8AM – and we were off for a 6 hour tour.

Kenai Fjords NP sits at the edge of the North Pacific Ocean and is a land dominated by at least 38 glaciers – massive rivers of ice that flow out from the Harding Icefield. The types of glaciers include valley, alpine and tidewater glaciers. The aim of this tour is to see tidewater glaciers, those that flow into the ocean, break off and crash into the water – calving. The NP is also home to whales, many birds and a variety of seals, otters, sea lions and porpoise. Let’s see how much we can see.

Leaving Resurrection Bay, the boat traveled into the ocean (where the storm surges rocked the boat like an E-ticket ride at Disneyland!) and into Aialik Bay to the tidewater glacier – Aialik Glacier.

After watching the main attraction of the glacier calving for some time, it was time to look for wildlife. Too many birds were seen to include, but Puffins are the cutest. The real attraction was the Orca whale, of which a couple of different groups were seen.

These were awesome to see!! All this excitement wore out our little pod of people;-)

Richard’s recommendation of The Clam Bake for dinner was just what was needed after such a cold day. They serve “Cheap Beer and Lousy Food”;-) AND, they were right next door to the B&B.

It was a sad farewell at breakfast the last morning – because we had to leave and it was the last breakfast of the great sourdough pancakes;-( One last tidbit of information for the way out – head over to Bear Lake and take a look at the hundreds of salmon now making their way upstream to spawn. Unbelievable – –

Seward was a nice end to a fantastic 13 days in Alaska. Three new National Parks for the Grands, several National Forests and many wonderful experiences we hope they will remember for a lifetime;-)

E&G – Grateful for the opportunity to share