The Dirt Yacht only stayed clean for one day. By the time we drove the 155 miles to Seward, it was dirty and dusty again. We had several miles of road construction that contributed to the grime. There was also smoke from a nearby wildfire that probably contributed to some of the dust. This wildfire was in the same general location as the one we saw on our drive to Homer; however, this fire was larger and spread out in several locations. We spotted a helicopter dumping water from a large bag on the fire. We watched the helicopter drop down to a creek between the fire and the roadway to refill the bag before again dropping its load over the fire. I don’t know how much water the helicopter could drop at one time, but it didn’t look like more than a thimble full in comparison to the amount of fire. The fire had definitely grown in comparison to what we spotted on our trip into Homer a few days ago. That fire and smoke was the first time we had seen any active wildfire on this trip.
Our first two days at Seward were beautiful, clear days. After stopping at the Visitor Center for ideas of places to visit while in Seward, we headed to the harbor area to explore. We drove several miles along the shoreline looking at waterfalls and beautiful scenery. In one of the park areas near the Alaska Sea Life Center, we found a sign that said Seward was the original Mile 0 in the 1910 Seward to Nome Route for the Iditarod Trail. We were surprised to see another Fantasy group camping on the water. The views they had were phenomenal but they only had full hookups on the row closest to the road—right next to the sidewalks where we were told they had problems because anyone could walk by and take anything that was not tied down. We took the lady at the Visitor Center’s recommendation, and had dinner at the Thorn’s Showcase Lounge and Restaurant. It looked like a local hangout decorated in the 50’s, but their seafood chowder and halibut was fantastic! Some of the best chowder and halibut ever!
The next day we joined other caravan members at the Alaska Sea Life Center for the Puffin Experience. The Center boasts of a premier aquarium and is Alaska’s only permanent marine mammal rehabilitation facility. It was great to get such an up-close and personal experience at the Center. According to their website, the goal of their Science Program is to develop an understanding of the role of marine mammals, birds and fish in the arctic and subarctic marine ecosystems, and to generate scientific knowledge relevant to resource management and policy. Their projects focus on Alaska marine life and their environments. One of their researchers brought a Horned Puffin and a Rhinoceros Auklet for their demonstration. Even though it was her first time leading the Puffin Experience, she did an excellent job! Even if the Auklet did not want to cooperate and kept jumping around so it did not get to stay for long. We learned all about the puffins and the birds in the Center. Later in the day I got an even closure look when one come up to me while in their habitat in the Center. Well the puffin was really coming up to a trainer standing next to me and was looking for a handout! But she got close to me too!
In the afternoon we drove out to the Kenai Fjords National Park to see Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is the only part of the park accessible by road with short trails, viewpoints and a nature center. Some of the trails were closed due to an agressive bear with cubs but part of the Glacier View trail was open so we could take a short walk to view the glacier. The park has signs starting out near the entrance showing the glacier’s retreat since the 1800’s.
The beautiful clear days changed to smoke filled skies when the wind picked up and changed direction the next day in Seward. I could smell the smoke in the RV Park, but it was really noticeable when I went to Seward. Because of the strong wind with gusts over 30 knots, I decided to not go on the Kenai Fjords Resurrection Bay Wildlife Tour. and the lunch on Fox Island. While Randy went on the tour, I went into Seward to pick up a few groceries, fill up the Jeep with gas and to spend some time relaxing near the water. I was shocked at the difference from the views the previous days. The smoke was so thick that it burned my eyes and I could no longer see the mountains on the opposite side of the Bay. I could barely make out some of the boats coming into the harbor.
We had heavy smoke until late Sunday afternoon when the winds died down and the sun came out. Randy was able to go salmon fishing and had a great time. He went out with a different captain than some of the other caravan members when their charter was full. It was a good choice! This captain tagged your catch so that you took home what you caught, and our captain did not take any fish from the charter. I had never heard where a captain took part of your catch, but that is what he did on the other charter. Randy caught his limit of 6 silver salmon and a rock. I later learned that the rock was delicious!!! This rock looked similar to our grouper–nothing like our stripers. We ended up with 29 pounds of cleaned filets that we picked up from the processor eary the next morning before we left Seward. The smoke cleared up enough that we could have our Wagon Master and Tail Gunner dinner of pork loin, mashed potatoes and broccoli salad outside instead of inside in the small rec room. Of course, we also had dessert of raspberry bundt cake. The toughest part about being in Seward, other than the smoke, was missing Kat’s birthday. I know she had a good time, but I didn’t get to share it with her.
