Alaska - the interior - part 1

We got off of the ship at 8:45 AM in rain. The free Seward shuttle took us to our motel. Of course, we were too early to check in - by 7 hours! We were able to check our luggage. We went for a walk and stopped at a bakery for hot chocolate and a treat – it was nice to get out of the rain.

About 11 AM, we boarded our boat for the Major Marine Tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. Although it was very cool (actually cold), we were comfortable inside the boat. Ray did spend a lot of time outside though. We saw sea lions, 

porpoises, sea otters (they are adorable floating on their backs!), many pods of Orca whales (at one time there were at least 50 whales around us!), 

humpback whales, puffins (so fun to watch), a black bear, cormorants, eagles, and seagulls. It was a great trip but a little rough sailing at times. For dinner on the boat, we had salmon (some of the best I’ve ever had!) and prime rib. It really was a great day and the rain stopped when we got out a ways. When we returned to the dock, about 6 1/2 hours later, it was still raining is Seward!

The next morning, breakfast at the motel was interesting - instead of a waffle machine, they had a pancake machine! This is a new one for us - you just dial in the number of pancakes you want and push the button!

I just wanted one so I put a plate there to catch it and here it comes.

 It was pretty darn good!

After breakfast, we checked out the quilt shop, Sew’n Bee Cozy, a nice little shop! Seward is a neat little town. We actually wish we 'd had more time there. This was a neat building. 

While walking around Seward in a mist, we saw a magnificent rainbow against the mountains.  

There is still a lot of fog above it.


We headed over to get our rental car – ended up with a Dodge Durango. Before leaving the Seward area, we hiked to Exit Glacier. Can you see the people in the picture? They are a little more than halfway down on the right side.

It is really impressive to get so close to a glacier and to see how much it recedes each year. This one loses about a half inch every hour!