Seward: Part Deux

Since our day trip into Kenai Fjords National Park was cancelled last fall due to inclement weather, we opted to reschedule for the summer when we were more likely to see whales, and we invited some friends to come along.  We stopped at the Russian River again for a little fishing, not catching.  Salmon Beware: One way or another, we're going to get you!

There is a military "resort" in Seward (more like a posh fish cleaning station).  The place is nice, but the draw for most seems to be the reduced price fishing charters and the fish cleaning house.  It was pretty full in the evening with cutting, gutting, filleting and vacuum sealing.  How nice not to do that at your house or hotel though.  Anyway, all of the hotel rooms and condos were booked, so lucky for Brian and the kids, we had to camp.   We used the ship's morale tent again.  The new camp mats were a great improvement, but a four person tent is too small for us.  We can't fit any stuff inside, so we left everything in the car parked by the really nice and new bathhouse.  We kept walking to the car to change clothes or get a toothbrush or whatever.  We had more amenities than the average camper in Alaska... café on site, hot showers, flush toilets, and a playground, but we experienced the more traditional aspects of camping as well:  s'mores, canned beer, and cramped sleeping.  Jessie dog loves the tent.  She sleeps at the end of the sleeping bags and whenever anyone makes any attempt to sit up she stands and wags her tail (Is now the time we go out?).  The tent is so small and her tail so powerful that it hits three of the four walls making loud noises and sending me in full panic mode that she will wake the children and I will have to begin my day at a dreadful hour.  All in all the kids slept pretty well as they played hard all day and stayed up late.

We stayed two nights and took a 6 hour day trip into Prince William Sound to Kenai Fjords National Park on a high speed catamaran on day two. 

Heading out into Resurrection Bay

 

The captain looked like he was 12 years old, so we were all a bit worried, but Brian and our friend Jay, an Alaska Marine Highway Pilot, gave everything the once over and away we went.
Seward is known for overcast skies and rainy weather, so we felt lucky that not only was the sky blue and the temperature around 60, but the seas were calm as well.
We saw a humpback whale and calf frolicking, several orca whale sightings including a large, lone whale, mama and juvenile (pictured below), and a small pod. 

We also saw a stellar sea lion colony,

sea otters,

 

 

puffins, and dall's porpoise.  The porpoise were by far my favorite as they love to play in the bow wake and swim along with the boat. They have the coloring of an orca, but are obviously much smaller.  They were fast and playful and worth looking up if you've never heard of them.  I just decided to enjoy them with the kids and not bother trying to mess with the camera.

Next, we hit Holgate Glacier.

 

We sat and watched the glacier for 15 minutes or so and saw it calve, or drop ice chunks into the water, several times.  It was the coolest.

Who knew it sounded like dynamite when a few chunks of ice fall into the ocean?  The crew scooped up several small and large pieces of floating ice in a net and let all the children (and me) hold it.

Then, they chopped up the ice and used it to serve margaritas for the ride back. James, a bit exhausted from the late nights camping this week, fell asleep for about an hour on what could be considered the dashboard of the catamaran.  It was precious, as are all sleeping children really.

While James was sleeping, Kate was sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger for her work on board, receiving a badge before we docked.

All and all it was a great trip for the family time, wildlife sightings, and time with friends.