Last day in Alaska

Our last day in Alaska was raining, but I did get a small sunrise. 

We were going to take a water taxi out to see wildlife but the water was too choppy. After a delicious breakfast with reindeer sausage at a local cafe, we headed north to Anchorage, about 4 hours. 

Here are pictures along the Seward Highway. Yes, that’s snow. Weather stations were warning people about their morning commute in the snow. 

Have an overnight flight home. That’s it for this fantastic trip. 

Visit the Sea Life Center in Seward and then On to Homer

We were so fortunate to visit the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward AND get a behind the scenes look from Julie Kim, Darlene Jury Ishler’s daughter. The exhibits were very well done and hearing Julie’s passion for the sea life was so heartening. Love it when people love what they are doing. 

Puffins




Touch and feel aquarium was so neat. 







The seal was doing antics for Linda. 

Octopus 

Now it’s on to Homer, Alaska. We are staying at the Lands End Resort that’s on the end of the spit in Homer, Alaska. 

We done a couple hikes here in Homer. One hike on the Baluga flats, we came upon this eagle that was determined to get something to eat and drink. He wasn’t moving. We were able to get within 15’ of him. 

A nature center hike. 




Since our room was at the end of the spit and overlooked Kachemak Bay, we had some nice sunsets, moon and sun rises. 

We’ve seen some seals playing in the bay but not close enough for a picture. 

Thursday is a gray, somewhat rainy day - so what do we do… visit a winery and. Brewery

Some pictures as we drove around Homer. 

Fireweed is all over the place. 

Lots of boats in the bay. 

The weather cleared enough that we had a sunset with a rainbow. 

Tomorrow we head to Anchorage to fly home. It’s been a fun trip with lots of experiences. 

Headed to Seward

Leaving Palmer behind, we headed down the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. 

Next we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.  We walked around to see the various animals. 

An Eagle and a raven watching us as we pulled into the parking lot. 

Muskox that had to repopulated from East Greenland to Alaska in 1930. 

Sita Black-tailed deer

Brown bear is also known as Grizzlies. 

Wood bison

Caribou

Coyote

The regal eagle. 

Porcupine 

Bear cub in his favorite tree 

Good stop, great informative exhibits. 

On the way to Seward, we stopped at Exit Glacier in the Kenai  Fjords National Park and hiked about 1.5 miles to the glacier. 

Seafood chowder and halibut bites for dinner then to the Sourdough Lodging for the night. 

Great day of exploration. 

No Northern Lights but saw moose

Unfortunately the clouds rolled in so we didn’t get to see any Northern Lights. Also it rained overnight and no chance to see the lights tonight so we decided to head south on the Old Richardson highway. There’s only 2 ways to go south. Since we drove the George Parks Highway (where we saw Denali) saber all times, we decided to try the other way to see new things. 

Not too far from Fairbanks, we came to one of the access points of the Alaska Pipeline. 

Then a few more miles from there we visited Rita’s Roadhouse Historic site. Built in the early 1900s, Rita ran this Roadhouse mostly herself. This was a stopping lace for travelers coming from Fairbanks to Valdez. 

Finally saw some moose -4 but only got one picture. They move fast. 

Once you’re finished looking at the moose, take a look at the trees. They are Sitka Spruce. They get high winds that thin out the needles at the tops. 

The famous Alaskan gravel roads were next - 20 miles. Glad we weren’t on motorcycles this time. 

We stayed the night in Palmer. Took a hike UP a small mountain called the West Butte. 

Dinner at the Alehouse. Good food and beer. Tomorrow we head to Seward