An Alaskan Adventure - My 49th in the 49th on the 49th Anniversary of Statehood

Friday June 27, 2008: The long ride from Portland to Dallas to Anchorage

On this Friday, I had to pay the piper, so to speak. I had used American Airlines "Anytime" frequent flyer miles. This means I had to pay twice as many points as normal to get a seat and avoided all the restrictions of normal ff. However, the catch turned out to be that I had to fly from Portland all the way to Dallas (3 1/2 hours) in order to catch American Airlines ONLY flight to Anchorage (one in, one out each day). A bummer indeed, but it allowed me to avoid getting an extra flight on Alaska Airlines (normally American's partner on "normal" frequent flyer) and an additional $400 or so. I reasoned that a retired person had time to spend at that rate to sit on an airplane - a 757.

I got up around the "crack" of dawn - I think I heard it- and got my bags, checked out and left the Hotel just a couple of blocks from the light rail. I caught it about 6 AM for the 20 minute ride to the airport and my 8:00-ish flight. Friends from Cary, Leo and Linda Stander had agreed to take my light "dress-up" clothes back to North Carolina with them and this allowed me to have only one bag in Alaska which turned out to be a good thing upon the return when I needed to use that bag allowance for a box of fish. The 20 minute ride to the airport was smooth and allowed me once again to use my status as "honored citizen" with an 80 cent ride - amazing!

I got on the flight with no problems and no bag fees. The persons in the seats next to me (I had a window in anticipation of the flight up the AK coast) were a judge from Lufkin, Texas and his mid-20's daughter. He was already "garbed out" in fly fishing vest and other paraphernalia of a fly fisherman. They were to take a sea plane from Anchorage to wherever the lodge was (rather far away) and be ready to fish the next morning. They were friendly but not particularly talkative to me or to each other. We flew over Cook Inlet as we landed in Anchorage and it was approaching 7:30 PM (one hour time difference from Portland, 4 from NC).
The sky was a bout cloudy and overcast with an intermittent drizzle. It looked fresh and green, but I was sure it was a forewarning of a rainy week to come. As it turned out, that was just a bad thought!

We landed in the Ted Stevens airport in Anchorage. It was a bit dreary looking inside; reminded me a little of the Moscow Airport. At the time I did not appreciate who Ted Stevens is. Maybe the old rule of not naming buildings, etc after living beings is a good one. Apparently, he has brought a lot of gold back from DC to Alaska over the years in the Senate (Bridge to Nowhere?). Since I was going to a B&B for the night and just waiting till 2 PM the next day with no plans or sights to see (I had originally planned to arrive on Saturday but opted for the security of being the first one of the three of us to arrive), I took a cab. The lady (Irene) at the Alaskan/Europpean B&B had told me it was just a little ways and would be about $10. I learned two things - a "little ways" to an Alaskan can be many miles! Also, that those who don't ride cabs, don't normally have a clue what the cab costs (about $24 with tip, in this case!). However with the high cost of rental cars, (about $80/day plus insurance, gas, fees, etc.), it was still a good choice. I arrived there by 8:15 or so and Irene told me that there was a good place to eat "just down the street" a short walk. It turned out to be about 1 1/2 miles!

When I got to the restaurant she recommended (The Moose's Tooth) there was a Friday night crowd waiting and it would have taken about an hour to get a seat. Same at two Itallian places nearby and the Subway had closed for the evening. So, the golden arches called me and I walked over to their establishment and had a McKinley Burger. It was three stacks of meat and was huge! Apparently, they were not used to anyone ordering it without the french fries, but once we got that communicated, we were OK and I had a tummy filler to say the least, topped off with a small dip of ice cream (custard). I got back to the B&B by 9:30 and it was still plenty daylight and no sprinkle. Actually, I never saw it dark the whole week in Alaska as it was always daylight when I went to bed and daylight when I got up. On the way to eat, I passed an office of CH2M Hill, a consulting firm. I had occasion to talk to some of their people in Portland that I knew and they mentioned they had an office there. In a city of 300,000 or so (almost half the total population of the state) it was ironic that I was "just down the street."

Apparently though, there is a bit of dark sometime after midnight for sometime. I sat and watched TV and talked with a young pair from Minnesota who were going opposite ways on a working trip. He was going from some remote lodge to Minnesota and left that evening. She was going from Minnesota to that same lodge. They were apprently staff and I believe from the same high school in Minnesota. Another guy was from Michigan and single and was heading down to Seward on Saturday by train to catch the cruise ship leaving to go South. A rather large Japanese family had arrived at some awful time that day from Japan and were leaving about 4 AM to go someplace else, but I never really saw them, just a glimpse down the hall. I don't think they spoke much English. However, Irene speaks 7 languages (not Japanese) and grew up in The Hague, Netherlands.

My room had two twin beds so I picked the one that looked most comfortable. I rearranged some of my clothes so that I could keep a jacket handy (temps were in the 40's and 50's when I arrived. I pulled the rubberized (light killing) drapes and went to bed early (late by my body clock).

Saturday, June 28, 2008 A day in waiting and then transport to Seward

I slept well and arose before the rest of the crew. I made the coffee (pre-set) and sat down to read the paper but it was only minutes before people began coming and going. Irene appeared about 7:30 (not sure where her husband was at the time) - they winter at their place near Phoenix, AZ - and began making custom breakfasts. I had a simple egg/toast breakfast with some of her rubarb-mixture jellies. Before the week was over, I realized that there must be a fixation on rubarb in cold climates as I saw it in several places, including the B&B in Denali.

The Michigan guy and myself walked over to a nearby mall. It was not unusual, but had a Fred Myer store with a Starbucks inside. I gathered that Fred Myers is a west-coast and Alaska equivalent to WalMart. It had everything. I bought a few extra lithium batteries for my camera which seemed to be sucking batteries dry in short intervals. Though I had coffee earlier, I could not pass up getting another cup of black bold coffee of the day at Starbucks. I walked separately back to the lodging as the MI guy had gone to do some other chores in the mall. I was surprised that they were paving and doing construction on some of the residential streets on a Saturday, but I reasoned that since they don't have many Summer days, they probably have to make use of all of them that they get. I did not know what their hours are but wouldn't be surprised if they did not work extra while they have daylight.

The young lady from Minnesota needed to be at the airport a little after noon and since I did not have anything specific to do, we shared a cab back to the airport. It was a couple of dollars cheaper on this trip, maybe because the driver knew the short way. I got something (bleh!) to eat and waited for Charles (former fellow co-worker) to arrive on Delta. When he arrived about 2:30 PM, we took the shuttle over to the Budget rental place and picked up the car; just before 3PM when it was reserved for. We got a Ford Fusion which was a fairly good size for the three of us, and got just over 30 mpg for the week (mix of road, city and mountain).
We then drove back to the other terminal and parked and waited in the terminal for a while till my son Jeff arrived on Continental. As it turned out, all three of us came on planes that were on time, and perhaps more importantly, no lost bags!

I had the ticket for the parking and tried to use the automated machine to pay so we could exit quickly. Nearly an hourlater and after talking to several people "over the phone" and the security guard outside, they told us to go on to the gate and they would just let us out. My machine was still flashing my name and causing me to be concerned as to how many times my credit card was being charged the $2, as it flashed about every 10 seconds. When we got to the parking lot gate, the guy was oriental and did not speak good English, but he had a strict sense of following procedures. Although we told him what we were told to do and he accepted what the end action would be, he would not short circuit the bureaucracy and let us out. We had to pull out of the way of others exiting several times while he was on the phone and I was getting pretty aggravated by this time. Finally, the dam broke, he said OK, the gate raised and we left. I never did get overcharged for the parking, but was really concerned till I got that bill a few days later. Off to Seward!

The two hour drive to Seward from Anchorage starts out along the Cook Inlet which normally has about 12 foot tides. The Alaskan Railroad runs from Seward to Anchorage, to Denali, to Fairbanks, so would be a great train ride and it is used by many tourists, especially those who come/go by cruise ship to Seward. You can walk from the ship to the train. The drive was beautiful! Many mountains had snow, either on top, or sprawling down the sides in drivels of white against a green or dark stone gray background. We were told that the Cook Inlet (Yes, Captain Cook was here as well as the South Pacific) has conditions once or twice a year where the tides reach 30 feet or so and come in within a 15 minute period. They call them the "Board Tides" and during that time, there are lots of people who anticipate them and take their surf boards out and surf the tide up the inlet - several miles. The Inlet has many pull-offs and places to take pictures. There are also apparently many whales that come in here but not during the time we were there. Signs were posted to discourage (fines) anyone from irritating the protected Belugas. The drive was intermittently clear and then cloudy.

We arrived in Seward about 7 PM and checked into the Seward Military Resort, which I have access to by merit of being a retired Commissioned Officer in the USPHS. It is kind of like a nice summer camp for adults. It has camping and a few Yurts, but primarily motel rooms and a few two bedroom townhouses. It is about 1/4 mile from down town Seward harbor area. We had a motel style room with microwave and small frige and was quite adequate. Another twin bed and room to put it could have made it a bit better, but we were well accommodated. The fish house is here and was described to me as "the finest gutting facility in Alaska." Who was I to argue; it certainly was nice and provided what we needed. What it did NOT have was a good place to eat beyond a small "bar and grill" which specialized in things like burgers.

By this time, we were ready to get something to eat. No one had had anything but snacks since breakfast, wherever that might have been. The resort staff made a good recommendation (Ray's on the harbor) and we were off. A short wait and I had opportunity to order the infamous halibut cheeks. Jeff and Charles had their choice and this turned out to be the best meal we had all week (in my estimation). We sat there looking out the window at (hundreds?) a fleet of all sized boats. The Seward Harbor never freezes, so it stays open all year.

We pulled our creaking aching bods back to the room and pulled the heavy drapes to keep out the light and then we hibernated for a few hours. A long day!

Sunday June 29, 2008 - Off to the Fjords!

We soon learned that Charles remains an early riser (He comes to work at 6:30 AM) no matter what time zone he is in. Jeff likes to catch a few extra winks, and I am someplace in between. So, ultimately, we were fairly compatible in our needs for shower, and other facilities. We all like to eat at most available occasions.
We decided to go get something to eat and look around Seward a bit before our 10 AM tour boat that we had scheduled. There were only 10 who had signed up for the resort's boat tour on Sunday so they arranged a commercial tour instead from a choice of 3 or 4. They were similarly priced to the captive one, so that was OK. And, instead of having to pack and bring a lunch, the commercial one provided a lunch.

We ate breakfast at a Chinese Restaurant which had a large breakfast sign outside. We were a bit leary of what it might be, but the Peruvian waitress who came to greet us said that there was a buffett that consisted of a few items that were pre-prepared and that whatever we wanted they would cook it for us fresh. We had a variety of food, with central focus on sausage and eggs, but it was interesting and good. We got "fresh" French toast and more coffee as a chaser. It turned out to be very nice and probably about as cheap for breakfast as can be found in the area. A bagel and cream cheese is on the order of $6-7 alone in the places we visited. Though we did not get back to this place, we would recommend it. And you don't have to fight a crowd.

We meandered down to the docks, parking in a dirt lot a block away to save the $10 paved lot parking - cheap skate, but it paid for our breakfast. We had extra time before the boat loaded (The Glacier Express) to go on the day's tour and walked about looking at the other boats. The one parked next to the Glacier Express was Polar something and was from New Zealand (no explanation). It was just recently delivered and had two 20 foot or so dingies on deck for short term marine transport. It had 4 visible deck hands shining chrome, cleaning portholes, and generally putting on the spit shine. The Glacier Express (GE) would hold about 350 tour passengers on three decks, and this boat/ship was larger! The word on the dock was that it was just the owner and his wife and that they had just taken delivery at a price rumored to be over $4 Million! Nice bath tub toy!

We loaded on the GE finally and got on the front inside next to the door that leads on to the bow deck which is open with railings and very "non-level" in general shape. They only let people out there when the boat stops so that they can see better (e.g. whales) and get good vantage points for picture taking. As we got underway, the local born/raised captain gave us a lot of information. For example, the body of water that comes into Seward keeps the temp above freezing most of the year and when President Harding visited the area in his term, they had told his staff that they were going to name a landmark after him, but whatever that was he did not think it was grand enough but has the word dribbled back to them that "Harding Straits" would be a good substitution. They made it so. However, while there (or perhaps before) Harding got a cold which progressed so that when he got to Seattle for the next leg of his trip, he died.

Whatever you call it, the exit (several miles) out of the inlet is very spectacular. On the right going out is the Kenai Fjords National Park. It is accessible by land from an entrance just out of Seward about 10 miles and from another entrance further back toward Anchorage. The Park headquarters is actually in downtown Seward right by the Harbor. It is a "fee-free" National Park with lots of wildlife and hiking, at least in the summer. But in the harbor inlet, and on the way through the Harding Straits, snow-capped mountains come right to the water forming a spectacular adhesion of earth to water in unison with the earth then kissing the clouds and Carolina Blue sky. The captain informed us that a river/water-formed valley comes to a "V" shape. However, the harbor and straits, having been formed by glaciers are in the shape of a "U." All tour long, the captain was spouting forth much good information and insights such as that. We found that he was particularly into birds (puffins, and other such). Of particular amusement was the commentary on the sea otters. These little beasts (maybe 4' long) like to float on their backs with all fours sticking up and watch the silly boat people float by. They seem aloof! They also carry a stone on their chest. When they get hungry, they dive down to the bottom, get a clam or whatever bivalve they choose, and assume their "4's up" position, progressing to crack the shell on the rock on their chest in order to eat it. Pretty clever little gremlin!

Our first glacier spied was the Bear Glacier. It looked huge, but since we were going to a larger one, we passed it by at a distance. By this time, the overcast/drizzle was beginning to pass. We spied several whales. Since I don't know the names that go with the right whale, I dare not say which is which, except the Orca, the black and white ones are also known as the Killer Whales, I think. It was pretty hard to tell which kind they were as they were not very playful that day. They showed their tail up out of the water, but they did not dive to the bottom and come up out of the water as you often see in pictures/videos. The captain said that meant they were not hungry. During the trip we saw several, on different occasions. Some could have been the same ones, but the captain seemed to recognize them by their markings. They opened the door and stopped the boat when we saw whales and sea lions, etc. We also passed several dens/groups/herds(?) of sea lions and Stellar sea lions. To my knowledge/recollection, we did not see any seals. From a distance, though we were close by cruise ship terms, they all look quite similar to a novice. And birds, birds, birds everywhere. Some cliffs or rookeries were full of nests and presumably eggs. The overwhelming abundance of birds was sea gulls, but the captain seemed to be able to distinguish beak differences, etc. somehow. I sure couldn't tell one from the other.

On the way out to the glaciers, we had a lull in scenery and the meal they provided was served. It consisted primarily of a bagel with cream cheese and a big chunk/slab of smoked salmon. Normally, salmon is a bit strong for me but this was excellent! It was informal but filling and tasty. The apple that came with it was pocketed for a later bite. The boat would hold about 350 maximum, but we had just over 200 on board, so the line was not bad and it did not take long to collect the snacks. Coffee, hot chocolate and soft drinks were always available and complimentary ($included in the ~$150+ ticket!).

Off in the distance we began to see the speck of another tour boat. It was in front of the Alysia Glacier and Pedersen Glaciers which at one time formed one glacier. The Alysia is larger and is 1000' high and 3/4 mile wide. As we got closer the scale unfolded and it was obvious how large it was. We circled a bit and then the captain got the boat very (few hundred yards) close to the glacier and shut off the engines so we could hear the groaning and bursting sounds when the calves dropped. They were not huge chunks relative to the face or to an iceberg, but still were sizable chunks of ice. When they popped off and into the water, it was almost like a distant cannon went off. One side of the glacier is black/dark with sediment as it makes a stiff turn a ways before the face. Up on the side of the wall above the dark sediment were a small herd of Dahl Sheep. Goats are prolific in the area also, but they are both very hard to see as they become mere specks up on the side of a mountain. They prance around as light footed on the rocky surface as a ballet dancer on a flat stage.

We got back into port by a bit after 3 PM, having a full viewing experience of what

Next after a break - Monday June 30, 2008: Gone Fishing, Just for the Halibut!