Fall? Already?

I feel like we're on an episode of Frozen Planet.  "The summer months are short in the far north.  Humans and animals alike scurry around in the fleeting sun, making the most of the time to travel and harvest before winter sets in yet again."

School starts in less than three weeks.  The fireweed is blooming, with the flowers already halfway up the stalk.  They say that when it reaches the top, there are 6 more weeks until winter.  Our streetlights came on last night around 10:15, the first time I have seen them on in months. Nowhere else we have lived have I paid such close attention to the weather, hours of daylight, and changing of seasons.  In Alaska, we truly live by the patterns of nature.

June went by in a flurry of outdoor activity.  Not long after we returned from our Great Alaskan Road Trip, word spread that the first salmon were running in the Kenai River.  Who were we kidding- we are more the Kodiak-style of salmon fishers, where you drive to a river, drop in your line, and reel in fish with ease.  We definitely are not the Kenai Peninsula style of combat salmon fishermen, who line the banks of the Russian and Kenai Rivers, hollering at each other to keep their flies in their own shoulder-width allotment of the riverbank.  But that didn't stop us from packing up our camping gear and heading out of town on an hour's notice for a Father's Day weekend initiation into family tent camping. We went with some good friends and had just about every piece of gear we needed between us all.  We snagged the last public campsite in a 40-mile radius and had a blast.  We also tried fishing...for about 15 minutes.  There was no room for amateurs.

Washing dishes in the Kenai River

Combat Fishing Zone

We had so much fun the first time, that the next sunny stretch of days (about 2 weeks later!) we headed out again.  This time it was to Captain Cook State Recreation Area, past Nikiski.

Boulder Scrambling

Alaska's natural playground

Serious discussions at a beach campfire

We did learn a few Alaskan camping tips:
-Darkness comes late (or not at all).  We used a black-backed quilt thrown over the top of our tent to help everyone get to sleep.
-All food belongs in vehicles or bear lockers at night to avoid unwelcome visitors.
-Keep bear spray within easy reach of all adults at camp--and don't spray it around the perimeter of camp as a deterrent (that was actually stated in the instructions that came with the spray- ha!).
-Starbucks Via packets make perfect camp coffee.
-Bring a propane stove if you intend to have coffee in a timely manner in the morning, as most of the firewood around is damp.

The end of June brought the departure of the LT, who has been floating around somewhere off the western coast of Alaska ever since.   He has managed to visit with several native Alaskans along the way and promises to bring home a bounty of unique souvenirs of his journey.  Shell was supposed to begin drilling in the Arctic Ocean this summer but has (fortunately??) run into several delays. You can read more about that here, as I'm not at liberty to say much else about the subject.

July brought us lots of rainy days, as well as some visitors.  We gave them the full Alaskan experience, including clamming (but no clams!), halibut fishing, glacier cruising, and dog mushing.

A side trip offshore for ling cod while halibut fishing

The most beautiful day on Resurrection Bay

Surprise Glacier

Floating on bergy bits (no, really, that's the technical name)

Another visit to Seavey's Ididaride

Even though it's now August, we have a couple more adventures coming up before settling in for the fall.  First, it's to Denali National Park again, this time on the Alaska Railroad.  We will also be spending Labor Day weekend at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, about an hour north of Anchorage.  We are lucky to have a school that sees the value in family travel and doesn't mind a missed day here and there!  Until then, we will be savoring our last couple of weeks of swim lessons and beach time before having a first-grader and pre-k-er while looking forward to the LT's return.  We have crossed quite a bit off our Alaska bucket list this summer, with mostly winter activities remaining.  We are also already (!!) working on our list of locales to be stationed next tour.  That's right, we have to move again next summer.  So let's just focus on the now for now.

A Family Weekend in Seward

This summer has gone by so fast!  With signs of fall all around (foggy, rainy skies and fireweed blossoms reaching the tops of their stalks), we realized that is was now or never for one last summer adventure.  Seward is only about a 3-hour drive from Homer, just far enough for a getaway.  Even better, Seavey's Ididaride Dog Sled Tours and Abode Well Cabins agreed to host us for the weekend so we could review them for trekaroo.  When the kids heard "sled dogs" they couldn't contain their excitement!

We hit the road early Saturday morning in a downpour, which was actually the first real rain storm we've had all summer.  After a quick stop in Cooper Landing to peek over the bridge and get some coffee, we arrived in Seward shortly before lunch time.  It was still raining, which was not a surprise, so we took cover at the Bakery at the Harbor for lunch.  After lunch, it was still raining, so we went to the only indoor attraction around- the Alaska SeaLife Center.  I think we were spoiled by the Mystic Aquarium.  Both aquariums have Alaskan animal exhibits, but the one in Mystic surprisingly has a much better layout and more exhibits that small kids will enjoy.  Even with Little Man getting in for free and the rest of us getting a military discount, we spent nearly $50 on admission and were pushing it to keep the kids occupied for an hour before getting bored.  For adults and much older kids, it may be more interesting as there are lots of things to read about at each exhibit and some really cool artwork to enjoy.

Watching the harbor seals 

Octopus tentacles

Next we headed to check into our cabin at Abode Well, which is located on Old Exit Glacier Road.  It's just far enough out of town to be quiet and peaceful, yet close enough to be a 10-minute drive to the shops and restaurants.  We stayed in their family cabin, which has 2 bedrooms, a full kitchen, and sleeps up to 8 people.  We're so glad to have found it, as it will be a great place to stay next summer when we will have lots of family members headed our way.

Before dinner, we made a quick trip (still in the rain) to Exit Glacier.  We've seen glaciers before, so it wasn't anything new to us.  The thing that makes this glacier special is its location.  To get there you travel through the Resurrection River valley, surrounded by towering mountains.  The drive alone is worth the trip.  Since Exit Glacier is part of Kenai Fjords National Park, it has a great visitors center with a park ranger on hand to answer questions.  We were able to fit in a walk of the Glacier View Loop trail, and hope to go back next time and take the trail that goes right up the glacier's "toe"--which apparently is what they call where the glacier meets the water.

Exit Glacier

Next it was on the the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake for dinner.  The LT had been there several times before when the ship he was stationed on in Kodiak spent time drydocked in Seward, so we knew what to expect.  Or so we thought.  We have decided that the halibut nuggets were, surprisingly, the best fried halibut we have ever had.  Ever.  Yum!  It was so good, in fact, that we considered going for dinner again the next night.

After dinner, we returned to our cabin tucked in the woods, where the kids were able to go to bed- in separate rooms, even- while we enjoyed the lack of TV (oh, but we had a computer...and wifi...and may have watched an episode of The Glades) before turning in ourselves.

Sunday morning we woke up to clearing skies and made a quick breakfast in the cabin's kitchen before heading to Lowell Point for a hike that was recommended to us by another Coast Guard family who recently moved from Seward.  Our destination was Tonsina Creek via the Coastal Trail.  We weren't quite sure how long the hike was going to be, since every map and description of the trail we came across showed a different distance.  We're pretty sure it was between 3 and 4 miles round-trip.  The kids are turning out to be great little hikers, and no one complained of being tired until halfway through the return trip.  The trail was very muddy, and had actually turned into a stream at some spots, due to the several preceding rainy days, but lucky for us the sun was finally shining.  The last portion of the hike, down several switchbacks to Tonsina Creek, gave spectacular views of the mountains and bay. The creek itself was full of spawning salmon (which is why we were warned of bears in the area, but didn't see any) and lots of seagulls eating lunch.

View from Tonsina Creek

We picked up lunch for ourselves again at the Bakery at the Harbor, mainly because it was the only place we knew that we could get something easy to go, but were disappointed for the second time in a row with their service.  The food was okay, but nothing as exciting as its status of #2 restaurant in Seward on TripAdvisor makes it out to be.  We enjoyed the layout of the Family Cabin once again while the kids napped, and then it was on to the highlight of our weekend--the sled dog tour!

We all had a favorite part of meeting with the sled dogs and going for a ride (which in the summer is on a wheeled "sled" that seats 6 and is equipped with hydraulic breaks because the dogs are so strong).  I loved watching the yard full of dogs jump around and bark while the mushers were choosing who got to go for a run.  You could tell they were just so excited that they couldn't stand it...it's obvious that these dogs love what they do.  The kids loved the ride itself.  Adventure Girl grabbed my hand several times while the dogs were racing ahead to whisper, "This is so cool."  Little Man loved watching the dogs take breaks along the way (they stop frequently on summer runs to keep cool, as they are used to racing in temperatures of 30-40 below zero).  Each stop they sniffed around and constantly looked back at the musher to see if they were allowed to run again.  I think The LT's favorite part was meeting the 9-week-old puppies.  They were cuddly and adorable, and not nearly as crazy as you expect puppies to be.  Our tour ended with a demonstration of the gear that the dogs and mushers wear while racing, and a chance to try it all out ourselves.  The kids chose a book about sled dogs from the gift shop before we walked back to our cabin.  Along the way we came across several little bunnies!

"Pick me, pick me!"

Getting harnessed up

Since the ground was still pretty wet, we decided to forgo our plans of a campfire with hot dogs and s'mores and instead headed back to town for dinner.  We ended up at the Railway Cantina, which turned out to be just perfect for us- affordable, delicious, fast, and a great view of town.  Then we walked down the street for some ice cream and a quick visit to the harbor before heading back to the cabin.

Downtown Seward

Right after we put the kids to bed, The LT spied a black bear right outside our window, eating the berries from the tops of the devil's club plants.  We got the kids back up to watch it roam the grounds for awhile before it disappeared back into the forest.  We're glad we got the chance to observe the bear from inside rather than come across one while out hiking!

Right out our window!!

The next morning it was rainy again and time to head home. What a great way to spend the last days of summer!  We will definitely be returning to Seward next year, as we now have a list of other places there that we didn't get a chance to visit.