Parental Advisory

In front of Holgate glacier

Summer is over in Alaska. We had our first snow yesterday - about an inch - and it was gone by the end of the day. The weather this summer was highly disappointing. It seemed to rain nearly every weekend. There were only a few weekends that seemed to have decent weather and I think our guests brought that good weather with them. The first visitors we had this summer were my parents in late July. My parents had as much sun in their trip as we'd had the entire summer to that point. We made good use of the abundant day light and clear skies.

Kelly and my parents spent the first few days of their visit touring around Anchorage. I was working on the railroad, all the live long day, and I could only break away for lunch during the day. We had a salmon bake the first night. It became a running theme for the rest of our guests this summer. Anyone who visits will get a delicious seafood dinner their first night in town.

Alyeska Resort

After a few days in town, we went South to Seward. Driving down to Seward with my parents was probably the first time I'd driven on the Seward Highway when it was sunny. It's a beautiful drive. On the way down we stopped at a few scenic overlooks and pulled off the highway to drive through Girdwood to Alyeska Resort. Neither Kelly nor I had been to Alyeska and my parents wanted to check out the view from the top of the mountain. The gondolas that normally transport skiers and snowboarders still run during the summer and take hikers and tourists up to the top for lunch, dinner, and mountainside hikes.

The gondola to the top

Still plenty of snow at the top

After lunch at the top we drove back down to the highway and continued on to Seward. A couple hours later we pulled into sunny Seward. My were all amazed how stunning Seward looks in the sun. We hung around town for a while until it was time to check into the cabin we rented.

Looking out across the harbor

The Moosewood Cabin

The cabin sat in the corner opposite the owners home, set back a bit 5 miles outside of Seward. The owners kept llamas on the property that they used to carry supplies while out on long hikes. Only two llamas were not out on a trip, one was retired and the other too young to travel. We went back into town for dinner and were just about to head into the restaurant when I got a call from the doggie daycare we left Ellsworth at for the weekend.

It seems that he was having some trouble settling down for the night. He had busted out of the fenced in dog run he was supposed to sleep in. The owner assured me that it wasn't a big deal. She moved him into the large open area the dogs play in during the day. This area is separated from the small dog area by a half wall door that was bolted shut. Ellsworth didn't like this either, and broke the bolt off the door. When it still wouldn't open, he hurtled the door and went to play with the small dogs. The owner rounded him up and moved him into the luxury dog suites, an area with a stronger fence and wood plank ceiling. When going back to make a final check, the owner said she saw Ellsworth at the top of the fence, 6 feet in the air, hanging by all his paws, trying to chew through the ceiling. Sadly, there are no pictures. Needless to say, Ellsworth did not spend the night, and can probably never go back. Thankfully we had friends who could take care of him over the weekend. After all the excitement my parents treated to a delicious seafood dinner in town and we called it an early night.

Stopped off to see Exit Glacier after dinner

The next day we had a 6 hour Kenai Fjords tour to hopefully see, whales, otters, eagles, seals, and sea lions. When we got up, we finally had typical Seward weather - cloudy, a bit of rain, and cool. My parents were hopeful that it would clear up, but I didn't have the heart to tell them it wouldn't. During our 6 hour trip we saw a dozen humpback whales, a sea otter, sea lions, seals, thousands of gulls, puffins, cormorants, maybe twenty killer whales, and bald eagles. It was an unbelievable trip.

Leaving the dock

5 minutes in we saw a Sea Otter

Humpback whales bubble feeding

Humpbacks

Bald Eagle

The first of the Killer whale pods we saw

The second pod of Killer whales

Seals

Sea Lions

Bears! Oh My!

We had a fantastic visit with my parents. Kelly and I saw parts of Alaska we hadn't seen before, and my parents were able to check off just about every animal from their wish list. We didn't see any bears (lives ones, at least), but we seemed to see Bald Eagles every time we left the house. My parents saw a Moose when they were out with Kelly, and the cruise took care of the rest. It should be pretty easy to find a set of new activities for my parents next visit.