Daily Archives: August 5, 2019

Alaska Day 8

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Last day. This day made Anchorage not so bad. But still… Anchorage is ick.

  • Went to the Anchorage market and met some cool local artists.
  • Watched salmon fishermen in the local waters
  • Went to the Anchorage Museum (Art and Culture stuff)
  • Hit up a few local artists galleries/shops
  • Champagne and oysters at Bubbly Mermaid
  • Zazu drink and fries at Tequila 61

After many failed attempts to see a moose, and one blurry shot from earlier in the week of a baby moose, we finally saw one near the airport on our way out. The below poem was written when we saw the baby moose. But it feels fitting to put here. 

THE ELUSIVE MOOSE
The elusive moose is a mamma moose 
And she drinks the sweet berry mountain juice.
The elusive moose is one to seduce
And she trollops with her calf at caboose.
The elusive moose seems to be a recluse
And our time is up so me must vamoose.

This poem is for our tourguide, who really was awesome. 🙂

ADAM
He's a wealth of information
With careful pauses of   ...  consideration.
He narrates as he drives the shuttle
With dad jokes that aren't too subtle.
Talking for hours with tales galore
He'll keep on going, even if you snore.
He'll get your ticket and get you there
And tell you exactly how, when, and where.
Be on time and don't be late.
The stress that'll cause him is too great.
He works hard to ensure our happy trip
So we will be sure not to forget his tip!

Alaska Day 7

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Day 7 was our boat ride to the Kenai Fjords. Absolutely unbelievable. We saw seals, otters, bald eagle, puffins, orca whales, comorans, and some other bird related to the penguin and living up on the cliffs with puffins. Oh, and we saw climate change and global warming in effect with the glaciers. But that’s not real, right?

I can’t fit all the photos onto this post so I will make a second one… that one will have the whales and other wildlife…

Please excuse any crooked shots. Not easy taking photos on a boat, and dude, I don’t have time to go through and straighten all of them. Just pretend you are on the boat.

  • Woke up for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. They had a vegan sausage skillet scramble. Yum.
  • Loaded onto the boat for Kenai Fjords tour. Big ol boat with lots of folks on it. I found that I liked riding in the very front like a mermaid on a mast, the best. 🙂 Some good wave jumping action there and the best spot to scout the wild life.
  • Headed to the glacier first, and then to see a pod of orcas that was spotted, and then over to the cliffs where the puffins hang out.
  • Headed back to Anchorage. Most folks were a little wheezy from sea sickness, but that doesn’t affect me and I had all the free refills on coffee I could stand!
  • Pit stop somewhere on the Seward Highway. Grabbed some delicious ice cream.
  • Back to Anchorage- and low and behold- the crumby Aviator screwed up our reservation. Too long and complicated to explain, but just don’t ever stay there!!!!
  • Didn’t really eat dinner this night.
  • But did have more ice cream from Wild Scoops!!! I had some pea berry flavor with matcha almond cookie crumbles and of course, the baked alaska on top. Duh.
  • Walked around a bit, and then off to reorganize the packing for our departure the next day.

There is one poem… but I will save that for the Alaska Day 7 Part 2 post. 🙂

Alaska Day 6

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On our way to Seward this day! An oceanside town, with a large fishing industry. Set against the backdrop of the mountains, this town easily became my favorite!

  • Shuttle to Seward… amazing views with little rays of light peeking through. The horizon seemed to go on forever fading away.
  • Quick look from the street of the Alaska Wildlife Center where we saw buffalos and a moose (the moose was too far away)
  • Stopped for a pit stop at a little coffee/ice cream shop. Cute location with a lake and Mountains of course. I did cartwheels. It just felt right.
  • Passed over Kenai lake- gorgeous!
  • Grabbed lunch from the lighthouse bakery in Seward. Met the owners little 5 year old daughter who was a cute lil chatterbox.
  • Ate my egg salad sammy on the shuttle as we drove to Exit Glacier
  • Hiked Exit Glacier. Started off with Ranger Rob, but there were far too many people crowded in that group, so I went rogue and did my own thing. Stood on the glacier bed of rocks with black sand. Climbed my way as far as I could go without damaging nature or leaving a trace.
  • Back into the town of Seward and walked around for a few hours. Explored the coast, watched some salmon fishers, and saw tourists and fisherman’s big catches! And I mean BIG!
  • Ate a salmon dinner at Chinook, and of course I also had to have a king crab leg. Watched the shadow’s mountain take over and it almost got dark!
  • Walked the dock and the beach a little more before bed time. 
FADE OUT OF OUR OWN VIEW
Quiet and calm
Disappearing into the inlet's mist
Subdued and hushed
Where the ocean meets the mountain's kiss
Endless hills 
Colliding into the mountain hue
Forward on
Fading out of our own view

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN
The sun sleeps behind the mountains
But the light echoes in the sky
It glows in between the valleys
And slips away gently with no goodbye
Left in the shadow of the mountains
Time eludes the silhouetted town
Discovering the quiet beauty of the valley
Only moments til daylight's crown