Traveling through Alaska Days 9, 10 The End!

 Day 9... We signed up for the Kenai Fjords boat tour. It's much nore expensive now than the last time. It was 275.00 a person for about 6-7 hours out on the ocean. We've been on it before, but we never get tired of seeing the beautiful whales and wildlife on that trip, and the spectacular glacier views, so off we went! We hadn't been five miles out of the harbor when we saw our first humpback whale! 

He did a little whirl and twirl around and then he was gone....

We saw otters....They are too cute! Sparky did not know some specifics about them so she was happy to learn some new things today. Alaska is home to about 90% of the world's sea otters. Did you know they have a little pouch of skin under their arms that act as a storage bag? They keep little snacks in them! They are one of the few known non-primates to use tools. They bring up rocks from the ocean floor and use them to crack open hard shelled prey. They don't have blubber but DO have the most dense fur with up to a MILLION hairs per square inch! They have a super fast metabolism and eat up to 20-25% of their body weight every day. A group of otters is called a "raft"...To keep from drifting away in the ocean current, they will hold hands with each other and/or wrap themselves in seaweed and kelp. An otter pup's fur is so dense they can't dive underwater until they get their adult fur. They can live their whole life without ever leaving the ocean. They spend many hours cleaning their fur to distibute the oils throughout their fur. They weigh 75-100 pounds...

We saw mountain goats on the rocky hillsides above us..too far away to get a photo...We saw puffins fly by in front of us..They looked like little footballs. Again, too fast a fly-by to get a photo. We saw the Steller sea lions. Pee-ewww!  Man, do they STINK! From quite far out....

Two Dall porpoise jumped over the bow. They were so fast and left just as quickly. Onwards to Ailalik Glacier and Bear Glacier...

The ship gets in fairly close to the Ailalik glacier...it is always a thrill to see the humongous height of these beautiful glaciers. 

We saw three humpback whales in total today...and to celebrate,  Sparky decided to have a glacier margarita! Here's how they are made...One of the crew was on ice chunk capture duty. 

He scooped up a big chunk of iceberg ice and brought it in to be chopped up and served in frozen drinks of your choice. How cool is that? (see what I did there?) tee-hee....So Sparky had a Ailalik Glacier Margarita, haha.

When we got back, we ate at Ray's restaurant in Seward, the food was just ok, but there's a wonderful view out the window onto the bay. 

After dinner, we had missed the last free shuttle back to the campground. Well phooey! BUT--Seward does have three taxi services and we managed to get one to get us back to the campground. We could have walked, it was slightly less than a mile away, but we were too tired to do that.  One restaurant that WAS recommended by several locals, that we missed, was The Primrose, in town. Ah, well...maybe next time...(hint, hint, Eldy....) He says, maybe, in about two years time, which has been our average between visits. 

Tomorrow is our last full day in Alaska....we will be heading back towards Anchorage to fly out on Saturday morning.

Day 10...Driving back towards Anchorage. First, we stopped at Potter Marsh. It's a fantastic area for bird and wildlife watching with a lot of boardwalks to explore in and around the marsh. We have been there four times and only seen a moose once--make that TWICE! Today--a bull moose! Moseying his way fairly quickly across the marsh. 

Potter Marsh

Turnagain Arm Inlet

After a nice visit at the marsh, we headed to Palmer, AK to spend our last night. Staying in and around Anchorage was a bit expensive, and Sparky did not want to stay in a "parking lot" like Cabelas or a Walmart, so we picked Bear Creek Campground to try first, near Anchorage. Bear Creek is right beside the Turnagain Arm inlet. 

The Turnagain Arm is a dramatic 40 mile long inlet in the Gulf of Alaska. It's known for its extreme high tides, stunning scenery and wildlife--moose, beluga whales and Dall sheep). At Bear Creek, there's a great trail right behind the campground. BUT--sites were short and the small campground was quite busy, so we headed out and picked the KOA in Palmer, instead, with a view of the mountains in front of us.

KOA Palmer, AK

While checking in, Sparky went to pick up some candy bars, and overheard a gentleman checking in, give his phone number and it was the same area code as Eldy's! It turns out he is from the Elkhart/Bristol IN area and just lives a couple of miles away from us! Wow! Small world for sure! He drove up the Alaskan/Canadian Highway (the Alcan) on his motorcycle. Although paved, it's one of the roughest roads and toughest on your vehicle, should you decide to drive from the US to get to Alaska. It's due to the many frost heaves, potholes and construction areas. It's a 1387 mile trip! It runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction, AK. Amenities and automotive help are sparse, so it's not for the timid traveler. The guy we met was retired and tenting it at the campground. Quite the traveler! Eldy enjoyed having a long conversation with him, once he found out he was from our area.

Sparky busied herself with packing up and finishing up last minute details and a good book. While the guys were talking, Sparky was sitting outside reading and somebody's darn carbon monoxide detector started going off. Those suckers are LOUD! After about 20 minutes with the alarm still going, (it ebbed and flowed decibel-wise with which way the wind was blowing), Sparky went over the the fellas and said, "I wish I knew whose rig that was! Why don't they shut the darn thing off and air out their rig?!" Uh, Sparky, says Eldo, that's our rig. Oh, crap! Sparky had set off the propane gas detector again by microwaving some popcorn and had bumped the loose gas stove knob again. Geesh! Once again, we aired out the rig and the alarm silenced itself. That is a real design hazard if you can bump a stove knob and start the gas flowing that easily!

Alaska Airlines

Our final destination--the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage was just a 40 mile drive the next morning. That airport is the third largest cargo airport in the world. Sparky loves that airport. So many cool things to see there.

The glass panel of the salmon swimming upstream-"Migration"-by Luftz Haufschild is one of Sparky's favorite installations at the airport and it is really beautiful. It features hundreds of individually cut strips of glass laminated into a steel base to represent the outdoors of Alaska and the annual migration of the salmon.

We always get a photo of the airport's resident moose while we are there.

First we had to fill our propane tank and gas tanks before turning our rig in, so we did that. We turned in our rig and Great Alaskan Holidays checked it over and we got the green light to head to the airport on the company shuttle van. 

several planes hanging overhead at the airport

We were flying from Anchorage to Portland, to Dallas, to South Bend. Our Dallas flight got cancelled but we were rerouted to Charlotte NC, then to SB. We made it! But our luggage didn't.  Two days later, however, we got our baggage and settled back in at home in Elkhart, IN. It was a really really great trip! Sparky didn't think about being ill- not once the entire time we were away. That was an added blessing! 

Thanks for following along. We aren't done traveling yet...We'll post again one of these days..Stay tuned!

Traveling Through Alaska Day 2026 Day 7, 8,

Day 7...It's a travel day today...42 degrees this morning. Refreshing! We started out by seeing a moose carcass on the side of the road. About 17 miles outside of Valdez, we saw a female moose! Another female moose a little further down the road was trotting from the roadside up into the woods! We kept going...then two MORE young moose, they looked like twins and were hanging out together. Total: FIVE moose on the Glenallen Highway today. 

Eldy decided to drive all the way from Valdez to Seward for a total distance of 420.7 miles! We decided to stay at the KOA campground outside Seward for one night, and then move over to the Seward City campground on Resurrection Bay for the next night. The price for the KOA was 77.00 for a back row spot, level, full hookups, nice laundry and beautiful stone showers and the eagles were back at the nest this year, raising fledglings. We saw a LOT of activity last time we stayed at the campground, this year, not as much. The magpies are around, we did see quite a few of those....They are a big bird!

As part of the "up and around" circuitous trip back to get to Seward, the drive is spectacular through the Copper Center area and the Wrangell Mountains which are in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park area. If you are wanting to visit this national park, you CAN drive into it, but access is limited to two unpaved gravel roads and do not connect to one another. Most standard rental companies do NOT allow driving on these rough, unpaved gravel roads. Both roads are historic, riddled with potholes, and occasional exposed railroad spikes. Flat tires are common. One of the roads, the 60 mile McCarthy Road, leads partway to the famous mining town of McCarthy, home of the Kennecott mines. You have to park your car when the road ends, cross a footbridge, then take a local shuttle or walk into McCarthy/Kennecott. The other road, the Nabesna Road, is 42 miles, and travels into the northern, more remote wilderness. There are no gas stations or services along either of these roads. Talk about remote!

As always, the views take your breath away...This is Mt. Wrangell....14,163 feet high...It's an active shield volcano! The range is almost entirely volcanic with Mt. Wrangell the only currently active volcano. Extensive snow fields feed long glaciers. We saw quite a few glaciers on our drive!

Sparky was hoping for lupine blooms, but only saw dandelions and little patches of forget-me-knots just starting to pop out.

Exit Glacier

Day 8...The KOA campground outside Seward is just a few miles from Exit Glacier and Sparky was determined to do a decent hike while traveling through Alaska. The next morning, we headed to the Exit Glacier visitor's center, in the Kenai Peninsula. The glacier sits inside the Kenai Fjords National Park. It's the only part of the park that is accessible by road. The glacier is about 8.6 miles off the Seward Highway, and about 12 miles northwest of the town of Seward.

You can take the easy way up.... It's about .9 miles directly to the overlook, or you can take the scenic route, which has a more strenuous rock clambering route as you get towards the top of the overlook. Sparky took the more challenging route and hiked a total of 2.4 miles round trip. It was fabulous! It got much more chilly and VERY windy as the trail climbed, Sparky almost lost her cap!

The trail is cool because it shows the rapid retreating glacier over decades with marked signs, starting in the entrance to the park at the year 1815. Just relatively recently, aerial and GPS tracking began in 2005. The glacier's pace of retreat is rapidly accelerating, and Sparky could remember the difference from two years ago....

Exit Glacier is not one of the prettier glaciers, it's silt laden and dirty looking, but to be able to walk towards it, is still pretty cool.

The view near the end of the trail looking down was beautiful as well.

We drove back to the town of Seward, and checked into our camping spot for the night at the Seward City Campground which is situated right on Resurrection Bay. Tomorrow, we start winding down our travels, it's almost time to head home, but we are going to close out in style by taking a Kenai Fjords boat tour to hopefully see some whales and other wildlife! 

Sparky explored around the beautiful town of Seward..There is a lot to see in Seward..

on Resurrection Bay

The library....It's a beautiful building...the tiles on the building sides change reflection color all day long, depending on the sun.

A viewpoint on the bay....

There is a free shuttle that will take you all around town and you can pick it up at many different locations near the campgrounds and in town. When cruise ships come in, the shuttle starts earlier in the morning but ends at 7:00 PM no matter what. (Ask us how we know, and how we found out there ARE taxi companies in Seward, about three that we know of!).  It's a mile walk from the campground on the bay to downtown, but if you are tired, a ride is most welcome, so keep the free shuttle in mind.

mural downtown Seward

Seward has great food trucks, great restaurants, and great stores to get Alaskan souvenirs. Sparky got in 20, 697 steps that day! Whew! Her tootsies were TIRED!

We will see you on the cruise out on the bay tomorrow......

Traveling Through Alaska 2026 Day 6

one of the smaller ones

Day 6...Today we traveled to Valdez on the Richardson Highway, AK4. On the way to Valdez is Keystone Canyon, a beautiful, scenic drive through waterfalls and canyon walls. Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls are the two largest falls but in the spring there are many waterfalls in the canyon, some quite large. It started out as a cloudy day, so photos don't do it justice.

Bridal Veil Falls

Eldy is in front of Horsetail Falls...

There's a cool short railroad tunnel that never was finished that you can walk through if not flooded. The tunnel was hand cut into the solid rock of the Keystone Canyon. Nine companies fought to take advantage of the short route from the copper mines at Kennicott to the Valdez area but a feud interrupted progress and a right of way gunbattle was fought in 1903. The project was abruptly abandoned and the tunnel was never finished.

We are going to drive about 125 miles and stay at the Bear Paw Campground right across the street from the harbor. Price ranges from 55.00-75.00 a night depending on when in the season you arrive. The owner of the campground recently died and Sparky met the lady who is running the show currently, trying to keep things going. She was very spry, in her 80's! and doing a fabulous job. Things are up in the air whether this campground will stay open, someone will buy it out, family will run it, etc. but it's a wonderful campround, parking lot style with nice showers, laundry, and level sites with full hookups. Once we got there....Sparky explored the harbor....

Lots of cool sculptures around town...

Her favorite place for breakfast is a spot called The Potato. They serve a HUGE, amazing breakfast burrito. 

We stayed only one night as we wanted to get to Seward and there was very little fishing activity going on the day we were there. Town was very quiet and not busy at all, too early in the season to see very much. Sparky checked out the ferry option from Whittier to Seward, and although it would save a couple of hours of driving time, she decided she would rather do a whale/glacier watch tour than spend about 416.00 for our rig for 6-7 hours and a trip that would not stop for whales or other wildlife. So we decided to pass on the ferry. When you drive from Valdez to Seward, there is only one way to go, and that is back up north to Glenallen, then west over to Palmer, back south through Anchorage, and down the Parks Highway to Seward. 

That is a distance of 420 + miles, that's a long drive in the RV for us. But Eldy was thinking about doing it all in one day the next day.

fence near the ferry terminal

While we were in Valdez, we received messages from T-Mobile that we were about to incur roaming charges. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, T-Mobile does not offer service anywhere in Alaska, so we were using companion companies and towers while we were traveling, which we had not noticed. Sparky called the company and basically, they would be throttling us back, and suggested we use local wifi as much as possible. We were ok with that as we were not doing anything that required a high level of security, just basic local research and watching a show or two at night. So we kept on doing what we were doing and there was no change in our abilities to communicate.

Temperatures were in the thirties at night and high forties and low fifties during the day....Sunset was about 11:00 PM and sunrise was about 4:30 AM at this point. It did not bother us at all in the RV. We had very dark curtains on some of the windows and we managed to sleep just fine. 

In driving to Valdez and coming out of Valdez, you have to drive through Thompson Pass, a forbidding looking landscape with elevation at 2,678 feet. The last time we were through this pass two years ago, we encountered a blizzard! Today, it was a piece of cake--just a dreary day but lots of snow all around the area. The RV with the Ford engine handled the inclines and descents beautifullly. The drive is pretty spectacular, but driving in Alaska is pretty spectacular all the way around anyway!

Here you can see the frost heaves on the road below. It's like riding a baby rollercoaster, but it still makes Sparky's tummy do flipflops. The wiggles are where the frost has heaved up the road a little bit. Sometimes they are pretty big heaves, but most of the time little ones. You just have to slow down! Right, Eldo? (She thinks I take them a little too fast, explains E.)

frost heaves

Sparky and Eldo never tire of the amazing scenery....

And with that....we will see you tomorrow in Seward, Alaska.....