Adam and I took a trip to Seward Alaska this weekend. Seward is about a 2 hour drive from Kenai, and is an absolutely gorgeous drive!! We were blessed with perfect weather which enabled us to have a wonderful view of all the mountains. (I apologize in advance for all of the pictures of the mountains, I am obsessed with the mountains and the pictures here don't do them justice.) A majority of the drive follows along the world-famous Kenai River, which is a beautiful turquoise color and I am pretty sure has something to do with the glacial melt-off. The first three pictures are of the drive to and from Seward, which is the same drive from Kenai to Anchorage, so anyone who comes to visit us will take part in the beautiful scenery as well!
Kenai River, the turquoise color of the water unfortunately does not show up in this picture. I guess you will have to come and visit us this summer if you really want to see it! (By the way, plane tickets from Portland to Anchorage are still only $400 round trip, they are never that cheap!!!!)
Isn't this beautiful?
Coming into Seward, many cruise ships and ferries dock here since it is nestled right off the ocean in Resurrection Bay.
Adam and I originally decided to go to Seward to go on some great hikes. We got all prepared by buying bear mase (pepper spray), since all of the bears are waking up from hibernation and are very grumpy. Our first hike was to Exit Glacier, about 8 miles out of Seward, it took us about an hour to hike up and back.
This is a picture of the glacier.
Another pic of the glacier.
View from the top (well almost the top) and me...
...and Adam.
I thought this bridge was really cute!
We decided that this tree would make a great Christmas tree this December! Just kidding, it was sooooo fat and short, it would take up our whole cabin!
On the way back down Adam spotted a black bear way up on the hillside. I wanted to take a picture of the hillside just so we could remember that we saw one, I think it is the tiny little black speck in this picture, although I am not 100% sure, our camera doesn't zoom in very far. We also saw many mountain goats!
Our drive into Seward from Exit Glacier, I took a few photos of the mountains.
They look much bigger in real life!
Downtown Seward, not much to it, but it is very cute.
Downtown Seward.
I couldn't resist.
Adam and I thought it would be more fun to rent a tiny cabin for the night instead of staying in a hotel, especially since they are about the same price. It was soooo cute, and so much fun!
The bedroom.
Sitting area.
Entry to bathroom.
Adam always studying the architecture!
The bathroom.
We of course brought Butch along for the ride, he stayed the night in the car since they didn't allow pets inside the cabin. Butch is patiently waiting for Adam to start our campfire that was already set up outside in the picnic area.
We roasted hot dogs on the fire and had a picnic for dinner Friday night.
Picnic.
It was a little cold, but nothing we are not used to by now.
Butch found a treat for himself while we were cooking our dinner. He found a rabbit foot out in the woods and munched on that while we ate, let's just say that we aren't letting Butch give us any kisses for a while, it made his breath even worse!
On Saturday Adam and I went to the Seward Sea-life Center/Aquarium. They had a big room full of different Alaskan birds, lots of really cool fish, a seal and a sea lion.
These are Puffin's, aren't they cute? They have funny sideburns that remind me of a mustache.
More birds.
Lots of Sea stars, this was part of the aquarium where they let you touch the stars and different anemones.
This seal was playing with Adam, chasing his hand around, it was very cute!
Resurrection Bay from the Sea-life centers balcony, beautiful!
Resurrection Bay again.
We walked along the beach with Butch, mountains surrounding us!
The company that we rented the cabin from also runs a huge dog kennel that houses over 50 sled dogs. The family that owns the kennel competes in the Iditarod dog-sled race every year and places within the top ten! Because we rented a cabin we got a free tour of the kennel and education on the actual Iditarod race.
Adam and I didn't know this but Siberian huskies are actually not used for sled dog races like in all of the movies (Eight Below, Iron Will, etc.) It is a special breed called the Alaskan husky and they are specifically bred just for endurance and racing. They really aren't very pretty dogs, they are very lanky, and are basically mutts, but can run over 100 miles a day during the Iditarod!
Pictured here is one of the very few Siberian huskies that were at the kennel. Her name is Mya and she was very friendly!
One of the Alaskan huskies at the kennel just had a litter of 9 female puppies, they were only 8 days old and there eyes hadn't even opened yet!
We had a great weekend in Seward and can't wait to go back! Just remember, the summer's are beautiful here, the plane tickets are cheap right now, and we are learning about all of the great spots to see in Alaska so that when you come to visit you will have a great time!!! (Hint-hint)
