Snug as a bug in Seward

early morning sunrise
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Snug as a bug in Seward:

We left Fairbanks after an overnight snow drop of 8cm on the car. Photos to show there.

Snug as a bug in Seward

I had prayed for travelling safety last night when it became obvious that we would have an unknown length of time on roads that were icy, snowy etc. So I was feeling OK about driving for 7+ hours to Anchorage. It was absolutely beautiful to drive through areas of freshly covered trees. The sky level was very low and the sun doesn’t “get up” until after 9am.

anywhere on the road
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We arrived at breakfast at 8.20 to find that 1 car left at 8am. They wanted an early start and to have time in Anchorage in daylight (it gets dark at 6ish). We worked out that we would travel in convoy with the other carload and prepared accordingly. It took longer to get away than we planned because I have never had to de-ice before driving in my vast experience of driving. That was fun and I borrowed a scraper and brush from a fellow in the car next to mine in the car park. His rental company provided it as a matter of course. That done, we headed off following Geoff. He went the opposite way in the street outside the hotel and we decided that we may as well get lost together, so we followed. Eventually we had a chance to catch him and directed him in a different way. In the conditions we were actually holding the map the wrong way around and with the lack of street signs, it took us a few blocks to realise that we were going to end up circumnavigating the town. We knew where we were by this stage and that we would eventually end up on the highway out of town.

reflections
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So much for convoy, leadfoot went away from us and we only caught glimpses of his vehicle over the next 350+ miles. We stopped at photo points. In Alaska it seems that every corner shouts out, “Take a photo” and we do.

There are 17 of the North American continent’s 20 highest peaks in Alaska. That makes for a profound effect on the view. (Jac, is it affect?) The ranges actually make micro-climates around themselves. We have been driving along in sun and blue sky with vivid autumn colours and snow on the higher areas to turn the corner to be greeted by snow, low cloud, and black and white scenery. That can giv e way to rain or back to clear with blue sky in a matter of kilometres.

contrast of colour
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It is wonderful. All 4 of us in the car (a Chevvy Trail Blazer 4WD) have equal rights to say “Stop the car. Photo opportunity!” and we do. So we have taken so many mountain photos. I suppose that some people at home will get to the point of looking at a power point display and say “Not another bloody mountain.” But each one is so different and in 10 minutes of looking, marvelling, we take a long shot, a mid-distance and a close-up. I have an 18X optical plus 4X digital zoom and have taken photos of bald eagles in trees that were a speck to the naked eye. I even have shots of Dalls sheep on a mountain top. In the mountain photo they are really just specks. Of course, once these photos are taken, the sun comes out and the whole lighting scene changes and more photos are needed. Then a mist rolls up the valley and part of the range is in blue sky and sunshine while the rest is quickly enveloped in a grey mist and the visibility drops. All of these need recording. Unfortunately I do not believe that any photo is going to give credit to the sense of majesty and awe that being at the foothills of these mountains deserves.

here comes the mist
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And so we wend our way south. Some notable cul-de-sacs included a visit to a ski resort (out of season – nothing working, the cable car closed for replacing cables, the tows not needed, the shops shut the hotels empty and the pleb’s shacks boarded up. But the scenery was spectacular. The scones in the bakery were (I kid you not) 20cm long, 12 cm wide, 5cm high $1 each. They were filled with various fruits. The biscuits were 15cm in diameter, the cakes 12X6X6cm portions $1. No wonder so many people here are big. Their portions of food are huge.

bald eagle
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Our next cul-de-sac is to the foot of a nearby glacier. Unfortunately the road was closed and we could only get a glimpse of the leading edge. Maybe another one later. There are hundreds in Alaska.

More bloody mountains and the sun came up at 9am. Of course that changed the lighting and there were some awesome reflections in pools beside the road. Di we stop for such mundane scenes. You bet. Autumn is why we came. The snow is a bonus.

I almost drove up the wrong side of an intersection when I turned left at some lights. But there was a monster of a Truck/ute beside me. A Ford 4500 4WD. I’ve seen a 350 at home but this thing was huge. It would not let me go up the wrong way because he wanted the left hand lane of the new direction. I really wanted the right hand lane and that was the only place I could go. It would have been embarrassing going up a 4 lane highway in the fast lane the wrong way. Thank you, monster truck.

sun effects
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I have only had two occasions of being on the wrong side so far. The other one was in a street at 7am with no other cars in sight. I have driven (for a short distance only) the wrong way up a one way street to reach the street I really wanted to be on. I know I have family members who are constables but they weren’t there to guide me.

So we continued to Seward. A small town on the Kenai Peninsula. It does not have much to offer other than spectacular scenery, a very relaxed lifestyle, friendly people, basic infrastructure and reasonable prices to make its mark.

reflection of Exit Glacier
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After settling into a really lovely room (see photos of view from window) Marg went shopping and Heather and I took off in the car to go to the foot of Exit Glacier about 1/2hr from town. I have never been close to one before and can now understand what the Geography teacher was on about when he talked about them.

A visit to the Sea Life Rescue and Research Centre which was set up with the Exxon Valdez reparation money. It is a spectacular setup with displays, live animals which include a sea lion in a pool with underwater viewing for the likes of me. He is over 3m long and as solid as a large horse. He is there so people can see him recover and compare him to the seal in the tank next door.

It is a great education centre as well.

Tomorrow we leave for the Alaskan capital, Juneau. We fly there from Anchorage so we have to drive back tomorrow morning to catch the plane. That will be an early start. From Juneau we board a ferry to start our 10 days in the Inside Passage as we go south to Victoria. I am not sure what Internet access will be like so it may be a while.

The highlight of today was being able to get Skype running and to call Marcus at home for 2c per minute from the computer to the house. We spoke briefly to the family as it was a barbecue for many. Everyone sounded so clear on the computer speakers. We had a wonderful phone call for over ½ hr and it cost less than $1

It will be Marcus’ birthday tomorrow (our time) but it was 1 pm on his birthday (his time) when we rang. Trish can explain all that to him.

The next adventure is about to begin. I hope that my tum can stand it. We will have to have 3 nights in total on the ship and not in hotels en-routs as we get off the ferry and explore places as we head south taking our time to have a good look around.

Everyone tells me the islands to the west give amazing protection from the North Pacific. They say it is a millpond most of the time. So far I have only had one bout of feeling ill. The plane flights have all been very smooth, the trains have been excellent (even if uncomfortable at time to sleep in). Here goes.