Seward, Alaska Part #1

Day 36 thru 38

June 1-3, 2019

            These couple of days was spent traveling to and visiting sights in Seward. On the way there, we go through a small community called Moose Pass. We have made friends with a couple who own a wrecker service there.  The man’s wife, Kathy, works at the Princess Lodge not far from Moose Pass.  There is a knife sharpening wheel run by water located along the roadside.  We always stop so Richard can sharpen his knives.  Today, Jim sharpened his.

                                                                              

Tracker Jim sharpening knife in Moose Pass
Film at 11

            Onward to the beautiful town of Seward.  Richard and I always make a trip there, and we hope it is around the 4^th of July. Of course, we were a few weeks early for that.  Jim, Becky, Richard and I thought about getting t-shirts with the words "We know we are two weeks early for everything."  The town has a grand celebration there with a race up Marathon Mountain.  This has been a tradition in Seward since 1915.  We've had the privilege of watching the race from a street in downtown Seward several times.  Men, women and children run up the mountain, but at different times.

           It is 3.1 miles, straight up Marathon Mountain.  The leading racers go up the mountain at about 2 mph.  However, they come down at about 12 mph.  As they cross the finish line, they are usually in need of medical attention.  They are bloody and muddy. When asked if I’d like to sign up for the race, I gave the lady a quick “Nay. Nay.”   

          Every racer wears a number silk screened onto a piece of heavy cloth.  This one dude had his shirt off and his number safety pinned to his nipples.  Yes, I said nipples.I couldn’t say “Nay. Nay.” fast enough.  All I could think of through the whole race was this chap could fall and get his number caught on a rock.
                                                                            

A picture of Mt. Marathon from
            the streets of Seward, Alaska.

We spent a couple of days in Seward which is named for the former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, who took care of the details for the United States’ purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867. Seward was serving as Secretary of State as part of President Andrew Johnson’s administration.

We visited the Alaskan Sealife Center which was really fascinating.  Becky and I had the honor of being weighed on a scale used to weigh large fish.  I refused to call it a whale scale.  The beautiful aquarium is located (as is the town of Seward) on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula.
                                                                

Our Catch For the Day.

Beautiful fish posing for a picture

Becky and Jim
They caught more fake fish than
Richard and I did.

I have a large collection of pictures taken either by me, Richard, Becky, or Jim.  Some I'm not sure exactly where they were taken, but I feel they are worth posting.  At the end of each of the upcoming blog posts, I'll add a couple of them. 

     Pictures don't do Alaska justice, but hopefully you will enjoy them.

Until later,

Dolores

Please let me know you have seen this blog, either here or on Facebook.

One morning, I came out of the camper to find my
traveling buddies (aka Lewis and Clark and
Sacagawea) had joined the Pioneer Hat Brigade, and I had left my hat at home. Ain't they cute?

My favorite Jim and Becky picture

Taken in a park dedicated to Native Alaskans
OORAH!!

Mountain above the clouds

Hemi

Hemi and Me

Have you ever heard of polydactyl cats, commonly called Hemingway cats? Nicknames for these kitties also include mitten kittens.  What makes these kitties so unique? They have extra toes!

Polydactyl cats were thought to be more superior climbers and mousers than ordinary cats thanks to their extra toes. Some sailors even thought the kitties were good luck!

One ship captain actually gave a polydactyl kitty to the famous American author, Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway kept the all-white cat, named Snow White. Today, the Hemingway House in Key West is the Hemingway Home and Museum. Almost 50 cats happily roam the property — all descendants of Snow White. Roughly half of them have extra toes which are why these felines are now commonly referred to as Hemingway cats.

Becky and Jim have a polydactyl cat that travels with them.  His name is . . . say it with me . . . Hemi.  Hemi is a private cat.  Sticks to Jim like glue, but runs and hides when Richard or I enter the Morris’ RV.  Of course, I know my loud mouth does nothing to keep Hemi’s nerves in check.  Anyway, I quickly came to the conclusion that the sweet kitty cat doesn’t care for me at all.  But, he is a beautiful cat.

                                                             

Hemi Morris

At some point along the trail of our extended trip, I went to visit with Becky in her RV.  When it was time to leave, I made the first two steps down, looped my hand through the handle on the outside of the motor home, then made a 9.6 pirouette off the steps, twisted around and slammed face first into the side of the huge motor home. 

Yes, that is me slamming into the
side of the RV.  Please note Hemi in the steps.

The force of the slam separated me from the handle and crashed me onto my back on the ground. 

When I dared to open my weary eyes, I was staring into three familiar faces.  Richard’s, Becky’s and Jim’s.  A man near the gas pumps inquired as to whether or not we needed him to call 9-1-1. It was decided (3-1) I was going to live, so we flagged off the 9-1-1 fellow.

Later when I looked through the surveillance tape to see if any footage of my sailing out the RV door could possibly be used to win money on America's Funniest Home Videos, I noticed a cat disappearing into the motor home via the steps.

As my three rescuers started to help me up, I looked passed Jim to the motor home window right above his head and this is what I saw:

.                                                           

                                                  Hemi and Jim

One evening, the four of us where going to a friend’s house for dinner.  Minutes before we had to leave, Hemi disappeared. Jim and Becky had already searched every inch of the RV with no luck.  We all searched the edge of the woods surrounding the acres where we were camping.  We hated to force Jim to leave without knowing where Hemi was, but we didn’t know what else to do.

We had a nice evening with good food and socializing.  I did notice Jim seemed a little edgy. He kept glancing at his phone.  I wondered if he thought Hemi might text him when he returned from his evening stroll in the woods.  I wondered if Hemi was having a grand time chasing mice or a fluffy, “puddy tat” or perhaps both.

When we returned home, Becky and Jim discovered their polydactyl cat sitting in the middle of the motor home floor counting his toes. Becky took the picture below and texted it to me which you can tell may not have been a good thing since I am posting it on FB.

                                                           

Jim and Hemi

As you can tell, he certainly was a happy boy and so was Hemi.

Until later,

Dolores

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Let's try this again

Our Twelve Months in the Land of the Frozen Tundra

If you know why Richard and I are spending twelve months in Alaska, and what we did while we were here, feel free to skip the following Intro.

SKIP INTRO

 

                                                                                        

          Many years ago, after spending several summers in Alaska, my dear husband and I decided to make spending one full year in Alaska an item on our Bucket List.  We thought about it long and hard and decided to invite friends and family to pick 7 to 10 days they’d like to fly into Fairbanks in the interior of the 49^th state of the United States.  We bought a small rv and drove it to Fairbanks were we had rented a house from the end of June to the 12^th of October.   That way we would have plenty of room for Richard and me plus the couple who would be with us for their requested time.

         Richard and I had spent a lot of time in the area of the Midnight Sun, and there was plenty of sunshine at midnight.  We planned events and attractions for our guests to see. You would think Richard and I would get bored with seeing the same things over and over again during the three month we hosted our guests. I have always wanted to own and run a bed and breakfast.  I was right to think I would love it. Each couple who came was so different, and it all went so fast, it didn’t give us time to get bored. Of course, my rule for hosting a B&B is different than most. They went as follows:

Dolores’s Bed and Breakfast

YOU MAKE BOTH.

          One of my high school friends, James Morris, and his wife, Becky, met up with us at our house. For the next two months we traveled together to Lincolnton, Georgia for two concerts, then across the lower 48, then through Canada.  We had a really good time traveling together, eating together, playing cards, and just having fun.  We laughed a lot, especially me and Becky.  We thought everything was funny.

                                                                         

Becky and Me

            I had written a couple of pages of blog early in our trip.  I won’t go into why I hadn’t written more than the original copy.  Anyway, those blog posts are immediately behind this one.

            Now, let’s get started with the blog I promised everyone when we left home.

End Intro

     We began the next leg of our trip from the Canadian/Alaskan border south to Anchorage where we spent a couple of days at our friend Tony’s. After Tony’s, we headed’em up and moved’em out. Jim set his GPS on the dashboard and he and Becky pulled their Conestoga wagon in behind our Radio Flyer putt-putt wagon (more on this later) and we began our trip to Homer by way of the Kenai Peninsula. 
                                                                          

Jim's GPS aka Hemi

Day 35, May 31, 2019

        South of Anchorage is a waterway called Turnagain Arm. It goes northwest into the Gulf of Alaska. Turnagain Arm has the second highest tides in North America after the Bay of Fundy. These tides can reach 40 feet and come in so quickly that they produce a wave known as a bore tide.

          On the highway that runs next to Turnagain Arm is Beluga Point. This pull-out is a great place to see whales and watch the bore tide come in at about 6 feet high at a possible speed of 20 miles an hour. Skies were grey.  We were two weeks from the warm summer days.
                                                                               

Turnagain Arms location of Bore Tide

Highway along Turnagain Arms

We stopped at the animal refuge in Girdwood where injured animals from all over Alaska have been brought to be treated and nursed back to health. Skies were grey.   We were two weeks from the warm summer days.

Our next stop was in Whittier, Alaska.  The town and a nearby glacier were named after John Greenleaf Whittier in 1916.  During World War II, the U.S. Army built a military base, complete with port and railroad near Whittier Glacier.  The spur of the Alaska Railroad was completed in 1943 and the port became the entrance for the U.S. soldiers into Alaska.  We ate supper there.  Skies were grey..  We were two weeks from the summer days.

There are two major buildings in Whittier.  There is a 14-story building which was completed in 1957 and contains 150 two-and-three bedroom apartments plus bachelor efficiency units.  Dependent families and Civil Service employees were moved into this high-rise.

The other building in town was completed in 1953. It was called “city under one roof.”  It was abandoned and I saw an episode of Ghost Hunters that was filmed inside the abandoned building. I’ve been around the building and, I have to admit, it gives me the creeps. This building is called the Buckner Building.  The one which became a condominium was named the Begich Building.  At one time, the two buildings were the largest buildings in Alaska. 
                                                                         

Begich Building

             I wanted very much for Becky to see the beautiful Fireweed flowers that line the highway, but, as we had already discovered, the skies were grey and we were two weeks from summer and the blue skies and the Fireweed.
                                                                  

Some of the pictures in this blog were taken
by Jim or Becky Morris

The first time Richard and I went to Whittier (1997) the only way to get there was by boat or train. Fifteen years ago, they started allowing cars to drive through the tunnel at alternative times with the train.  Yes, it causes me to be claustrophobic, but the best part is the fact that there are about 8 safe rooms along the wall in the tunnel. 
                                                             

Inside Whittier Tunnel
Safe Room on left
(by James Morris)

Exiting Whittier Tunnel
(Thank Heavens)
by Jim Morris

         If there is an accident inside the tunnel, you know, like a head-on crash with a train (just kidding), you leave your car and go into one of the safe rooms where you can get oxygen, and be safe from the fire raging around your car. Of course, if this happened to me, I would hope they also had clean underwear stashed in the safe room.  You know, as Bill Cosby once said, if you are in an accident, first you say it, then you do it.
Until later,
Dolores

P.S.  My goal is to post every one to three days until we get caught up-to- date.  After that I'll post what we have done that particular day.  Please leave a comment so I know which of my friends and family are keeping up with me now that I'm back on track with my writing.  If you don't want to join by blog, you can go back to Facebook where this was posted and leave a comment there.  Look forward to hearing from you even if you just say "Hey There."  
P.S.S. Please share this with anyone you think might enjoy it.  Also, let me know if there is anyplace or any event in Alaska you would like to know about, if we have visited I'd be glad to write about that place and post pictures.