Days 38/39 - Saturday and Sunday 7/26-27/2026 - Seward, Reflection Days

Today was a bright, beautiful sunny day in Seward, and we decided after 38 days that we would take time to reflect on our trip so far and make a few plans for the coming weeks.  We are beyond grateful to have the opportunity and ability to make this trip and experience what we have seen so far and what is to come.  The days are flying by too quickly, and we want to savor our time together in this beautiful place.

Since we didn't go anywhere today, we're adding a map of where we've come so far.  We're having the time of our lives, but we do miss our friends and family and wish everyone could be here sharing this with us. 💕

Ditto for Sunday, however we did study up on our Sea Birds for our Alaska SeaBird Charter on Monday...

Day 37 - Friday 7/24/2026 - A Day in the town of Seward

Today we decided we would drive into the town of Seward to run some errands and explore the town.  It was another bright, sunny, gorgeous day, and we wanted to be outside in the sunshine since we haven't seen much of it lately.

Before we headed out, we met a very friendly neighbor camper Greg (who resides in Alaska, but has lived all over) and we had a great one hour conversation about ... well just about everything!  He was a super nice guy and we really enjoyed hearing about his EarthRoamer-like camper build.  It would be listed as our 'favorite camper of the day' for sure but I forgot to get a picture of it before we left.  We hope to run into Greg again on this trip (every breath is a blessing).

In town, we went to the Suds 'n Swirl to do our laundry (nice place), then parked in a lot so we could walk around.  The Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center

was our first stop, where we got stamps for the park, Exit Glacier (which is in the park), Chiswell Islands National Wildlife Refuge (where we went yesterday on our cruise), and Mile One of the Iditarod.  We also got a cool t-shirt with a big puffin on the back.

We were hungry so we stopped by the Alaska Seafood Grill

and enjoyed some delicious halibut and chips, 

and shrimp and rice.

Needing to walk off all that food, we went to the local Ace Hardware, known as The Fish House, where we found lots of new lures for the salmon we plan to catch soon, plus an expanding water hose that Mike has been looking for to use when filling our fresh water tank in ER150.  Needless to say we spent a lot of time and a few $$ in the store 😉.

We filled our 85 gallon fresh water tank again and emptied our toilet cassette, then drove out to Lowell Point to see if we could find a good place to fish tomorrow.  We saw a waterfall

and lots of campgrouds and really unique rental properties, but very little public access for fishing.  We decided to leave there and drive out to Exit Glacier, which is within the Kenai Fjords National Park. 

It was late so we didn't hike out to the glacier, but we got some pretty great views along the way.  We might go back and do that hike in a day or two.

Finally, we returned to the same place we stayed the past two nights for our free camp spot. 

It was much busier, since it's the weekend, but we found a spot next to the river and settled in.

Today's journey:

Days 35/36 - Wednesday and Thursday 7/22-23/2026 - Seward

So Wednesday was a really fun day!!  We got up early and put on all of our layers and rain gear, since it was still in the 40's and raining.  We checked in with Major Marine Tours for our 8.5 hour cruise, and while waiting to board we met a very nice couple from Birmingham - shout out to Cindy and Mark!  We ended up sitting together all day and had lots of fun conversations.  Mark even attended the same high school as Mike (such a small world)!

We set out into Resurrection Bay toward the Gulf of Alaska on the vessel The Viewfinder, with our awesome captain Justin at the helm and our wonderful, knowledgeable crew Carl attending to our needs all day.  They both went above and beyond to make sure that we all were able to see what we were most interested in. We stopped many times and they both took the time to explain the geography, geology, and history of what we saw, as well as share knowledge about the animals and birds that we encountered.

Right off we saw a coastal mountain goat at Caine's Head,

then a beautiful bald eagle and a sea otters playing nearby. 

We went through Spire Cove, which was so beautiful,

 

and saw both horned, and tufted puffins,

pelagic cormorants, and lots of other birds.  In Agnes Cove we saw our first whale, a big, sleepy humpback that never would lift its fluke completely out of the water for us. 

At Cheval Island we saw a big group of harbor seals lounging around on the rocks.  They were so funny!   

Near Harbor Island we saw Dall's porpoise.  As we neared the Chiswell Islands we saw Stellar sea lions,

 

 

 

common murres and rhino auklets,

 

parakeet auklets and more. Near Matushka Island we saw a couple of Transient Orcas - How cool was that!  We stopped and watched them hunting for as long as we could before having to finally move on.

 

We were able to identify them as a mother and son AT147 and AT148 from the marks on their dorsal fins. 

It was very exciting!  We continued through the Granite Passage

to the Northwestern Fjord and ended up at the beautiful and huge Northwestern Glacier,

where we spent some time dodging ice, and icebergs

and watching to see the glacier calving. 

There were so many harbor seals resting on the floating ice. 

 

We passed by Anchor and Ogive glaciers, and saw ancient murrelets and the very rare Kittlitz's murrelet - what a treat to add this to our ever expanding birding list!

We stopped for very close-up views of Cataract Cove Waterfalls - so very beautiful. 

As we came back through the other side of the Chiswell Islands, we saw a pair of Orcas to our left, and a pair of humpbacks (a cow and her calf) to our right!  We didn't know which way to look!  Near No Name Island we saw a bunch of Stellar sea lions again. 

It was sad that we had to end our tour and head back to the harbor, but we were so very happy to have experienced this trip!!

Once the adrenaline wore off and the Dramamine drowsiness hit hard, we headed to our free camp spot for the night to the Exit Glacier designated use area.  Just a gorgeous place to camp!

On Thursday when we woke up, our views of the sky were so very different, with the sun shining brightly (lots of solar to recharge the batteries)!  It really is beautiful here. We spent the day resting and enjoying the views from our window and the sunshine.🌞

This was our cruise itinerary, and Wednesday's journey: