Day 18

We woke early for our day on the water to the Kenai Fjords National Park and glacier viewing from the water. We get to the office for the tour only to find out the seas are running 12-15 feet, tour cancelled, back to the drawing board. We drove out to exit glacier and hiked the 5 miles or so back to the glacier, what a spectacular sight. The ice was as blue as the sky in some spots and was at least 100 feet thick where it was exposed at the end. After several hours at the glacier and the rain starting again we decided to drive the 350 miles to our next stop in Kenny Lake a day early. I called the McCurry’s at the Copper Moose Bed and Breakfast to see if they had room for us early, which they did. We headed back to the Military Lodge in Seward, quickly packed the Suburban and hit the road. We made a side trip to Whittier and the Portage Glacier and the views were great. Whittier is a small coastal town where the cruise ships dock, herd the tourists on buses and pack them off to their tours. I am glad we did not take that route. Most of the cruise people we have met seem to be envious of our trip and wish they had done the same, but were not brave enough to plan the trip on their own and drive the Alaskan Highway. We passed through Anchorage again on our way to Kenny Lake and stopped for dinner at a place Debbie spotted on our way to Homer, Peggy’s Café. Janice and Debbie had their hearts set on a piece of pie for dessert, until the food came and the servings were way too much to eat by themselves. We passed on the pie and headed to Kenny Lake. We arrived at the Copper Moose around 9:30 and met the owner C.D. McCurry. The B&B is a custom built log cabin with a great view of the Wrangell Mountains. This is one of the nicest places we have stayed on the entire trip. C.D. suggests we go to the old copper mining towns of McCarthy and Kennicott in the morning. After Debbie and Janice help themselves to a piece of apple pie and milk we turn in for the night.

Total Miles To Date: 7137

Day 17

Day 17
We woke to a steady rain with no break in sight. We had plans to sightsee in Seward and visit Exit Glacier but plans change with the weather. We went to the Marina Restaurant, a place where the locals eat, not a tourist trap, for breakfast and to regroup on the day’s activities. The food was great; we are about to get our fill of reindeer sausage. We decide to stay around town and visit the Alaska Sea Life Center. The Center was a lot of fun, learning about Alaska’s marine animals, fish and the fishing industry. Afterwards we drove out to Exit Glacier only to find it raining even harder and the visibility of the mountains near zero. We drove back to Seward and ate dinner at Chinooks and had another great meal of Halibut and King Crab Legs. We got back to the rooms early and prepared for the next day’s boat tour of the Kenai Fjords and the glaciers. Debbie and Janice are again concerned about the 130 mile roundtrip boat ride and rough seas. They are going tough it out and go……. Maybe

Total Miles To Date: 6802