Seward

The thing that always blows me away about Alaska is how beautiful the country is, even in areas you just think you have to drive to in order to get from Point A to Point B. Take my drive today from Anchorage to Seward. Should just be a workmanlike drive to get from where I am to where I want to be, right? Not in Alaska.

Here are just four of the many, many pictures I took along the way that show you what a mind-blowing view Alaska has to offer, even on your "driving days."

Ahh, just getting ready to hop on a plane tomorrow and head back to Alaska. I'm going to start this trip in the south, either in Seward or Homer. Hmm, let's see what the southern-Alaska weather looks like in mid-September:

"Rain...heavy at times. Highs near 50. South and east wind 10 to 25 mph. Through Portage Valley and Turnagain Arm...east wind 40 to 55 mph with gusts to 80 mph, decreasing to 30 to 50 mph late in the afternoon. Evening lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s."

This is gonna be fun!

Whew, I've been all over the place lately, including cars, hikes, boat rides (with whale sightings), bus rides, dog sled rides, and airplane rides, but first I need to take care of a problem. My RAV4 has sprung a leak, and the floorboard on the front passenger side was holding more than an inch of water last night.

It's still raining off and on here, so the car now looks like a wounded soldier, with a plastic bag and other plastic wrap covering the right-front side. Fortunately I don't need to drive anywhere, but I'd sure like to dry out the front of the car a little more.

Day 2 in Seward found us on a boat ride. We hit the road, er, the water, around 10:30 a.m. and took a six-hour cruise. I would have been happy with another six hours, it was incredible.

We started the ride with a visit from a humpback whale:

I'm touring the Alaskan countryside this week with two relatives, my mom and her sister. I'm trying to play it safe with them, so Day 1 of the trip is back to familiar stomping grounds in Seward.

We arrived in Seward this afternoon, and I got them onto a 6 p.m. summer dog sled ride with the Seavey's dog team. Here are a few pictures from the adventure.

First, here's our dog team as we stopped for a break on the trail:

With the housing situation now under control I decided to relax and check out a new show in Anchorage called the "WildRide Sled Dog Show" today. This show is put on by the Seavey family, a famous named in the Iditarod circle.

The Seavey's have always had a great sled dog show in Seward they call the Ididaride, but this WildRide show in Anchorage is new this year.

Apparently there are a lot of Greeks in Alaska, which at the least pleases my stomach. A woman at a Greek restaurant in Seward told me there's a big Greek festival is in Anchorage in mid-August, and she said it might be the largest of all festivals in Anchorage this year. I'm looking forward to more gyros, and maybe some flaming saganaki!

Bummer, I just learned last night that I'm not a sourdough. It turns out that a sourdough is a Yukon/Alaskan old-timer. Instead I'm a cheechako, a newbie. Maybe one day I'll grow up to be a sourdough. :)

Here are a couple of pictures as I head out of Seward. First, the Seward Saloon, a favorite old stop, but boo-hoo, it's now for sale:

My mood is a little better this evening, but there are definitely two people in the car now. For lack of better terms I'll call them Old Al, and New Al.

New Al says things like "You know, if someone hit my car today I wouldn't mind. As long as they don't injure me I'd walk up to them and ask how they were, exhange insurance info if they had any, pat them on the back, and go on."

Old Al says things like "Where is my #$%# hat!" when he's standing in the drizzle trying to find his hat (in the car he packed).