ANCHORAGE AND HOMER

August 19,2008

Greetings from Seward, Alaska

We arrived in Anchorage without too much effort, got our rental car and went off to find
our B&B. Having successfully checked in there, we dumped our luggage and headed off across Anchorage to find Adrian and Becky at their RV park. They were kind enough to offer to make dinner and we had bbq'd halibut, fresh beans, salad and potato. Great dinner. We left early as Jo was really tired, having been up since about 1 a.m. Alaska time. Early to bed and up early the next day. We picked up A&B and introduced them to R.E.I. From there we headed to downtown Anchorage for lunch. We did some wandering around and caught the market downtown. We also picked up tickets for a glacier cruise out of Whittier for the next day. The overcast sky gave way to sun, so we took a pleasant stroll on the waterfront trail and then went in search of dinner.
A&B knew of a great grocery store selling wonderful seafood items so we picked up
some beautiful fresh salmon, a salad to compliment the fish and dinner was dealt with.

The next morning we picked A&B up and drove down to Whittier, getting to pass through N. America's longest tunnel to get there. We got there in plenty of time and exhausted the town's attractions in about 10 minutes. It was looking pretty bleak when we got on the boat but the skies cleared (to some degree) and we saw some great scenery, beautiful glaciers (26 in all) and tons of sea otters. We also saw some calving of the glaciers, which is pretty awesome. The sun appeared as we returned through the tunnel, and we got a great view of the snowcapped mountains along Turnagain Arm on our way back to Anchorage to get ready to head off on our own tomorrow.
Aug 18. We dropped A&B off in Whittier where their floating chariot was waiting. They were sailing on the Island Princess to Vancouver. Jo and I took possession of the RV and took off for Homer.
By the time we got there it was pretty overcast and it rained steadily overnight, but on Tuesday a.m. (today) the skies cleared and the scenery was beautiful. After enjoying the morning and part of the afternoon on the famous Spit, we headed back along the Stirling highway and arrived in Seward, Alaska.
We had picked up some fresh-off-the-boat halibut for dinner - it's soooo good. More later. k