Anchorage to Homer to Seward

We spent a couple of days in Anchorage and checked out the area.  We took a drive down to the Cook Inlet.  We stopped along the shore and as we were looking out across the water we turned around and noticed a Eagle sitting on a highline pole.

One of the first good views we have had of an Eagle since we started our trip.  Further down the road we stopped in a small park and watched two young moose checking out the joggers along the path.  One of them actually chased one of the joggers for a little bit.

As we were leaving the little park we noticed several sand cranes along the road.

After our little road trip we went back to the campground and started packing up for the next leg of our trip.  Next stop Homer.....

The next morning we headed out for another beautiful drive. 

The views were stunning!!!!

We have arrived in Homer!!

We have a campground at the end of the spit.  So we have water on both sides of us.

We are at the very end of that little finger of land jutting out into the water.  Awesome!  Besides being the fishing capitol of the world they also have a lot of eagles.  They like to eat the leftovers that the fishermen leave after they are done cleaning fish.

These eagles were spotted near the campground on highline poles.

Some one mentioned that there was an eagles nest across from the post office so we had to go check it out.  We spotted a mom and her baby in the nest and daddy across from them...guarding....

Also along the road on the spit were several boats that apparently didn't make it back out to sea.

Another big business out of Homer is renting a float plane and seeing the area from the air.

We didn't take a ride but thought about it.
Homer is a really neat area, we enjoyed checking it out.
The next stop is Seward.  Time to get back to camp and start getting ready for the drive.
It was a short drive and we got all checked in and relaxed the rest of the day.

The next day we went on a tour of Seward Sea Life Center.   It is on the shore of Resurrection Bay and the only facility in the world specifically dedicated to studying the northern marine environment.

We had a presentation at the Center called the Puffin Experience.  It was about an hour presentation of the Puffin.  We also got to meet the main Puffin at the Center.  Dora.....

Dora is a Tuffed Puffin,  Puffins spend up to nine months out in the ocean and only come in to land to hatch their eggs.  Another species of Puffins is the Horned Puffin.

It was a very interesting talk and the hour passed very quickly.
After the talk we went and toured the rest of the Center.  One of the highlights was a baby walrus that had been found abandoned at sea and brought to the Center by some fishermen.

When the walrus is born they are cuddled by their mothers.  Since she has no mother the employees take turns sitting and cuddle her all day.  It was so cute to watch.

The next day we were off on a five and a half hour cruise in Resurrection bay and the edge of the Kenai Fjords National Park.  We were served a lunch of salmon and prime rib as we were heading out to open waters.  One of the first things we saw was a walrus.  Didn't get a good picture as he was being a slug and not moving.

The next animals we saw was a mother sheep and baby.

We passed huge nesting colonies of puffins, kittiwakes and common murres. 

There were a group of stellar sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. One harbor seal was trying to join the group but they weren't to excited about letting him join.

 

 

Next the captain came on the speaker and said there had been a humpback whale spotted up ahead so we beat feet to the area that they were spotted.  We spotted one and didn't get great pictures but they were really fun to watch.  There was another sighting so we were on the move again.  We also saw them and watched them for quite awhile.

Pretty soon it was time to head back and they announced it was time for dessert.  Oh boy!

Also on the way back we passed by the Bear Glacier,  you could also see some of the icebergs that had broken off the glacier.

Coming into the harbor we noticed a couple of sea otters playing.

Another great day of sight seeing.  Tomorrow is a free day so we will get laundry done and house cleaned.  In the evening we will be having a pot luck and everyone that caught halibut in Homer donated some and we had halibut....YUM!

Tomorrow we are headed out again.  This time to Palmer. 
Hope you enjoy.

Here are more pictures.

Homer-Seward

Still Livin the Dream...........

Denali

Yesterday we got out of bed at: 4:30am to catch a bus at 6am into Denali. Ended up being a 13 hr. bus trip. We had a dog walker get Bud twice during the day.  He was sure glad to see us when we got home.  It was a long day but very fruitful. The day was beautiful it was 82 degrees at the peak of the day.  All the Alaskans were amazed at the great weather. We saw Moose, Big Horn Sheep, Caribou, Grizzly Bears, ptarmigan (Like a grouse, Alaska state bird) and other little creatures.

We drove the entire route into Denali, there is only one road and closed to individual vehicles.  You must take a bus to go the entire 92 miles.  There are a few rest stops along the way and a lodge, where we had lunch, at the end of the road.  The bus driver was very good a spotting animals and stopping so everyone could get pictures from the bus.

One of the animals we came upon were a momma moose and here baby.

Another thing we were hoping to see was the top on Denali.  That doesn't happen very often so we were very excited to catch a view early.  Good thing we did because as the day went on the clouds began to cover the mountain top and you could only catch a glimpse once in a while.

This park is enormous and we only got to see a little piece of it.  From forest in the beginning to tundra's later in the trip.  The landscape ever changing.

 

The most sightings we had were of the grizzly bear.  I think in all we had 12 sightings of grizzly bear throughout the day.

A couple of sightings of caribou.

 This may be proof that reindeer can fly......

ptarmigan,

 

The sheep were a pretty good distance away so not a very good picture.

 

 

More pictures of the day.

Denali

This was one great day of sight seeing.  Loved it.

Still Livin' the Dream.......