June 25, 2014 - Seward and Kenai Fjords National Park

A good night’s sleep was followed by a great breakfast at the Summit Mountain Lodge, our abode for the night.

 Our lodging last night.

 Here is the main lodge and restaurant.  They had fantastic food! For dinner last night we coconut battered shrimp followed by salmon stuffed with shrimp, crab and other goodies over a bed of rice.  Yummy!  It came with some lovely veggies, cauliflower, green beans and carrots.  We cleaned the plate.

They also had a building the contained a pizza and ice cream parlour.  The lodge was on a lake but the weather was awful so we didn't use the canoes or paddle boats.  This was a very nice place to stay (but no internet except in the main lodge.) 

What wasn’t so great was the weather.  It was raining.  Well, really heaving mist, the Pacific Norwet kind of heavy clouds misting.  It later decided to rain in earnest!  That meant we had to pack our bags in the rain, not my favorite thing to do.  We got a rather slow start trying to see if the rain would clear off or not.  It was a not.  We geared up and headed to Seward, AK.  As we neared our destination, the rain did quit and we were able to walk around Seward and stay dry.

There really isn’t much there.  Main street is loaded with restaurants, bars, lounges, a brewery and tourist junk stores.  There is a nice ocean science center and we took some time to check that out.  We also took a nice walk along the shore.

 On our way to Seward, we noticed a National Park sign so when we left, we entered the Kenai Fjords National Park into the GPS and followed her to the park.  What a great surprise!  The visitor center is small but well done with exhibits.  And bonus, we got another stamp for our National Parks Passport!  Yippee!

We took the ½ mile walk to the glacier viewing area.  I swear the path was uphill both ways and I was fully geared including heated vest.  Yeah, probably 30 pounds of gear.  No problem, I finally huffed and puffed myself to the view area and grabbed a few nice photos.  The rain started again at this point.  Just light, but enough to know it was raining.

By the time we got back on our bikes, it was raining pretty good and by the time we got out to the main highway, it was pouring down.  Our next destination was Soldotna and is poured pretty much the entire time.  And, there was road construction which kept the speeds down to 45.  And, of course, there were those drivers who wouldn’t drive faster than 35.  It was a long slog.  Too bad, because I’m sure it is beautiful in nice weather.  The drive followed the Kenai river.  Perhaps on our return it will be nice and I can get some pictures.

We arrived at our abode for the next two night, the Dream Cabin at Cabins by the Pond in Soldotna.  It’s lovely J   Pictures tomorrow!

Eric went back into town to get us some ice, food and goodies.  Our cabin has a full but tiny kitchen so we don’t have to get back on the bikes and find a place to eat.  I love to stay put at the end of the day.  Well, I also like to have my cocktail at the end of the day.  We’re now set with food pretty much for the next two days.

Tomorrow we’re riding down to Homer and see what all the fuss is about Homer!

Till then,

Cheers,

Cletha, Soldotna, AK