2016 Aug Alaska 11

Although we had been on one dog cart ride, when Cliff found out the the Seavey dog kennels were in Seward, we had to go.  Dan Seavey lives in Seward and was instrumental in starting the Iditarod Race.  Mitch, his son, also lives on the Kenai Peninsula, won the race 3 times.  His grandson, Dallas, lives near Fairbanks and has won the race 4 times.  Quite a dynasty.  Above is Hugo.  He's not a sled dog.  Huskies don't make good sled dogs.  Hugo was a movie star, but I can't remember what movie it was.  I do know that he kissed Drew Barrymore once. 

It's fun watching them hook up the dogs.  The lead dog was on the right front.  They always put a dog on the left next to the lead dog, that they believe will make a good lead.  The dogs learn from each other the commands.

We got to hold these adorable pups.  This was a litter of four. 

One of Mitch Seavey's sleds.  They are very light but strong and flexible.  The pot on the left is what they use to heat water to thaw out the dog food, and also to heat the riders food during a race.

One of Mitch's trophies.

A little less than 100 dogs in Mitch's kennel.  Our tour guide was a young woman training for the race.  She will run a shorter qualifying race this winter.

Picture was taken in 1911 in Seward when dog sleds were used for transporting various things between Seward and Nome.

Picture of this years winner,  Dallas Seavey

2016 Aug Alaska 10

This display was at the Alaska Sea life Center in Seward, Alaska.  This center was constructed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989 to study the effect on marine life.  Before the spill there wasn't any records to show the populations of sea lions, otters, etc.  They knew how many mammals and birds were killed during the spill, but did not know what percentage of the total populations had died.

These girl scouts spent the night at the center.  Their poor leaders were exhausted from lack of sleep.  Above:  it's amazing how vocal little girls can be just touching a slimy starfish.

These little white dots are plankton.  Whales actually eat a lot of plankton.  Come on?  How do whales fill up on this stuff?

We had the best talk about Puffin's by one of the rangers at the Sea Life Center.  This bird (name is Rain and his baby is named Drizzle) flapped it's wings on cue.  Very cute.

This is a Horned Puffin above. Puffins live 9 months in the ocean and only come to land to find their mates (they mate for life with the same bird) and lay only one egg.  The young birds stay out in the ocean for 3 to 4 years before they come to land to find a mate and reproduce. 

There was a very nice bird habitat in the Sea Life Center.  They build tubes in the rock formations to mimic the birds nests, then put nanny cams in the tubes to study the birds.

This octopus was mesmerizing to watch.  Poetry in motion.

I've never seen a fish like this before.  Can't remember the name.

Statue in front of the Sea Life Center.  Below is the outside view of the Center.

Fishing lures for sale at a shop in Seward.  Fishing is a big industry in the Kenai Peninsula

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Above Exit Glacier near Seward.  It has receded dramatically in the last 100 years.  The path we walked along to get to this viewing place had signs posted where the base of the glacier was in different years.  The glacier filled this whole area not that many years ago.

Our group waiting on the bus in Seward to take us to our tour boat.  It rained all day.  Disappointing but we had a good time anyway.  Below was the park ranger who rides along and tells the passengers about the history of the area and spots wild life and whales for us.  She kept telling us what a beautiful day it was.  Nice to be so cherry on a rainy day.  Cliff did see a whale.

Pretty waterfalls our boat pulled up close to view.

Sea lions not caring much about the heavy rain we were having.

Not sure what this plant was, but had to take a picture.  Such a bright red.

2016 Aug Alaska 9

We left Anchorage at the top and travelled to Homer at the far south side of Kenai Peninsula.  After 4 nights in Homer we travelled back toward Anchorage on the same highway, but then took Seward Hwy to Seward for 4 nights.  I tried to highlight the path we took, but it doesn't show up very well. 

Below it's salmon season.  Lots of fishermen on the rivers.

This man showing us his lure.  Seems like the salmon like colorful lures.

Pretty good size salmon, but it had to be thrown back, because it was snagged. This fishwalk (platform along the river) was built by the city of Soldotna.  This was on our way south to Homer.

Sorry, just another pretty mountain picture I have to share.

Just outside a museum in Homer and not 30 feet from the foot path we saw this mother and her two calves just taking it easy.

The spit at Homer seen from Skyline road above Homer.  Below is a picture that was in a museum taken from the air and the opposite end of the spit from the picture I took above.  When we were here 23 years ago, there was just a boardwalk wharf at the end with shops and restaurants. Now there's condos at the end.  The marina in the center is protected by a man-made earthen barrier.

We were told that the Sand hill Cranes are starting to form flocks to fly together south.  These two did not look interested in joining any group to fly south.

Very old Russian Orthodox church near Homer.

Above is a house that is being built by a couple we know.  They work for Adventure Caravans and have been full timing for 14 years.  They are so excited about this house in Homer.  You can understand why, when you seen there view (below) out the front of their house.

Eagle just hanging out on a light post on the Homer spit.

Maybe I was wrong about the Sand Hills.  These are definitely heading South.

This flower is called fireweed.  It starts blooming early in June at the bottom, and then the bloom moves up the stalk.  When this fuzzy stuff starts happening, the locals say it's time to start getting ready for winter.  Holy crap!!  It's only August.

We drove past Homer on the southeast side to the end of the highway and the end of the bay.  It was settled by the Russians early on.  As you can see on this bathroom, it looks like they still speak Russian.

Okay, I get it.  When the moose has it's ears down, run like  "*%*".  As the warning below says, they are herbivores.  Lets hope.