The Bald Eagle Came for a Visit!!

July 14, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

This bald eagle landed near our campsite. He found some fish to enjoy.

He watched carefully to ensure that nothing tried to get his fish!

It was amazing to watch him take to the air holding a large piece of fish.

It is impossible for a day to pass without enjoying Alaskan flowers and scenery!

Alaska is gorgeous! The haze in the background is smoke from a lightening initiated forest fire.

This is one of my favorite Alaskan flowers. It grows everywhere.

Kenai Fjords National Park

July 13, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

We cannot get enough of seeing the amazing glaciers in Alaska!

We were amazed to see the cave that had developed in the base of the glaciers. Several chunks of ice feel into the water while we were there.

There was quite a bit of ice that had fallen into the water.

It is amazing to look up at the wall of the glacier!

At one point this glacier reached the water below, but it has receded a little each year recently.

The tour company fished out a piece of ice from the water and Charlene had fun touching the ice with her tongue!! Apparently, some people collect glacier ice for margaritas.

Out of all the people on our tour boat, Charlene was given the honor as the person who threw the ice back into the water!

When parts of the glacier break off and fall into the water it is quite loud and seems to echo all around!

It is amazing to look up at the wall of ice towering about you!

Sea otters are bashful creatures. We found this cute guy merrily floating along.

The sea otter turned around to look at us and then quickly went under water.

The Alaskan scenes of water, mountains, and greenery truly amaze me!

The overcast skies and low clouds gave some interesting scenes. Alaska is beautiful!

The waterfalls into the sea are gorgeous!

These tiny islands do not seem to have much soil, but the trees grow right out of the rocks!

The boat captain pointed out that this small island looks like an elephant!

The misty scenes is Alaska are beautiful to behold. Although we could have gone inside the boat and warmed up, we simply needed to stay on the open deck to enjoy God’s creation in Alaska.

We were delighted to have found two humpback whales enjoying themselves!! Here they are both spouting water into the air.

It is truly inspiring to catch a glimpse of the whale’s tail as they leisurely swim along.

It is a photographer’s delight to actually catch a view of their tail!

The boat captain was gracious and we waited to see if the whales would lift any part of the bodies up out of the water.

The whales moved around and I was able to see it in time to capture this special moment. I love seeing the water flowing off of the end of this tail.

The whale gave us a fun show and lifted his tail a little higher into the air.

Then the whale shifted and started to swim deeper.

Here is another time when the whales spouted water into the air.

While we were waiting to see if the whales would surface again, the beautiful tufted puffin bird stopped by to visit. I love the orange coloring!

We captured another glimpse of a whale tail above the surface!

Amazingly, the whale then rolled over and showed us his fins!!

The people on this boat were shocked when the whale came to the surface right next to them!!

This was a final view of the whale. Everyone on the boat concluded that the whale was waving goodbye to us!

We next saw sea lions! This guy was proudly perched high on a rock looking out into the sea.

We were amazed to see so many sea lions!

It was fascinating to watch this awkward and amazing creatures in the wild!

There was a large variation in the size and color of the sea lions.

This big guy seemed to be barking at everyone telling them to not panic that a boat was drifting by. The captain asked everyone to be quiet so we would not frighten them.

The small black sea lions are the babies. The colony is doing very well in Kenai Fjords National Park.

Earthquake!!

July 13, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

I was awakened at 11:30 pm by the motorhome being shaken back and forth. I first thought some pranksters were pushing on the motorhome to make it rock. However, no one was outside. I then thought it must be very windy and the force of the wind was making the motorhome rock. After a minute or two, the rocking stopped and I went back to sleep. The next morning I learned that the rocking was not from the wind but a 4.7 magnitude earthquake near Soldotna (Nikiski). I stayed in Soldotna just about 10 days ago!! Seward is only two hours away from Soldotna, so we were close enough to have been impacted by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. Charlene peacefully slept through the entire episode. I was a little “shaken” by the force of the rocking!

Seward Helicopter Ride!!

July 10, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

Today we had an amazing experience!! We had our first helicopter ride! Seeing beautiful Alaska from the air was an amazing experience!

We love this photo which shows the icebergs, the mountains, and the deep green of Alaska on a cloudy day!

Believe it or not, but the small black dots are seals as seen from our helicopter! They enjoy resting on the icebergs.

The blue color of the glaciers is amazing to see!

We saw several black bears during our helicopter ride! This fellow was fun to watch!

The glaciers are huge, gorgeous blue, and impressive!

This distance photo shows the immense size of the glacier flowing down the entire mountain.

The depth of the crevasses is incredible!

The fresh water from the glacier melt is separated from the salt water on the far right by a small sliver of land. You can tell the difference by the different colors of water.

The icebergs and mountains in the distance are beautiful!

Each iceberg is like a individually crafted fingerprint! No two are alike.

It is difficult to tell perspective in this photo, but this glacier is enormous!

It was amazing to see the depth of the crevasses! They have a rich blue color and are very deep!

The pure water of the glacier melt appears blue and is very clear!

Sometimes the icebergs turn upside down. When this happens, the now exposed previous bottom, is strikingly blue.

This is our helicopter pilot’s favorite iceberg. We flew around until we found this massive blue ice-cube floating in the water.

It was a serene, beautiful sight, to see the icebergs floating peacefully in the water.

The icebergs were carved by the elements into unique art.

After our helicopter ride, we returned to our campsite and this is the view of the mountain directly across from where we are parked. It is spectacularly beautiful!

Seward is known form having many beautiful murals around town. Charlene and I especially liked this mural near the harbor master office.

Charlene is testing out the dog sled and preparing for the next Iditarod race!

Sitting at our campsite, we noticed this bald eagle eating dinner atop this pole.

Drive to Seward!!

July 9, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

On the drive from Anchorage to Seward, we stopped in Moose Pass to buy a coffee on a cold day (yes it is July 9th and it was less than 60 degrees!!) Inside, Charlene discovered the largest rabbit I have ever seen. His name is Alabaster Snowball and he weighs 15 pounds! 15 pounds!!!!! This rabbit weighs more than our dog Zoe!

The drive was beautiful! We stopped about 5 times to enjoy the scenes. I love seeing the flowing river, the colors of the trees and the low clouds. It rained off an on the entire day.

Another photograph of Alaska flowers. I love the rich colors. We think the name of the plant is “Fireweed.”

Charlene has quickly fallen in love with Alaska. The mountains and rivers are beautiful!

Charlene discovers the huge size of a grizzly bear! The sign says “caution: do not touch, he may bite.” Charlene was not afraid!

However, the fear statement need to be reconsidered once Charlene notes the massive size of the bear’s claws!

Bald eagles are quite impressive! They have a very large wingspan! Watch out Charlene! The eagle is coming for you!

We went to Ray’s restaurant for dinner and were seated at the best corner table with a spectacular view of the harbor and boats returning from the day on the Gulf of Alaska and Pacific Ocean. While eating dinner, we saw a harbor seal playing in the water just outside our window! Earlier in the day we saw two bald eagles just outside our campsite! Alaska is amazing!

Boondocking near Seward!!

July 6, 2022 / Ed Armstrong

I love this campsite! What a wonderful view!

I met a couple that was traveling while we both were in Homer, Alaska. They told me about a great place to boondock camp near Seward. It took me three tries to find the correct entrance, but it opened up to a dry riverbed section of the Resurrection River. It is surrounded with beautiful mountains! This was a treat to enjoy! The photos show the 4 directions around my campsite. The only downside is that there was no cellular service at this location. I guess I can survive without internet access for a day. 😉