Seward Surprises

Yesterday, August 18th, was full of pleasant surprises. Besides knowing where we were spending the night in Seward, we didn't have any other concrete plans. We left Anchorage in the morning and headed south to Seward. In Anchorage, we were somewhat unimpressed with the scenery, but the drive to Seward was spectacular. We weren't disappointed with the many picturesque mountain views and even a mama moose and her baby. For those of you who told us to take lots of pictures, you certainly won't be disappointed. After downloading them we discoverd we took over 300 pictures yesterday alone. Of course we'll whittle them down. :)

We arrived in Seward around 1:00p.m., so it was too early to check-in to our hotel. Not having any plans we headed to the tour centers and visitor center to see what we should do. One of the employees mentioned a Helicopter and Dog Sled tour. Tom jumped on that right away. I was a little more leery (mostly due to cost). In the end we just went for it. What an experience!!!

It was my first time in a helicopter (I have to say it is a much different feeling than flying in a plane). After a short trip up to the top of a mountain we were dropped off on top of a glacier to the base camp. Here during the summer (late May to late August), two guides live with their 57 dogs. It was pretty chilly and reminded us of what is right around the corner in Wisconsin :(. Mushing the dogs and being able to ride on the sled was pretty awesome. It felt like a true Alaskan experience. Riding behind the sled felt a lot like water skiing. After our experience with the dogs we waited for the helicopter to come back and get us. The weather was starting to turn windier, colder, and rainier. I was starting to get a little nervous that the helicopter might not be able to come back and get us and we would be spending the night on a glacier. Luckily this did not happen. Our ride back on the helicopter was amazing.

You would think this would be enough fun for one day, but after we were done with the tour we went on to explore Exit Glacier. This was a very nice hike and up close view of the foot of a glacier. That was about it for our sight seeing for the day. After a nice dinner we came back to view the videos and zillion pictures we took. Tom was so excited by the pictures that he was falling asleep as we were looking at them . . . hopefully the same doesn't happen when we get home and show you!!!

Today we are planning to take a full day cruise of the Gulf of Alaska to see more glaciers and wildlife. The weather might be bad and the trip might not go, so who knows, we could be in for more surprises today!

Clown Car and Revele

We've made it to Alaksa with no problems. So far everything has gone to plan . . .well almost. When we were getting our rental car, we decided to stick with what I originally reserved, which was an "Economy Car". Looking at the car classification guide at the counter it sure looked like it would be approximately the same size as a "Compact Car". We went with it. When we went up to the garage to pick it up, we were somewhat shocked that the Chevy Aveo looked like a car you might pile 12 clowns in and laugh as they all tried to get out. It's quite small. Only 1 of our suitcases fit in the back. We're going to stick with it. Last night we headed into downtown Anchorage and ran across some bears. No big deal. We spent the night at Elendorf AFB. Pros: Cost $28/night. Cons: Woke up to Revele at 0700. I guess that's ok since we are excited to get on the road. We will be heading to Seward today, hopefully we will be able to take a glacier boat cruise to the Kenai Fjords National Park. More to come . . .

Alaska Bound!

Hey everyone, it's the sarge here with my first and probably last post. I say last because once I show the wife how to blog I will probably be banned. Anyways, I really didn't want to torture anyone with our everyday lives but some friends of ours started blogging and we felt left out. If I had hacking $killz I would simply take down their site but now we've been forced to compete and create the illusion that our lives are more exciting than theirs :)

Speaking of exciting, we are flying up to Alaska and will be touring the 49th state this entire week. I don't think we would normally visit Alaska but our favorite uncle decided to pay for the airfare so we couldn't pass it up. We will be flying into Anchorage and while we're there we plan on visiting Denali National Park and the small town of Seward which is right on the Gulf of Alaska. I don't know how much we will get out since it's suppose to rain all week but as long as we don't run into any large animals it's all good. I brought my nunchucks and running shoes just in case any wildlife that threatens our vacation. Well it's getting pretty late here and I have to finish packing. Make sure to stop by later this week for an update and possible photos of our Alaskan adventure.


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Before I leave though, I just wanted to thank you for stopping by our private little idaho here. If you feel you like a part of you has died while reading this I don't blame you. The amount of time you wasted here can not be refunded....................it is gone forever.

SARGE OUT!!