May 26th
– June 1st 2014
It is unbelievable how fast is time moving. A month from May 29th
we will be leaving Anchorage (and heading home). And we have been in
Alaska for 10 weeks. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – J. worked,
average to bad weather (cloudy, rainy, smoky), really nothing
special. Normal life. Probably some small things but they just come
and go (like in normal life). There are more people (= tourists) in
Alaska. On Thursday, J. was switching (oh, who does not like to
switch from night to day?) - it was relatively fine. We went to the
hospital (J. was dropping off something at her unit) and saw the art
collection that is displayed along the main stairway (pretty nice).
It is also nice hospital and pretty intensive “Intensive Care Unit”
- after seeing it I just affirmed that I do not like hospitals. J.
went to the hospital's gym and I read in the car. Quick stop at the
grocery store and quiet evening at home. The daylight extends to
11:20 pm (about 18 hours and 40 minutes). Friday – we had the
cruise of Kenai Fjords National Park booked from Seward.
We left the house at 7:21 am – it was somewhat cloudy and rainy so
we were hoping it would get better (even though the forecast was not
saying so). We already visited Seward so the drive was not new to us.
It was different – greener with some flowers already blooming (not
many but at least some). The sky was ominous, it rained on and off,
and there were plenty of shuttles and buses on the road. In Girdwood
(about 40 miles from Anchorage) we got gasoline (probably last
“reasonably” priced gas on this road – it was 3.92, in Seward
4.17) and continued driving south. About 2.5 hours, nothing really
special. The difference in the landscape was incredible (ruined a bit
by rain) – we saw this place pretty much completely covered with
snow and now it was about to be green (or already partly green) with
some patches of snow close to the tops of the mountains. It was
really interesting picture. Seward – cloudy, rainy, and busy. We
saw many buses on the road – tourists. We drove through the town
(we were a it early) but there was really nothing to see. There were
more people – that was the only one significant change. The bay and
surrounding mountains were mostly covered with fog. In a way it was
magical, on the other side though it was going to make the cruise
less fun. Parked. Moved to the harbor. So many tourists. We were told
it was “weather day” and the captain could turn around or tour
just the bay and they gave us some options: refund, change the date,
shorter cruise. We changed the date, walked to the car (still
raining) and left the town. We took a detour (8 mile one way) to the
Exit Glacier. Really nice drive, woods, river, and mountains.
Glacier – with almost no snow around – clearly visible, somewhat
dirty and somewhat blue. Parked. Visitor center. One mile walk to the
glacier – (rain) it was really pretty, great views, and nice path.
Apparently about 16 years ago it was possible to touch the glacier,
today it was too far. There were even signs where the glacier was in
different years (1918). We actually saw those signs along the paved
road. It was impressive and really interesting view and we were happy
that we took that walk. Quite wet – driving back to Anchorage. J.
got sleepy (she took motion sickness pill) and the drive was kind of
boring and tedious (rain). We stopped at Portage Lake – National
Forest visitor center (plus lake and bunch of glaciers). It was like
ranging hell – rain, wind, and cold. Nice visitor center, nice
views, and displays. Along the road (Turnagain Arm) we saw a moose,
she was nice enough to be close to slow vehicle turnout so he could
easily pull over. The moose was followed by two babies. They were
going pretty slowly (and quite close to us) so we could have really
good look at them. Really nice. Drive home to Anchorage, peaceful
evening. Saturday – cloudy, windy, rainy, and gray. It almost
looked like the end of the world. Easy day at home. In the afternoon
J. went to store and had some time to her own. Sunday – her switch
day (followed by three work days). Still cloudy and really gray.
Another week gone.
