Alaska – Seward – State 18 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Due to limited access to internet service and Verizon Hotspot in Canada and Alaska we will be adding photos as we can. In the mean time we will continue to provide our RV adventure at each phase of our RV adventure in text.

To date our route from Anchorage, AK to Seward, AK is one of our shortest. The route will take us back through the same roads we came in on for the 5th time. The next few days is expected to be rain, so we do not expect to do as much as we expected.

The travel time from Golden Nugget RV Park in Anchorage, AK to Stoney Creek RV Park in Seward, AK is 2 h 14 min 122 miles via AK-1 S and State Hwy 9.

We clean up and leave Golden Nugget RV Park without ever seeing the 2 women from the night before. Today is expected to be the best day on this segment of our trip. The sky is sunny with clouds. We drive down AK-1 South along Turnagain Arm Waterway for the 5th time. We are now very familiar with the road.

Just after noon we enter Kenai Peninsula. The drive easy on the truck and camper. Mostly flat or down hill to Seward.

We reach Stoney Creek RV Park by 3:00 pm. Stoney Creek RV Park is about 4 miles before Seward. The campground was created when State Hwy 9 was being widened in sections between Primrose and Seward. The contractor built the campground to house the work crews building the highway. After the road was completed the owner expanded the campground and people started coming. The campground is a destination for many of the Caravan Tours visiting Seward Alaska. The campground is located off a glacier creek, which at the time was only a few feet wide but can be raging in the spring after the spring thaw.

We find our neighbors from Mountain View RV Park in Palmer, AK staying a few RV’s down from us. The couple are full timers touring Alaska with friends in a different RV. They are a true inspiration for Parkinson Disease survivors. They have been living full time snow-birding in Florida and traveling across the country when possible. A little later we see a motor coach with three Irish Wolfhounds. They are also previous campers from Palmer, AK.

Across from us there is another Reflection 5th wheel. The couple has a few children and a dog that they will not keep on a leash. Lora sees at one time the dog run down to a couple walking their dog. The guy did nothing. We later see they are packing up like. They look all pissed off. The whole thing looks strange. The woman begins to breast feed her son out on the grass while the guy packs up. We figure they must have been asked to leave because the time was almost 5:00 pm.

The strangest part of all was when the guy hooked up the 5th wheel, the kids gave hugs to the woman and left with the guy. The woman stayed for about another 1 hour breast feeding baby and then hanging out in her car.

After all the drama subsided Lora and I took a walk along the creek.

The next day the weather turned to overcast and occasional drizzle. We want to take a Wildlife Cruise and Buffet Dinner, but the weather is going to be too bad.

We drive into Seward and stop on their little main street. We walk to a few gift stores before moving on. Seward has the Alaska SeaLife Center, but the cost is about $25.00 per person, and we want to see wildlife out in the wild, not behind glass. I see our first Cummins 5.0L V8 Turbo Diesel up close. It is amazing how few are on the road after being on the market for 2 years. As for trucks towing campers, Cummins 2500 and 3500 appears to be the best choice for large 5th wheelers and trailers. Ford F250 and F350 is a close 2nd.

A Seward attraction noted in searches is the murals throughout the city. Murals are becoming a must have in small towns and cities to attract visitors.

We drive over to the marina and park to walk around. The marina has Glacier and Wildlife Cruises, Fishing, and Kayaking. Nearby is a Cruise Ship dock for large cruise ships from Seattle, Vancouver, or Anchorage in most cases. There is a large “Before I die…” chalk board for visitors to write down their wish “before I die”.

I add to “Complete 49 states on our RV Adventure”.

Across the street is a marker showing 1.5-mile marker for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race. The building is advertising Dog Sledding Tours.

We walk to True Value and buy a small Weber Barbecue, rubber boots, and rain gear.

The weather wasn’t that bad; the rain is more of an occasional mist. The temperature is not shorts weather, but not bad either.

Back at the campground, I spend about an hour panning my bucket of creek sand from Palmer. I add some gold flakes to my collection.

When walking Bella B, Lora and I talk with our former neighbors and the couple with the Irish Wolfhounds. Lora also gets her photo with the dogs. The own mentioned the dogs were bread to kill wolves to protect sheep. Their dogs had killed a deer on their land, so they still have the instinct to hunt.

Tuesday July 24th the rain seems to be heavier during the night, than during the day. We are going to venture out with our new rain gear. Exit Glacier is just outside of Seward in the Kenai Fjord National Park. The route is eight miles off of Hwy 9. The road takes you to Exit Glacier Visitor Center. From the Visitor Center there are several trails up to the glacier. There are also Ranger led trail hikes. To hike all the trails, start by turning left at the nature center and following the accessible, Glacier View Loop Trail through the cottonwood forest to the Glacier View, a panoramic vista of Exit Glacier spilling down from the Harding Icefield. This one-mile accessible trail loops back to the parking area, or you can turn left at the trail-side kiosk and continue .6 miles on to the Exit Glacier Overlook via the Glacier Overlook Trail.

We take the 0.9 mile hike up to the closest view point of Exit Glacier. The first 0.5 miles is paved. The rest is up hill across steams and rocky areas. With the ground wet it can be easy to slip. What is interesting along the path and also driving up there are placards with a year. It turns out the year placards are when the Exit Glacier was at that point. We stayed on the path for about 30 minutes before heading back down.

Concurring Exit Glacier is actually a big step for Lora. There is always a worry she will be attacked by a bear. Even though there was a sighting of a bear a couple of hours earlier at the glacier, she was willing to walk the path. After the hike, she was especially proud she did it.

We returned to Seward to kill time. We go down to the end of Hwy 9, which is the Alaska SeaLife Center. I see a road that goes along the waterway. We decide to take the road.

Seward actually is not the farthest point. Lowell Point is a small community 2.3 miles farther along a winding narrow road tracking along the edge of the waterway. Lowell Point first appeared on the 1890 U.S. Census as the homestead of the Captain Franklin G. Lowell family, consisting of 12 residents, 10 Whites, 1 Native & 1 Creole (mixed Native & Russian). It did not report again until 2000, when it first appeared as Lowell Point and made a census-designated place. The 2000 census reported 80 residents. The town consists of a campground and rental units along with a number of residential properties.

We stop at the entrance of Caines Head State Recreation Area. The park has a paved road, but we are unsure if we can drive the route. I ask another visitor if we can drive past the fee station. He was not sure and asked the driver. The driver said only for a short distance, so we decided to turn back.

Returning back to Seward we stop at the starting line (Mile Marker 0) for the famous Iditarod Dog Sled Race. The site has a monument and story boards explaining the history.

The next day, Thursday, we are moving to Denali. The drive is going to be another long trip because our original plans of stay in Palmer, Homer, Seward, Anchorage, then Denali never transpired. Now that we know how long to stay and where, we can plan our schedule in advance of returning one day. We definitely want to take a Wildlife Cruise.

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