A drive back to Seward, 16 years later

Alaska is huge. This fact becomes obvious when one drives across the state. This morning we skipped breakfast and got on the road. Mile after mile of treacherous mountains, glaciers, and wildflowers greeted us. We passed the turnoff for Wasilla and Denali, instead heading south. We also found all the other tourists.

Lunch was at the Moose's Tooth in Anchorage--pizza called Santa's Little Helper, which was several meats with red peppers and cilantro. We continued on and trailed behind caravans of RVs--each hauling a small car. My retirement dream.

I wanted to stop at the Wildlife Conservation Center on the way down to Seward. Moose, wolves, foxes, bears and more were all housed in this sprawling complex. Each was rescued and his or her story was explained on informative display boards.
                    

There is a photo spot called Beluga Point along Turnagain Arm where we stopped 16 years ago.  We showed Jackson where the tide goes out, exposing mud flats which become dangerous when the tide comes back in, trapping people who may walk on them. No belugas spotted, but he enjoyed playing mountain climber along the high rocks.

We then headed down to our cabin I found on Air B&B. Keep in mind with traffic, the ride from Glacier View to Seward took most of the day. We were greeted by the owner's adorable dogs and dropped our bags off in "Kris's Kozy Kabin." After going into pretty Seward and finding the Kenai Fjords National Park visitor center, we were getting hungry. There was a busy BBQ food truck open, so we took a chance and were delighted to eat homemade potato salad and cole slaw along with pulled pork, brisket, and sausage. We finished folding our clothes while we ate, and it was a great end to the day.  We returned with clean laundry (cost: $20) to boot!