The last day of my Alaska Adventure had finally come… Friday morning flying out of Anchorage International Airport. A beautiful sunrise to start the day… but even more beautiful sights as we were flying. Typically I fall asleep immediately on an airplane… but not this time, there was to much to see. Crazy cool mountains & glaciers all over the place!!! Even more stunning from above!

With the afternoon to myself, I decided to hike along the Anchorage Coastal Trail. I considered renting a bike for a change, but the trail didn’t look all that long on my map. So I decided to walk it instead. It was a well-maintained paved path all along the waterfront. Curving in & out along the shore, which during low tide reveals the mudflats which were pretty cool to see. I kept walking until I made it down to Earthquake Park… and it was then that I realized that the Coastal Trail went a lot further than my map showed… it continued past the edge of the paper – HA!!! Dang, I shoulda’ rented a bike!!! Still a great hike on my last day of fun in Alaska!

So there’s this building in Anchorage… didn’t really care what it was... but I was TOTALLY enamored by the side of the building COMPLETELY covered by these amazing slabs of stone!!! You know I love a good texture… and I love some good nature… so put them together?! Brilliant. Plus, a “few” of something is fun… a “multitude” of something is FANTASTIC!!!

So we finally made it to Anchorage… where we stayed with Theresa’s Uncle Tim. He asked about my trip… and asked if I wanted to see more moose? Of course I said yes… as he said he knows just where to go to see them! I was still doubting Tim’s assurance we would see moose… our moose hunting track-record had been pretty slim so far. However, just a few minutes later we came across this large moose just strolling down the bike path!!! Guess Uncle Tim was right!!!

Heading out of Seward after the ocean boat tour toward Anchorage… we were back on the road ready for more snow-capped mountains, swampy lagoons, waterfalls & big sky clouds. What I wasn’t expecting?… a pretty FANTASTIC sunset with sunbeams streaking across the sky!

Not only was the scenery AMAZING… but there was wildlife all around during our Kenai Fjords boat cruise. So amazing to see a bunch of sea lions, puffins, bald eagles, harbor seals, otters, goats, murre birds, jellyfish & so much more! We saw most of them in the SeaLife Center…. but SO much cooler to see them out there in the wild. Definitely the highlight of my Alaskan Adventure!!!

Towards the end of our Kenai Fjords boat cruise, we passed a large glacier moving all the way down to the ocean… kinda. The Captain told us that there is a line of boulders & rubble that got pushed down by the glacier over the years, creating a barrier where you now see the tree line. This barrier has grown over the years… and now there are icebergs “trapped” inside that area. So the large chunks you see just past the tree line are actually large chunks of glaciers that fell off and are now floating in the contained area. Pretty cool, huh?!

I think I was looking forward to this the most… the iconic boat ride out into the ocean to see the Alaskan fjords, mountains, wildlife & glaciers. I was so happy that the fog had lifted and we had pretty clear views of the scenic vistas. We went out into the ocean with our boat’s Captain also being the naturalist telling us all about the local landscape… and wildlife, but that will be another post! Now THIS is the Alaska we’ve all pictured in our heads… GORGEOUS!!!

You don’t see this kinda stuff in Chicago!!!

We woke up on Wednesday and the fog had started to lift. We returned to the port of Seward… and it was pretty cool to see the town, the port, the boats, the mountains… all the things we couldn’t see at all the day before due to the intense fog. We started our day at the Alaska SeaLife Center. A very nice “aquarium” that houses local Alaskan sea life. It was nice to see some of the “residents” up close… all the while hoping that we would see more of the same later that day on our ocean boat tour.

Usually my panoramic photos are reserved for amazing sunrise skyshows. But not this time… no sky, no show! But it was the mysterious calmness of the Seward waterfront that caught my attention this time. Bigger drama… bigger photos!