The town is named for William Seward. Old Billy was the savvy Secretary of State to Abraham Lincoln who conned Russia into selling us Alaska for all of about $7 million, or $0.02 per acre, in 1867. Since that deal worked out so well, maybe we should keep investing in real estate? Mexico seems like a good "buy low" opportunity, and doesn't "Tequila: Made in America" have a nice ring to it?
Seward is also known for being the start of the Iditarod trail, of which we saw the finish line in Nome. I believe we earned an Achievement today for seeing both ends of the trail, but XBox hasn't yet credited my account. I'm still waiting, XBox.
It's also home to the famous Polar Bear Jump-Off, in which clinically insane people jump into the frigid waters of Seward's harbor IN JANUARY to raise money to fight cancer. Maybe they should be raising money to fight brain damage, which they clearly all have, but, hey, to each her own.
We are in Seward tonight in preparation for tomorrow's boat trip out to the Kenai Fjords National Park. This may be a shock to some of you, but the highlight of the trip is...drum roll... Fjords! Besides being a fun word to pronounce (roughly "fe-YORD"), these are narrow, steep-sided valleys formed by glaciers and then flooded by sea water. Aside from dramatic cliffs and coastline, we should get glaciers and a number of marine mammals. Importantly for our Biggish Year, it's also our last chance for Alaskan seabirds, so we will have our attention torn in many directions!
As this trip winds down, here are a few of the sights you missed by not coming with us. I mean, we didn't offer, but you still could have popped over for a few days.
 |
| It's never too early to re-model your home... |
 |
| But that DIY is some seriously tiring work, man! |
 |
| Seriously, give it up for the Arctic Tern. These sun-loving birds breed in the Arctic during June and July, fly south to ANTARCTICA to hang out during the southern Summer, and then fly BACK again the next spring! At a minimum, this is about 24,000 miles of flying per year, and many birds take meandering courses that are much longer, up to 57,000 miles per year!!! They often live to be more than 30 years old, so in a typical lifetime, they could fly a distance equivalent to going to the Moon and back three times. And here I get tired walking from the couch to the fridge and back. |
 |
| A wonderful creature is the Caribou His antlers can grow more than an inch per day I don't know how the Hell-he-do. |
 |
| Denali, covered in clouds, like it apparently usually is. Even in the summer, about half the days the mountain is enveloped in clouds and is not visible at all. |
 |
| Jaeger coming in a for a landing. |
 |
| Dall Sheep in Denali. Two mammal pics in one post is evidence that I'm not JUST about birds! |
 |
| Rusty Blackbird says, "Seriously? Can't a guy eat lunch without somebody whipping out a camera? Why you gotta point that thing at me? Jerk." |
Me.
No comments:
Post a Comment