August 2 (and 3) - Getting Wet in Seward

We went over to catch our tour boat at 9 am, only to find out that the tour likely wouldn't make it out to the gulf and to the tidewater glaciers due to 10 foot waves.  Seeing those glaciers that calve ice into the water, and the chance of seeing some whales, was our real reason for taking the tour.  So between that and not wanting to risk another case or two of seasickness, we decided to cancel the trip and get a refund.  Waves are predicted to be 14 feet tomorrow and 8 feet the next, so it doesn't look like we'll get another chance.

We decided to just hang around Seward and take in the Alaska Sea Life Center.  It's the only aquarium in Alaska.  The had a lot of real nice displays of Alaska sea life - fish, crabs, plus a aviary with some of those cool-looking puffins.  We could have watched these guys for hours.  This is a Tufted Puffin that hung out at the edge and seemed to have fun splashing folks and getting his picture taken.

There's another kind called a Horned Puffin because of the lines above his eyes.

We also were impressed with Woody, the Stellar Sea Lion.  Woody is a big dude and weighs in at 1,700 pounds!  We think this is the kind of seal we watched catching salmon at Valdez.

After a wet walk through town, we spent the rest of the evening holed up in the trailer, listening to the rain and wind.  One of the locals told us this is their first big fall storm.  Yipee!  We're hoping for a quick and long Indian Summer now. 

We've also found a couple spots on the trailer that can't quite keep out all this water.  So time to get out the silicone sealer if we can find some dry weather.

We'll be working our way north to Anchorage the next couple days.  Son Matt is flying in on Friday and then we're heading up to Denali for 8 or 10 days.