Seward Summer is Slipping Away

OK - it's been over a month since my last post.

And just like the the old golden days of radio,  I realize that you've probably

been sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for the next action packed installment.

Well the wait is over!

This post will be just a hodge podge of things.....  sort of like our time here.

First....   As fall quickly approaches here in the far north so does the night.

Alaska is a land of extremes...

To go from almost endless daylight to endless night the days get longer and shorter at

a much faster pace.

A few weeks ago we never saw the stars.

Now its getting dark around 11 pm and in a week or two it will be 10 pm.

For example:

Below is the Holland America ship Nordam arriving about 0415 on June 16.

Just 5 days prior to the longest day of the year.

Holland America Nordam Arrives Seward, Alaska

Below the Holland America Westerdam arrives 7 weeks later on August 4th at the same time.

Only 6 weeks past the summer solstice and its already become night at that same hour.

Holland America Westerdam arrives in Seward Ak

While the weather this summer has been off the charts - hot and dry.

We did have a few sprinkles and saw this pretty rainbow. 

Of course the Sea Otters are keeping us company.

Our neighborhood Bald Eagle makes a catch every so often.

Kite surfers pop up when the winds are strong enough.

And being a busy port, the traffic in and out of Seward is constant and varied.

Early August we took a day out of our exhausting schedule to make the 2-hour drive

up to Anchorage for supplies and errands.

On the way up, you drive along Turnagain arm, a large narrow Bay 

at the north east end of the Cook Inlet. 

The tides here range up to 40 feet.

One of the things we’ve tried to catch every time we’ve been up here is called the bore tide.

At certain phases of the moon the tide comes in in waves.   

Sometimes surfers will surf the wave up  the whole 30 or 40 miles up the arm.

As we were driving along the arm, I knew it was the right condition for it to happen, 

So I was keeping an eye out, not really expecting it to happen, 

but then I saw a wave coming.

Turnagain Arm Bore Tide

The wave in these photos is about 3' high.

Unfortunately there was no place to pull over so these pictures are the best that I could do.

More waves followed but I could not get a photo.

Seeing the tide arrive in 3' waves is truly a sight to see!

Turnagain Arm Bore Tide

First stop in Anchorage was the Monster Wash.

A combination Dog Wash, Car Wash, Truck/RV wash.

I gave the dogs a good scrubbing.

This was their first baths since Cornwall, England in October.

Lucy at Monster Wash Anchorage

Gracie at Monster Wash Anchorage

Next up was the Laundromat, then Costco, & Walmart.

Finally - on the way back around Turnagain Arm we stopped at one of my favorite

barbecue places....  Turnagain Arm Pit Barbecue.

We got some ribs, chicken, and brisket and took it home to reheat in the bus.

Turnagain Arm Pit Barbecue Indian, Alaska

The fireweed has made its appearance for the summer.

It covers the hillsides in beautiful blankets of purple.

Its said that when the fireweed goes...  so goes summer.

The fireweed is in its final last gasps now so summer is starting to slip away.

Soon we'll be back on the road heading to the lower 48.

One of the activites here is our trip to the dump and water station.

We have really been able to stretch our tanks so that we only need to refill fresth

water and dump the waste tanks twice since the end of May.

Our last set of tanks lasted us 5 weeks!

Our next time will probably be in 3 weeks when we are leaving for the season.

Dump/Water Station in Seward.

Along with our plants we have an increasing number of solar powered bobbles.

A couple of them were sent by Craig and Vicki from England.

So I created a dance stage for them.

Unfortunately and engineering mistake led to the "Royal Dance Hall" lettering

being applied up side down.

The Royal Dance Hall Stage

We've enjoyed more than our share of beautiful dry days. 

another picture perfect Seward day

I did a little "shore art"

The next tide of course took it away.

One thing that I do not touch upon enough and I'm making a point of getting better is

talking more about the people...

One of the best things about here is all the people that we meet from all over the world.

Closer to home however was our friends Dave & Sue from our Montana Group.

They are traveling thru Alaska this year and stopped by for a week.

Dave & Sue visit Seward

Other friends John and Cindy from our Montana group were also here for several days.

John went fishing and brought us some fresh Rock Fish that he caught.

On his trip one of the other fisherman had heart trouble and had to be airlifted off of the small

boat by a coast guard helicopter.

We've been meeting tons of dogs...

 and more dogs....

And their owners too.

Kate & I out front of the bus in Seward Ak

Now two people who really need some special mention are Jackie & Caroline...

A pair of firecrackers from Ireland!

We hit it off brilliantly with these two ladies and something tells me that we'll be seeing

each other more in the future.

L-R Kate, Caroline, Jackie

Then just yesterday we met Anna and Tobias from Switzerland.

They live close to our Swiss family and I bet we'll be bumping into them too the next

time we are Zurich bound.

Anna & Tobias had dinner in the bus with us last night and then gave Kate their left over

items as they were turning in the Truck camper tomorrow.

Anna, Tobias, Kate

The leaves are turning.

Not sure if its stress from the heat and drought but one thing is certain...

The fireweed is going so soon so will we.

We'll probably be leaving here during the 1st week of September.

We have reservations in Banff National Park for Sept 16-18

And further reservation in West Glacier on Sept 19-21.

Its hard to believe that we've been here almost 3 months already.