Jeff's Log ~ August 29th & 30th, 2008

August 29th & 30th, 2008
We arrived in Seward on Friday afternoon August 29th, and Clara got us a room at the Holiday Inn Express. We had a very nice dinner at Ray’s restaurant overlooking the bay. The following morning, we got up and met the bus to go to Anchorage so that Clara could make her flight home. The bus trip was quite scenic, and our driver Dennis did a fine job of narrating the trip. The trip ended at the museum in Anchorage. We went to the museum there, and saw how life used to be in Alaska. It sure is a lot easier now. We walked around down-town Anchorage and got some souvenirs and stuff, and then headed to the hotel where I was spending the night all alone and by myself with no Clara.

After relaxing for a bit, we went next door and got a pizza. Before long, it was time to leave for the airport. I rode in the van with Clara, and dropped her off at the airport. It is always hard to say good-bye, and this time was no exception. I headed back to the hotel, thinking that it won’t be that much longer before I go home for the winter. In the morning, I arose at 0500 to ensure a timely arrival at the train station. I took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward. The train is the best looking train that I have ever seen. It is very clean and shiny. Even the suspension parts are clean and painted silver regularly. For the first part of the trip, the train is in the same vicinity as the highway.

We went down the Turnagain Arm, which is a body of water that has large mud flats at low tide. It was high tide when the train went through, and we saw Beluga Whales. Later, after the train went inland, we saw four moose along the side of the tracks. I had been spoiled by the scenery that I saw while cruising down from Kodiak, and the train trip actually was anticlimactic for me. It still was a very nice trip, and I would highly recommend it for any one who has the chance to do it. The staff on the train was mostly young people who were very nice and courteous, and the Bloody Marys were spicy, just the way I like them. I was extra fortunate, because there was a rail travel club sharing the same car. Their speaker knew a lot of the history and folk lore of the areas we were traveling through, and that made the trip very interesting. One comical thing that was said on the bus and the train was about a town called Moose Pass. The town council will not allow a gas station to be in the town, because they do not want “Moose Pass Gas” in their town. I arrived back in Seward at 11:05, and headed back to the boat just in time for the rain to begin.