Life Through My Lens: Seward

Some of my other favorite moments from mom and dad's visit was the weekend we spent on the Kenai. There is so much to see down on the Kenai with many wonderful spots to stop and explore I know we could have spent a lot more time there.

Thankfully Geoff had a long weekend off from work for Memorial Day so we took that opportunity to explore at least two places, Seward and Homer.

Geoff and Dad headed out really early Saturday morning to catch their fishing charter out of Seward. They had to be there by 6:00am and it's over a two hour drive. Yikes! It was nice that it's already light so early in the morning so they didn't have to drive in the dark. And later after their boat came back in they had another three hour drive down to meet us at our cabin in Homer. It was still light for that drive too even though they didn't get there until 11pm.

Mom, the boys, and I followed a bit later at a more leisurely pace. :) At one spot long Turnagain Arm we saw many eagles flying around and fishing for hooligans.

As we drove into Seward we took the time to stop at Exit Glacier. We didn't hike all the way out to it but could see it very well from parking area.

Exit Glacier

We spent a couple hours at the Alaska Sea Life Center where we saw harbor seals, Steller sea lions, puffins, and many different types of sea creatures.

In the touch tank we got to touch sea cucumbers, urchins, star fish and anemones.

The guys each caught two halibut each as well as some rock fish and dog fish.

Here's dad with his halibut! We had some of Geoff's halibut for dinner last night. So tasty!

After the Sea Life Center Mom, the boys, and I continued on our way down to Homer. Thankfully it's always a beautiful drive in Alaska but it did make for a long day going to both Seward and Homer in one day. But it gave mom and I lots of time to talk. So so good.

Homer was beautiful. This was taken from an overlook just outside of Homer.

After finding our cabin and dropping off our stuff we spent some time on the Homer Spit.

Photo credit Derek Ramsey

"The Homer Spit is a geographical landmark located in Homer, Alaska on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. The spit is a 4.5-mile long piece of land jutting out into Kachemak Bay. The spit is also home to the Homer Boat Harbor. The harbor contains both deep and shallow water docks and serves up to 1500 commercial and pleasure boats at its summer peak. The Spit features the longest road into ocean waters in the entire world, taking up 10–15 minutes to cover by car." -according to Wikipedia.

The boys at the very end of the Spit climbing on some drift wood.

I love this one of mom with her grandsons. It was taken at 10:30pm!

The next morning we took Geoff and dad back down to explore the Spit some more. Mom took this photo of our family. I love it! Thanks mom!

The wind blowing off the water made it a bit chilly but with the sun out it was still a beautiful day.

The board walk on the Spit was fun to explore.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch of fish and chips and later we had to try the ice cream cones and coffee at some of the other shops along the boardwalk.

There were fresh flowers on all the tables. This peony made us think of you Aunt Deanna!

We're so very thankful for our times together.

It was a blessing to see mom and dad again after two whole years! We thoroughly enjoyed introducing them to our amazing state.

We didn't mean to drive all the way to Seward that day.

The plan was to drive south of Anchorage along the Seward Highway and take Andrew for a hike in Girdwood and then through the two and a half mile long one lane tunnel through the mountain to Whittier. But when we neared Girdwood the rain was coming down heavy and nobody really wanted to hike in that weather.

So we just kept driving. Good think I packed extra snacks! :)

Two and a half hours later we arrived in Seward and we were all happy to get out of the car and stretch our legs along the water front.

Here Elijah is pointing to Sea Otters in the water. Later on we saw a seal in the water along the road as we were exploring. We also saw eagles and jelly fish on the shore.

In spite of the heavy clouds it was still a beautiful place. Can you just imagine sitting on this bench when the sun is shining and the skies are blue? That would be amazing. We'll have to come back for sure.

Ethan still following his Uncle Andrew everywhere. :)

Andrew treated us to a yummy lunch at a Greek restaurant!

After that we did some more exploring along the coast and walking on the beach in the rain. The weather got worse and we headed home before it got dark. Elijah wasn't feeling well and we wanted to get over the mountain pass, where it was snowing heavily, before the roads got too bad.