Another early morning but thanks to our time adjustment, all of us were up well before the alarm. We picked up Mom’s breakfast bag and got on the shuttle to the train station to ride the Alaska Railroad. The line for tickets was a lot longer than any of us expected but it went fairly quickly. The train car we were going to be on was the dome cars on the second floor of the train which was full windows to allow some great viewing from the train. Due to the stairs, we opted to let Mom use a wheelchair and the staff there were great using the lift inside the train to get her to the upstairs. She said the stairs reminded her of Emily’s circular staircase and it was probably a good choice for her not to navigate them on a moving train, we agreed.
After everyone was “All Aboard!” we started out journey. Mom just loved the scenery, we had great views of Turnigan Arm and saw some Dall Sheep high on the cliffs. Then the terrain turned to more mountains and lush trees. We made a stop at Girdwood and added some additional guests. Our Gold Circle train trip included breakfast so we went down for it. I had the biscuits and sausage gravy with bacon, and LJ and Mom went for scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes and bacon. Mom asked for toast which wasn’t on the menu but they found some, just for her (spoiled) and then LJ asked for some and the server said only if Mom said it was okay, she approved so he was happy. After several bites of the biscuits and gravy, LJ commented that the only sausage on any of the items was reindeer sausage (a popular favorite in Alaska) and he guessed that was what my gravy was as well. Hmmm….. poor Rudolph.
LJ took lots of photos from the Observation Deck and Mom and I just enjoyed the views from our seats. We loved when the river would be beside us and we could see several waterfalls. One was seven different falls in one and was just gorgeous.
Soon it was nearly 11:00 AM and our arrival into Seward. LJ had done a local rental car for us in Seward through a website called Turo. You can rent your own cars to individuals and go through the site to list it or to rent one. Our license plate was “Midgey” and it was a well loved but perfectly fine car for us during our time in Seward. It even had a roof rack which worked well for our luggage and we made our way to the Sunshine House Bed & Breakfast to unload. Mike and Marsha were there and welcomed us “home”. This was our second time staying with them and they are both so warm and welcoming. After unloading and a quick refresh, off we went!
LJ had arranged for us to go on a Sea Otter Encounter at the Alaska Sea Life Center . They have an orphaned otter that has been there since March 17th. He had graduated to a big tank and after some great information about the Sea Life Center and the otters in particular.
He was so cute! I feel like we need to have a sea otter at our house but after Austin our guide explained that otters eat 25% of their body weight every day and that it costs $90-110K every year to feed them (more than an elephant), I think I’ll just enjoy them in the wild or at aquariums whenever I get the opportunity. He was super active and Austin explained the few ways in which they ‘train’ them and reinforce their good behavior. When otters are rescued at a very young age there is no way to release them because of all the things their mothers typically would teach them. Austin will be at the SeaLife Center until they get another otter and then they can get some socialization and then he’ll be moved to an aquarium somewhere else in the world. When aquariums apply to receive their animals they make a site visit to ensure the animal can be properly cared for. After our time with the sea otter we enjoyed walking around the center and seeing all of their other exhibits.
Soon it was time to feed the Numie so LJ asked what she wanted and she said mashed potatoes. It was about 2:45 so we went to Ray’s on the waterfront. We had eaten here before with Claire and thought they would be likely to have them. We got a table by the window, which gave us a perfect water view to look for otters and ordered.
They normally don’t have mashed potatoes available until dinner but made an exception for Mom (spoiled again!) and so she ordered a side of mashed potatoes and we decided to split the crab cakes. LJ and I also got burgers. It wasn’t too long before Mr. Otter came swimming down beside us! He didn’t stay long but we got a quick view and finished up linner (lunch+dinner). Then we went across the street to get our fishing licenses and Numie had a request… ice cream! Fortunately it was also close by so ice cream was procured for all.
We headed back to the B&B to get ready for our fishing outing for the evening and to get Numie all settled in for her evening (on East Coast time). We were fishing with Captain Bixler for silver salmon this evening and hoping for some good luck since this would be our only fishing outing this trip.
We met him at his boat and we had another couple fishing with us, Janessa and Kenny. Kenny and Bixler were scuba diving buddies and Kenny also works at the SeaLife Center. Janessa is a born and bred Seward’ian (I kind of like that word). We went out about 35 minutes and the scenery leaving the harbor and on our way was just gorgeous. I told Janessa I was truly jealous she had lived here all her life and that it must be hard to take a vacation and find anything prettier. We got to Bixler’s “secret spot” and quickly saw both salmon and bait fish jumping out of the water. We would be “mooching” for fish, we had a rubbery squid lure with a double hook attached and started out without bait. Janessa quickly hooked up a beautiful silver. It wasn’t long until we all had at least one with Janessa in the lead with three or four.
My third we decided to throw back, he was a little skinny. Bixler said, just make sure that if you only end up with five that you’re not going to regret letting him go. Since it was a clean hook and the fish wasn’t injured, we sent him back. LJ ended up limiting at six first, then Janessa… then Kenny. I still had only three and seemed a long way to six. I told them it would be fine if we stopped but they said no and we still had time left. We decided to switch to some bait and I hooked up right away, then immediately again. Then it wasn’t long before I had #6 and we had 24 fish in the boat. What an amazing night! In the end… I could still say I caught more fish since I sent the one back. Ingenious!
We headed back to the harbor and took some pics before Bixler and Kenny got busy fileting the fish. WE would keep it on ice overnight in the cooler that Bixler brought for us to borrow and take to the fish processing place in the morning. Tired and happy… off to bed!
LJ and Bev 