Our friends, with the exception of Craig and Angie, left Homer for Anchorage on Thursday and we headed to Seward. Craig and Angie decided to delay in Homer to do some fishing. Pam and I spent the 4th of July in Anchorage while the rest of the group spent the 4th at Seward. We are now swapping those venues and plan to meet back up in Grand View on the Glenn Highway.

Seward is one of Alaska's oldest communities and is located on Resurrection Bay surrounded by mountains. The scenery here is stunning and the area is a popular weekend getaway for residents of Alaska. The city of Seward operates a large waterfront park with camping and the park is full every weekend. The campsites are first come with pay stations located through out the park. Basically you locate your spot and purchase a ticket to place on the post indicating you have paid. The coveted waterfront sites are difficult to obtain and almost everyone spends the first night back away from the water. Being an early bird has its advantages and when one of the waterfront campers left at 5:30 AM on Friday yours truly secured the campsite. Take a look at the view from our windshield in the following photo. Notice the wipers at the bottom to prove you are looking through a windshield.

Looking out at Resurrection Bay 

The next photo shows our motorhome on the front row. Notice Marathon Mountain in the background and the trail going up the slope to the peak.

Our coach with Marathon Mt in the background

Closeup of the race trail

Last weekend Seward held their annual 4th of July celebration centered around one of the oldest foot races in America. The 4th of July race up Marathon Mountain has been official since 1915 and is over three miles in length with an elevation climb of over 3000 feet. The population of Seward swells during the 4th of July weekend and in Anchorage the race is mentioned often on television. Here is a reference about the race course.

http://mmr.seward.com/for-racer/course/

Seward must have been a zoo last weekend because this weekend every possible campsite is taken and the ballpark parking lot used for overflow camping is also full. Seward is also a popular cruise ship stop and one arrived Thursday and left on Friday and another one just sailed in about an hour ago.

Friday afternoon we took the popular hike up to Exit Glacier just inside the Kenai Fjords National Park. What makes Exit Glacier interesting are signs that show were the glacier was at various times since the late eighteen hundreds. It was amazing how far the glacier has receded in just six years. 

Exit Glacier

Saturday we took a 6 hour boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park and today we plan to visit the Alaska Sea Life Center.