July 19 – We left Homer and headed to Seward today. It is also the day that Pat travels home. We were all sad to see him leave. We stayed at the Seward Military Resort. I have to say that it has been the noisiest campground to date. People were outside, well after quiet time, drinking and their kids were running around screaming at 11:30. I am wondering if this happens often at military campgrounds on the weekends. Before Pat left we ate at Christo’s Palace. We had been hoping for their filet mignon (listed on the website) and when that was changed Pat was going to do lasagne, which also was no longer offered. He settled for sharing a Pizza with Sean while Brian ate a burger, I had a salad and Nana had clam chowder. Overall the food was decent. Our server was really nice but she became swamped and they really needed more help.
June 20 – We think the kids will be remembering today for quite a while. Pat gave the ok and we booked a dog sled tour on Godwin Glacier with Seward Helicopter Tours. Nana has been in a helicopter before but the boys and I haven’t (neither has Pat, but since he went home to work he had to miss out). We had so much fun. Brian was a bit intimidated by the helicopter. I think he felt safer in the airplanes as there is more metal around him. Nana got to sit next to the pilot so she got to have an amazing view on the way up. Nana and Brian went first as the copter only sits four. Sean and I went second. On our way up to the Glacier it started to rain and by the time we landed it started to sleet a bit. It did not dampen our spirits at all.
They had a team of dogs all harnessed up and ready to go. Nana and Brian got into the first sled with the guide and Sean and I got into the second sled that was attached by a rope to the first sled. Once we started settling into the sled the dogs started going crazy. They were totally ready to run! When we took off we averaged 4 miles per hour. Halfway we stopped and gave the dogs some pats but they wanted to continue to run so we settled back down for the final run. This was Sean’s favorite part. The final run had some bumps and was downhill. We went much faster and Sean loved popping over the bumps. He even let out a “Yahoo”.
Nana has been reading Jeff Kings book “Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Alaskan Adventures of and Iditarod Champion” and she felt that having read his story and been on this sled ride really made it hit home how difficult it must be to do the Iditarod. Did I mention we got to play with some puppies? Definitely Brian’s favorite part of the day! He definitely gets his dog loving gene from me. His least favorite part of the day was having to ask me for gloves. Mr. tough guy didn’t want to bring a pair. Afterwards we all warmed up and went to eat at Chinooks. The burgers and shoe string fries were delicious while Nana enjoyed her macaroni and cheese with scallops in it.
Later Y’all
