Homer and the Seward Highway

 Labor Day weekend on the Homer Spit! Everything shuts down the Tuesday after so it was an interesting experience. The campgrounds were empty but there were still a lot of tourists walking around the shops. We were served extremely generous portions by restaurants wanting to use all the food up LOL.

The drive was absolutely beautiful, with lots of fall color already started.

Valdez in a Motorhome

Let me start by writing that Valdez isn't like some of the other tourist-y towns we've visited in Alaska. There's not much to do on foot. It's beautiful but if you need restaurants, gift shops, galleries, etc. this is not it. If you want to charter a fishing trip or a glacier cruise though, you are in luck!

We stayed at the Eagle's Nest RV park. Like most full hook-up RV campgrounds in this state, it's a large gravel parking lot. You can get a picnic table and fire ring for your site if you'd like. There's also tiny cabins for rent and a grass space for tent camping. It was pretty easy to walk into the downtown area from here and we even walked to Mineral Canyon (about 3 miles round trip).

It's a beautiful walk downtown along the marina. From there it's an easy stroll to the Dock Point trail. The trail has views of the harbor, mountains, and waterfalls. You'll also pass by a bald eagle nest. It's fairly easy with one hill that puts you a little out of breath.

The Roadside Potatohead had good food and Mr. Potatoheads to play with while we waited for it.

These pictures are from the Mineral Canyon hike. We went at the wrong time of day for good pictures but it's a lush canyon surrounded on all sides by waterfalls. Cars can get pretty far up but not only are there no turnarounds for motorhomes or vehicles with trailers, there's a bridge with a weight limit that doesn't support those large vehicles. So we walked from the RV park. We plan on going back with a smaller vehicle so we can hike all the way up, it's crazy beautiful!

Seward

 Where we stayed:

in our motorhome, in the Resurrection campground since it has some hookups (water, electricity). The city of Seward has several campgrounds along the water, all have stunning views of Resurrection Bay. We like staying on that end of town (even if we were to get a hotel room) because we like the downtown area.

What we did:

Beachcombing, playing at the park, flying kites. The Alaska SeaLife Center is within walking distance of the campgrounds and we really enjoy visiting it. The exhibits are really set up well and there's a touch tank for the kids (and I guess the grownups too. If you've ever wondered what a sea cucumber feels like, here's your chance!) We walked around downtown, visiting the stores.

On day two we drove to Exit Glacier located in the Kenai Fjords National Park and hiked to the glacier. On our previous trip we hiked to the overlook and this time we decided to go to the toe. We first hiked to the waterfall which required a few water crossings (it's glacial runoff so it's freezing cold and silty so it's hard to see the bottom. Obviously proceed at your own risk). Then we walked to the base of the glacier. No matter how warm the temperatures, the wind coming off the glacier is cold. Bring a light jacket just in case.

Where we ate:

The Seward Brewing Company. It was a nice, warm day and the salted watermelon salad with a Rockfish Red was the perfect lunch. Afterwards we walked to Sweet Darlings and bought some saltwater taffy.


 Read about previous trips to Seward here.

Sheep Mountain Lodge and Area

 Where we stayed: Sheep Mountain Lodge

Sheep Mountain Lodge has guest rooms, small cabins, and slightly larger premium cabins. There was also RV parking, each space had a picnic table and a water spigot. There were also 20v and 30v plugins but I'm involved with exactly zero of hooking up our motorhome so I'm not sure what that means, or if they even work. Call ahead if it's imperative that you have electricity for your RV. There's also a shower hall with restrooms on the property.

They also have about 12 miles of clearly defined trails (plenty of maps to bring with as well as signposts on the way) which they are currently grooming for cross country skiing, although you can hike or sled on them as well. If you hike past cabin #11 and stay to the right until you reach the part where it levels out a bit? If you brought your sled you can turn around and sled down approximately 1/3 mile and the equivalent of 11 flights of stairs all the way back to the parking lot. Pro tip: Use your feet for steering (drag the corresponding foot lightly in the direction you want to go).

In the area is amazing scenery. It never lets up. From the Talkeetna Mountains directly to the south to the Chugach Mountains to the North with glaciers and major scenery in between. There's lots of pullouts for photo ops along the way. Oh, and I included a terrible picture of the aurora (my tripod and I were fighting) to show what it could look like. Bring a tripod that doesn't need to be tightened. :)

Where we ate: Sheep Mountain Lodge

The lodge and restaurant is currently operating on limited winter hours which meant at this point they're only open Friday-Sunday. We ate breakfast there and everything we ordered was delicious.

Where we ate: Long Rifle Lodge

A very charming lodge/restaurant with amazing views of the Matanuska Glacier and good "home-y" food. Leave room for dessert. Seriously. The rhubarb pie and blueberry crumble were especially good. They seemed to open regular hours but you might want to check ahead if you're relying on them for a meal. Also, check out the teeniest gas station ever in front. And there's a meadow just below the lodge where we spotted a moose so you might want to make sure you look down as well. There's a ton of tracks which suggests this isn't a rare sight there.

 Matanuska Glacier is also in the area, you can read about our previous visits here or here. The road down to the private property to access the face of the glacier is currently extremely slick and they recommend only 4-wheel drive vehicles attempt it. I'm not sure about the public viewing point.