Our four night ferry trip down the Aleutian Islands was a trip of a lifetime, that’s for sure, full of spectacular scenery, wonderful wildlife and intriguing little communities we stopped at along the way.  But after an overpriced night at Unalaska’s only hotel it was time to catch a flight back to Tramp and hit the road again.  Except it wasn’t that easy.

We arrived at the small airport, which has no tower, TSA security checks, x-ray machines or announcement boards, checked in for our flight and as we were about to load the twin prop aircraft we heard the flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem.  Oh no, we thought. 

But they rebooked us for a flight that evening and rebooked our connecting flight from Anchorage to Homer the next day.  Okay, these things happen and as we noted the previous night during dinner at the Norwegian Rat Saloon, our table was looking out over none other but the Bering Sea.  So be flexible.

Except then they cancelled our evening flight due to the weather, which frankly looked absolutely perfect, and we went back to the only hotel in town, still overpriced, and settled in for another night with our flying future very much up in the air.  We’ve loved this place but now it’s time to go.

The next day we were back at the airport as instructed by 7.45am and spent the next 11 hours waiting, watching, hoping, dare I say praying, that we could catch a flight that day.  It was definitely time to go.  The first three flights were cancelled, even as the thick fog lifted and blue skies took over, because no plane had come from Anchorage.  No plane in, no plane out.  Finally one was due to arrive around 7pm and we were told we were on Standby!  Standby, are you kidding?  The indignity of it all after this excruciating two day wait.

As good fortune finally had to fall on us, we got our precious boarding passes and climbed the stairs to the Aleutian Airways turbo prop, took off through the clouds and uneventfully arrived in Anchorage around 10pm. 

Now…a problem.  Our connecting flight to Homer, where the ever-patient Tramp was waiting for us, was at 7am the following morning with check-in at 5am.  So at Julie’s suggestion, and this just proves how flexible she is when we travel, we slept on the floor against the wall in the departure lounge.  I know, don’t tell my mother.

Our 25 minute flight to Homer the next morning was uneventful and we reunited with Tramp, who started up first turn despite the excessive bird poop all over him (talk about indignity!).   A few supplies, another coffee and we were on the road again, heading north towards the famed Alaskan town of Seward.

We passed through familiar places on our journey but did take a gravel side trip along the shores of Skilak Lake which is the main feature of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. 

I’ve said it before but Americans know how to recreate like no other people on earth.  This refuge, established to protect the flora and fauna of the area, also features numerous campsites, boat ramps for boaters and fishers, life vests for children on boats, many walking trails, information boards, picnic areas, clean toilets and a few scenic viewpoints.  And the fact the public areas near the lake had three large parking areas suggests Alaskans use this space very well.

The small touristy town of Seward, spotted at the end of majestic Resurrection Bay, is practically a must-see for any visitor to Alaska.  We had spent three days here on our last visit, hiking to glaciers, doing fjord cruises to see the whales and glaciers and walking some nearby trails with the bears.  But despite having lost a couple of days getting out of Dutch Harbor we had to get back to Seward.

We followed the river into the town, the clouds just lifting for us to see the steep snowy mountains all around us, a truly wonderful scene.  If you had a choice of where to live in Alaska this special place would be a top pick.   Of course we bought a T shirt and a souvenir and stopped in a few places to admire the stunning view before moving upstream on Resurrection River and out on it’s gravel bar to camp for the night.  We had camped in the same place nine years ago and it was just as fabulous the second time.

Because we had a flight to catch in a couple of days we couldn’t spend the time we wanted in Seward but we did manage to return to Exit Glacier, a spectacular river of ancient ice carving valleys into the mountains as we watched.  We walked up to the Glacier Viewpoint to enjoy the views and stretch our legs, doing more of the same on a short section of trail following the Resurrection River upstream.  It was hard to pull us away from this place.

But away we went anyway back towards Anchorage, retracing our steps along the lakes and rivers, across the beautiful passes and past gorgeous mountains still sporting snow across their tops.  We returned to Turnagain Arm, followed the shoreline and pulled up for the night at Bird Creek campground, a forest service facility we had stayed at the previous week. 

We had one more pre-booked splurge planned for this trip (the first being the Aleutian Islands ferry and flight back) before returning to our usual style of travel. We had loved the Kenai Peninsula and the islands but had our eyes set on another place we had never been.