With most people around the country raising their eyebrows in a bit of alarm at the constantly increasing gas and fuel prices, I found myself swept up in a bit of this concern as well when it came to summer travel. With one of my vacations to Southeast Alaska already axed by the exorbient transportation costs, I found myself with a week off and nothing planned. And with being budget conscious on the brain, I found myself trying something a bit different this Memorial Day weekend and that was playing tourist by riding the train down to the coastal community of Seward for some time out on Resurrection Bay. It has been years since I have been on the train and with it being speculated that the trip between Anchorage and Seward is in fact one of the most beautiful, I decided “Why not?” and found myself reserving a spot.

Of course as I left Anchorage bright and early Friday morning the weather wasn’t looking to promising. I had earlier watched a beautiful sunset with the hiccups of pinks and purples enveloping the skies a little after 4:15 that morning. But by the time I hit the train station at a little after 5:45 that morning the clouds had rolled in and the rain and wind began in earnest. By the time I reached Seward a little after 11:30 in the morning with the gale force winds there was horizontal rain “welcoming” all of us to Seward. Not exactly a welcome promise given I had to walk a little more than a mile and a half to my hotel carrying two cumbersome bags. And what was worse - I had 4 hours to “waste” out in the elements before I was able to check in to my hotel. With that in mind I found myself stowing my bags on my friend Jennifer’s boat and then walked over to Ray’s restaurant for a leisurely lunch of halibut and a salad. You ever notice when you’re trying to spread time out you actually seem to get these tasks done more quickly? I set a record I think for being in and out of Ray’s in under an hour. In the end I found myself taking refuge on the M/V Arctic Enchantress for the next few hours while I cozied up and read my book. Thank god for friends. Finally the afternoon passed to where I could check in and wait for another friend to arrive in town that evening.

Our plans were really quite simple. The next morning we were to head out Mariah Tour’s “Captains Choice Tour” for a day of wildlife watching and of course some photography. But of course as was already the established habit, the following morning we were met with very low cloud cover that promised more “liquid sunshine” from the elements. I packed extra carefully that morning by bringing gloves, rain pants and my Gore-Tex shell. I was so glad I did. Now how the Captains Choice Tour differs from the other tours that occur in Kenai Fjords National Park is that these tours are geared towards photographers and birders. Limited to 22 people the boat is smaller which will allow one to get closer to the wildlife. Our vessel that morning was to be the M/V Misty which is part of the Kenai Fjords fleet. After meeting the captain, crew and fellow travelers, we set out for our days adventure with a light rain falling which would continue throughout the remainder of the day.

Now I have always heard the best time to encounter marine wildlife was when it was raining out. Little did I know at the time how true this was. We started out by seeing the sea otters right beyond the sea wall in the bay which is quite the norm for Resurrection Bay. But as the hours progressed so too did the encounters with the wildlife including a very large number of Orca whales that came right up to the boat. Now if I would have been on the ball and quicker with the camera it is likely I would have been able to capture a shot of an orca breaching completely out of the water. As it was I think I was still standing with my mouth agape at having seen one surface directly off the port side of the boat. Now I have seen Orca in my years of living here but they have never been that close. And the wildlife sightings continued as the minutes ticked into hours — the remainder of the afternoon brought us encounters with stellar sea lions, puffins, feeding humpback whales, dall porpoise. Quite simply the list is endless. Despite the long day and feeling quite frigid by its end I was definitely sad to see it end. There is no doubt at this point that the only boats I will sail with when it comes to Resurrection Bay wildlife tours is Mariah Tours. They come highly recommended.

Sunday’s adventure was a return to something I haven’t participated in in many years — that of sea kayaking. I caught my morning transport with the M/V Chugach and was dropped off bright and early for a rendezvous with the Sunny Cove gang and our agenda for the day was to paddle over to Sunny Cove and Starfish Rock before eventually returning to Fox Island for a salmon bake before I would catch the M/V Greatland back to Seward and then eventually on to catch the train where I would return home to Anchorage and back into my own little world. Now even though it has been years since I have been sea kayaking it was much like riding a bike. The moment I geared up and my kayaking partner and I sliced through the water it was a true reminder of how much I had missed it over the years. Now Resurrection Bay is notorious for having storm systems swing through the bay as quickly as a by your leave.

And that day was no different. The storm system that had swept through the bay less than 24 hours before had dissipated and now we were enjoy an afternoon of paddling under sunny skies. I had warned my kayaking partner early on that it had been years since I paddled. Of course I got the typical “don’t worry about it - I’ll handle the paddling and rudder.” I have always been something of a power paddler and I have a very quick front stroke. One that seemed to take even my kayaking partner by surprise. So much so that less than an hour later the guide was joking with him about taking the “easy way out” and letting me do all the work. Obviously I’m paying for it today with sore musles.

In all serious though Sunny Cove Kayaking is yet another one of those great Alaska oufits that is recommended. Ilya and Gunner who were our guides for the day were completely professional and made those that had never even kayaked feel completely safe on the water.  Plus both had a very good sense of humor.  I will be going back for one of their longer guided tours later in the summer. In the meantime the gear head inside of me is now plotting the purchase of a tandem necky. Double rather than single because I am one that thinks the doubles are more fun.

In the end it was a great weekend and a wonderful start to my week off. And a wonderful step in to the summer ahead.