Anchorage to Seward, AK

The stomach issues I'd been having in Dutch Harbor seemed to be getting worse. I had a low-grade fever now, although I still wasn't testing positive for COVID, and I was beginning to develop a sore throat. I wasn't hungry, but I stopped at a different Starbucks for coffee anyway. Every Starbucks has its own personality depending on the staff and the people inside. I almost always order my coffee in a porcelain mug instead of a paper cup when I'm staying awhile. It feels more like sitting in someone's kitchen than grabbing a drink at a chain coffee shop.

My next stop was Barnes & Noble, where I was hoping to find a Rand McNally Road Atlas that would give me a better feel for the roads I'd be traveling over the next few months. Even the large-format edition wasn't nearly as useful as I'd hoped. It didn't have enough detail, and flipping back and forth between pages took longer than I liked. Then I noticed there was another Starbucks inside the store and somehow convinced myself that a second coffee was a good idea. It probably wasn't, but whatever was going on with my body, I felt like I needed the extra boost.

There were also a couple of camera items I needed, and I'd spotted a real camera store downtown. If the second coffee was a questionable decision, walking into a photography store was an even bigger mistake. A new tripod, a new carrying strap, and a few other accessories later, I walked out without solving the problem I'd gone there to fix in the first place. Normally I'd just order from B&H Photo and have everything shipped, but that's easier said than done when you're wandering around Alaska. Shipping can take weeks, and I usually have no idea where I'll be by the time the package arrives.

Before leaving Anchorage, I booked the Kenai Fjords National Park Extended Cruise with Major Marine Cruises for the following morning. With taxes, the ticket came to a little over $300. I spent close to an hour comparing the different cruises, checking the weather forecast for the next several days, and deciding which departure would give me the best chance for good conditions. After finally making the reservation, I threw together a sandwich and opened a ginger ale Olipop. It was well into the afternoon before I realized I hadn't eaten lunch.

I headed toward Seward, AK in the middle of the afternoon. The drive is only about two hours, and I'd already traveled part of the route a week earlier on my trip to Potter Marsh. This time, though, it was a Friday in July, and the difference in traffic was obvious. Long lines of RVs and campers crawled along below the speed limit, while everyone eager to get an early start on the weekend grew increasingly impatient behind them. The Seward Highway has frequent pull-offs where slower vehicles are encouraged to let traffic pass, but when there are that many vehicles on the road, the system starts to break down.

I rolled into Seward around 6:00 p.m. My first stop was a gas station to top off the van, and I noticed a Safeway next door. Since I needed groceries anyway, I wandered inside and somehow spent the better part of an hour shopping. It was one of those grocery stores where nothing seemed to be where I expected it to be. Every item on my list turned into a small scavenger hunt.

After putting the groceries away, I noticed an aluminum recycling station in the parking lot. It was one of the few recycling facilities I'd seen anywhere in Alaska. That surprised me. For a state that places such a strong emphasis on preserving its wilderness and natural resources, I'd expected recycling to be much more common. Maybe there's a reason for it that I don't understand, but it felt surprisingly inconsistent.

I still hadn't been able to find a campsite in Seward. Looking back, I was searching in the wrong places because several people had told me there was plenty of inexpensive or free overnight parking around town. An iOverlander review mentioned a parking lot near the National Park Service visitor center by the cruise ship terminal, less than a mile away, so I headed there. Sure enough, it was a 24-hour paid parking lot with plenty of open spaces. Two other camper vans were already parked there. Payment was simple, either by credit card at the kiosk or by scanning a QR code that took you to a website. I assumed a vehicle periodically drove through checking license plates against the payment records. The maximum stay was 14 days, and I paid for two.

By the time everything was taken care of, it was close to 7:30 p.m. I took a short walk around the harbor before making dinner, enjoying the quiet evening and watching people return from their day on the water. My sore throat had continued to get worse throughout the day, so I took a handful of vitamin C tablets and a few other remedies, hoping I could knock whatever this was out of my system before the glacier cruise in the morning. I crawled into bed around 9:30, hoping a good night's sleep would make all the difference.