It’s 7AM on a Saturday. Rick is making good use of the Jacuzzi in our bathroom, and the rest of the gang is still snoozing i
n Room 231 of the Breeze Inn in Seward, Alaska. I’m not sure what the town looks like yet; we arrived last night in the dark. But, I do know some of the history from the newspaper clipping hung on the walls of the little nook on the hotel balcony.
Seward is about 120 miles from our home in Ninilchik. It’s a small harbor town in the Prince William Sound, just across the bay from the infamous Valdez. (If that name doesn’t ring a bell, think Exxon oil spill.) Not only is Seward known for its access to the ocean and plentiful marine life, it plays host for tourist wanting to see the Kenai Fjords and Exit Glacier. That’s why we are here.
From the framed yellow clipping, I learned th
at Seward was victim of the Great Earthquake of 1964. This is the biggest earthquake ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. If that weren’t bad enough, the small harbor got hit by a double whammy when a tsunami hit the already paralyze town. Needless to say, the Seward was pretty much toast after everything was all said and done. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis; clearly “I’m not in Kansas (or Wisconsin) anymore.” More and more, I am coming to the conclusion that these natural disasters are part of the reality here.
For example, they don’t say "If an emergency happens"; they say "When". At school, each teacher was issued a huge blue tub filled with supplies and a role to be assumed in the case of an emergency. I was assigned the safety officer and morgue commander. We then spent over four hours in training the emergency procedures. This is one training I hope I never have to use.
These dangers are the very things that make Alaska such a beautiful place, and Seward is one of the most perfect examples of that face. It’s easy to look at the mountains that surround Seward and stand in awe at their reflections in the pristine ocean waters. But it isn’t only the Ring of Fire and colliding plates that make this place magical. Only a few miles away are the Kenai Fjords and Exit Glacier. This is a place created just as much by the ice and water as it was by massive mounds of rock that stretch across the sky.
Today we will venture out and explore Seward. I’m glad I know there is much more than meets the eye. To be continued . . .
at Seward was victim of the Great Earthquake of 1964. This is the biggest earthquake ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. If that weren’t bad enough, the small harbor got hit by a double whammy when a tsunami hit the already paralyze town. Needless to say, the Seward was pretty much toast after everything was all said and done. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis; clearly “I’m not in Kansas (or Wisconsin) anymore.” More and more, I am coming to the conclusion that these natural disasters are part of the reality here.
For example, they don’t say "If an emergency happens"; they say "When". At school, each teacher was issued a huge blue tub filled with supplies and a role to be assumed in the case of an emergency. I was assigned the safety officer and morgue commander. We then spent over four hours in training the emergency procedures. This is one training I hope I never have to use.
These dangers are the very things that make Alaska such a beautiful place, and Seward is one of the most perfect examples of that face. It’s easy to look at the mountains that surround Seward and stand in awe at their reflections in the pristine ocean waters. But it isn’t only the Ring of Fire and colliding plates that make this place magical. Only a few miles away are the Kenai Fjords and Exit Glacier. This is a place created just as much by the ice and water as it was by massive mounds of rock that stretch across the sky.
Today we will venture out and explore Seward. I’m glad I know there is much more than meets the eye. To be continued . . .
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