Date: 21 June 2001 (Thursday)

Start: Seward Recreation Center (USAF), Seward AK

End: Travel Camp, Ft Richardson AK (123 miles)

It was 54f and very cloudy when we got up, after some rain during the night.

After breakfast, we hooked up and departed Seward. We immediately encountered the long construction zone at the outskirts of Seward. After that, we continued up the highway under low clouds.

Just before the turnoff for Homer, a lone coyote jogged across the road. Dolores saw an eagle floating along just about here as well.

After Portage and the turnoff for Whittier, the road winds along Turnagain Arm. At one spot, there’s a colony of Dall sheep that regularly appear on a shelf well above the road. They were out today, so we both got a good look at them.

About this time, the clouds began to break up and blue sky appeared. The rest of the day was cool but beautiful.

We arrived at the Ft Richardson Travel Camp a little early (before the deadline for others to check out), so we had to wait a while. Dolores started laundry and I went to the library and got the e-mail. We set up the little house (back in the big army woods again), grabbed a very small snack and left.

The Alaska Native Heritage Center is just down the road. It’s very new, a beautiful facility in a great setting. The five native alaskan peoples (Athabascan, Yup’ik/Cup’ik, Inupiaq/St Lawrence Island Yupik, Aleut/Alutiiq, Eyak/Tlingit/Haida/Tsimshian) each have a sample dwelling around a small lake, where members of that people give talks on the ways of their people. In the building, a storyteller gave many short stories and a dance group did their native dances (the "fun" ones, they don’t do the ceremonial dances in public). Both of these presentations were very good. Also inside, craftsmen from the various peoples have some of their wares for sale. As well, there is a gift shop.

The people presenting their ways in the village were outstanding; very easy to listen to, very open and eager to share stories.

This center is another Anchorage area "must-do".

We were starving by this time, so we decided to dine out. We looked for one place but couldn’t find it. We went to one that had looked interesting before, but that didn’t look as interesting as it did earlier. So we went to the Café Paris (many awards for the top steak place in town), which we had patronized six years ago.

Café Paris lived up to its reputation and our memories. D had a big steak and I had poached salmon, both delicious and tender. The service was good Alaska service (very informal, congenial). We’ll have to go back again.

That did us in. We returned to the little house and shut ourselves in for the night.