Seward, Alaska

 

We are staying in Seward for awhile visiting Jim's cousin.  We have been helping in his candy shop in town -- dipping chocolates -- and trying not to eat them.  Seward is an ocean port so cruise ships stop here.  The motto for the town is "Alaska starts here" because from here you can go up to Anchorage and then on in to the interior.   The whole town is surrounded by snow covered mountains.  Below the snow its the brightest green you have ever seen since this area is considered in a rain forest.  We can attest to the fact that it rains or drizzles a lot here.

4th of July is celebrated here with a marathon called Mount Marathon.  Racers run up the mountain -- you can see the trail going to the top -- and then back down into town to the finish line.  They run and climb up a mountain goat trail.  The mountain is over 3000 feet high and they start at sea level.  They come back down bloody and muddy.  The winner did this feat in 41 minutes -- amazing.  On July 5th there was a reality tv show shooting footage of 20 international teams doing this same race.   It was part of some kind of 7 day race across Alaska that included rafting, trekking, running, etc. with the finish being the Mount Marathon in Seward.    It will be interesting to see if we ever see this show televised.