Nature and Nurture Intertwined

 

One of my favorite places on earth is the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.  Just a few miles south of Anchorage Cook Inlet, and then Turnagain Arm flow together, carving a path between mountain ranges of immense beauty, and size.

 

There is something very special about the welcome you are given here, by the environment, and the people.  We stopped at Moose Pass so Daryl could meet the people he will be flying with next week, and get the lay of the land.  Stunning.

 

 

Then we continued on down the peninsula to Seward, a very interesting town.  One part of the town caters to the tourist crowd, as it is a major cruise ship port.   We are camping for a few days at the Municipal Park, on the water front, where we are packed in with about 200 other happy campers - both of the RV and tenting variety.

View from our campsite on Resurrection Bay, Seward.

The other part of town is the one I remember from 1989.  Small-town feel, old-world charm, and the people are remarkably open and friendly.  The woman at the newspaper office runs the paper herself.  Originally from California, she has been back and forth a few times, but keeps coming back for more.  The office was a wealth of historical information, with newspapers stacked and organized into large books.

The old bookstore was a hodge-podge of new and old books, with little organization to it.  The gentleman running the store talked to himself, and definitely could be considered a "character."  Then there was the woman born in Grand Rapids who was transplanted here as a child, and now created jewelry and owned a lovely gallery downtown. 

Art and "story" is very important in this community, and others around the state.  Seward is the Mural Capital - with many beautiful murals gracing the sides of buildings throughout the community.

 

 The young lady on the sidewalk, carrying a precious husky pup?  From Rosebush, there visiting her brother for a few weeks...now months...and who knew how much longer.  She is working at a breeding and training kennel, helping nurture the next generation of sled dogs.

 

 

The quilt shop was full of native designs as well as more general fabrics.  They were participating in the Row by Row Experience, which is an international quilting project, so I picked up a Row to complete this fall.

And now we sit in Starbucks in a local grocery story and get caught up on writing, and downloading Daryl's study materials for next week.  Slow going...internet at the end of the road.  For it truly is.  The end of Seward Highway.  And a little slice of heaven.