Seward

When we arrived at Seward, the first thing we did was to drive around the little town a bit to get oriented. There was a dirt road that went out along the bay. So we had to check that out. It was very dusty and just went out to a small community with a bunch of bed & breakfast houses. So we headed back to town.

We had a good time in Seward. We normaly avoid the crowds. However, in Seward that was not an option. They have several campgrounds that are more like parking lots, with all the RVs packed in like cordwood. One of the campgrounds was very small with only ten spaces, five of which were right on the water looking straight out into the bay.

We got lucky, as the spot farthest from the waterfront was available. So we pulled in and went to deal with the iron ranger. Now, an “Iron Ranger” is what some people call the metal boxes in campgrounds where you are supposed to place your completed registration envelope with your payment. There must be some sort of law that requires these metal boxes have an itty bitty slot at least a half inch shorter than the envelope is wide and no thicker than 1/16th of an inch. We wouldn’t want any one to steal and waste government money. The registration envelope itself must be wet from the last rain, and when full of a bunch of laundry quarters, because we don’t happen to have the exact amount in bills, the wet envelope of quarters won’t quite fit in the slot. We’re just saying. But, we digress. This Iron Ranger, however, was quite upscale, it had a keyboard, and a screen. It was love at first sight for DR. It also accepted credit cards. We opted for a two night stay, and settled in for our first night in Seward.

One of the waterfront spaces was taken by the camp hosts, Jim and Judy Burge. Jim was a real character out of Rockport, Texas. They invited us to drop by next time we were at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge to see the Whooping Cranes. Rockport is even closer than the Magnolia Beach Campground where we normally stay. Another waterfront space was taken by a huge motorhome that we would later learn was occupied by Ed and Kathy out of Texas, who had sold their home and bought “Myrtle” their motorhome and hit the road.

Space envy is a disorder suffered by those of us who frequent campgrounds. No sooner than we had secured our farthest from the waterfront space, we began to lust for one on water. The next morning we noticed one of the waterfront RVs hitching up his trailer. We discussed and decided even if we had to pay another $20 that we should try to get the vacating space. So we pulled in our poor step stool and rigged for moving. DR turned his seat around to driving position and we waited. Sure enough they pulled out and we immediately pulled in to a primo waterfront parking space. Sheesh. On the way to square up with the Iron Ranger, DR met Jim, the camp host. DR asked if there was a way to transfer our previous payment to the new space. Jim said we would have to pay double, then quickly said he was kidding, but got DR’s goat before informing us that our reservation was not tied to a particular space. It evidently is a routine repeated daily under Jim’s watchful eye. Aparently Space Envy is more widespread than we could imagine. Jim confirmed that pretty much everyone starts off in the vacant non-waterfront spaces and then migrate to the waterfront in a constant Chinese firedrill, as Jim put it.

The wonderful thing about this phenomenon is that it forces people to interact with each other. We, or at least DR, are pretty much loners. While petting a senior citizen poodle, DR had asked his owners, Christian and Diana from Anchorage, to let us know if the otters showed up off shore. Sure enough Christian came knocking when a couple of otters began feeding right off our shore. When the otters showed up the whole campground gathered on the shore to oooh and aaaah.

Dian Thomas, out of Utah, was camping in a station wagon next to us and was very interested in our van and how we had converted it into to a campervan. She approached Laura while DR was off photographing sea otters. So Laura gave her a tour of VanGo and Dian took pictures. Dian turned out to be a New York Times best selling author of books related to “Roughing it Easy” which are about the outdoor living techniques she had learned from her forest ranger father near Salt Lake. This somehow got her onto the Johnny Carson Show which launched her career into television and public relations. We really enjoyed her enthusiasm and zest for life.

Along with the visit by the otters there were large silver fish jumping out of the water just off shore. Ed, a fisherman, said that their leaps were a desperate measure to escape the large trout chasing them under the water.

Laura took a short walk up into the main street of town and did some window shopping.

When it came time to leave we made sure that a couple of gals with space envy in a space not on the waterfront got our spot as we left. Some debts are best paid forward.

Next stop, Homer