Day 5: Kodiak Island

It has been a busy trip/summer so far so decided today was a sleep in day which meant we woke at 9:45 and hurried to breakfast before it ended at 10:00.  As we ate breakfast, I thought about the main reason people come to Kodiak Island . . . to see bears!  The bear trips require taking a float plane and are expensive . . . like $500 per person expensive.  I said absolutely no way, but once we got there thought about never coming back here and didn't want to regret not doing it.  So I went downstairs to talk with the lady at the excursion desk.  I had read great reviews on this specific company so was comfortable going with them.  She called to check if there were spots available, and they were all booked up due to having one plane being out of service.  She gave me names of two other companies in town but decided it wasn't meant to be this trip.  I was okay with it.  We headed out to the two museums that were closed yesterday.  First stop was the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center to learn about the wildlife in the area.  I made Colin do the Junior Ranger booklet since he hadn't had too many chances to write and make his brain think about things other than WWII.  As you can tell in the photo he was thrilled! 

Since we are in bear country I thought it was odd to see a big whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling until we learned why it was actually there.  On May 28, 2000, a 36-ft long male Gray whale washed up on Pasagshak Beach.  A local teacher asked for permission to use the skeleton for a project that would result in a fully reassembled skeleton to be displayed at the Kodiak National Wildlife Center interpretive center.  The whale was buried to allow the flesh to decompose.  It remained there for four years until it was carefully excavated and removed to a storage facility in Kodiak where the bones would be cleaned and dried before being reassembled at the Refuge Center.  And here it is . . .

The Refuge Center had some of the best displays . . .

. . . most places have stuffed animals but here there was not one single one.  I guess that makes sense since it is a place that promotes and teaches protection of animals.  Next stop was the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository which had some beautiful artwork, artifacts, displays, and exhibits . . .

 

 

Before we headed out of town we wanted to see one more thing, "Star of Kodiak".  I had read there was an old WWII Liberty Ship near the visitor's center.  I thought it would be cool to see and snap a photo.  This is not exactly what I was expecting to see . . .

. . . it is now home to a seafood processing company.  Apparently after the 1964 earthquake it was being used as a 'temporary' fish processing center . . . I guess 'temporary' means forever.  At least you can sort of tell it was once a ship.  Colin was disappointed to say the least.  We are on an island that does not have many roads so we decided to drive to the farthest point called Fossil Beach.  I had read it was a great place to look for sea glass and not many people venture out there.  The roads were good and not many people out and about either.  Again, Kodiak doesn't rely on tourist as much as other parts of Alaska. 

It was hazy but beautiful.  We saw a lot of fishermen and the as we topped a hill we saw these guys . . .

. . . ummmm no we are not in Wyoming.  I had no idea buffalo lived on Kodiak Island much less Alaska.  It wasn't just a few but there were a lot of them.  We continued along the road to Fossil Beach and were at a point that the small rental car could no longer travel the roads.  We were disappointed but turned around and went to Surfers Beach. 

Yes, there was a family out there surfing in that freezing cold water!  Of course Colin was thrilled to be running wild . . .

 

. . . and after putting his hand in the water wasn't so concerned about swimming!  It was super cold!  The bison continued grazing near the beach which I just found odd. 

We jumped back in the car and headed back to town . . . made a stop to pick up a few snacks and had dinner at Sparrows Pizzeria and Gyrogrill . . . Yummy!  Oh how I miss Greek food.