Reflections on day 1

We drove in to Girdwood (south east of anchorage) on Monday night very late. Waking up here and looking around would be allot like driving to Colorado from Texas and waking up on independence pass. There are very tall mountains with tons of timberline country in every direction. There are rivers and streams everywhere. I can only guess that wildflower season is at its peak here right now.
We had breakfast at a dinner/backery in downtown Girdwood ( I think there were 4 businesses in the "strip mall"). It was good. We drove south to Seward. The drive down is spectacular. You really feel like you're in the wild. We drove through the Chugach National Forest and saw eagles and mountain goats. I REALLY wanted to see a moose but no dice...
Roads here are in incredible shape given the extreme winters. Moose Pass is just north of Seward. Unless you need something (food/gas/a can of compressed air to clean a camera) turn around at Moose Pass. Seward is a very sleepy little town that maybe no one should wake up...?
On the way back we stopped at a wildlife park just south of Girdwood. "Wildlife" in name only...
They had moose, musk ox, elk, grizzly and brown bears (same bears from different locations). The brown bears pushed the grizzly around. There were tons of buffalo and a few caribou. A musk ox charged the fence where we were standing. It was impressive how fast he could cover the ground between us. He smelled bad too (go figure)...
The elk were very impressive with regards to horn size. I guess its good that they were able to rescue these critters from whatever they needed rescuing from but there were varying levels of sadness. It seems odd to see a bear in a pen. The bears absolutely seemed fine with the deal. This was probably as easy of a deal as they could ever get. The elk, bison and musk ox seemed fairly indifferent. The moose and the caribou looked like they were just waiting for it to all be over.
We came home, bought a bottle of wine and ordered a pizza from room service. It was great but we couldn't finish it (ok, technically I "could" have but I've learned better).
Jerry Sanger from Sound Eco Adventures called and we made plans for the Prince William Sound part of the trip. We've packed all of our overnight gear into a weather proof duffel and charged anything with a battery. This will be a crap shoot. Weather can derail this trip and animals can be uncooperative, light can be bad, I can drop my camera in Prince William Sound... but we're tourist first and the whole thing should be a great experience.
I feel like we've really seen a good sample of this part of the state. Its beautiful, wild and rugged. I recommend it if you get the chance.