Seward

Turning Heads Kennel is Featured by The Seward Chamber!

Sarah · April 24, 2018 ·

One of the truly wonderful things about living in Seward is our incredible local community. All our human food in our Iditarod food drops for the last several years have been donated by local Seward restaurants and organized by our friends, the Walker family. Our dogs eat the best dog food out there too.

Nothing has been sweeter than coming back to Seward after Travis Beals’ 9th place Iditarod finish to such a supportive community. Everywhere we go, people beam with pride and congratulate Travis!

Imagine our delight, when the Seward Chamber of Commerce reached out to us to be a member highlight. It was a lot of fun sitting down with their questions about our business. Learn about how we got started in our business, our most important business advice, and all about our dog sled tours!

Make sure you check out our Turning Heads Kennel Member Spotlight!

Visiting Woody’s Thai Kitchen: A Little R&R

Sarah · January 18, 2015 ·

Travis came home for a few days of R&R for both him and the dogs. Saturday was the famous “Polar Bear Jump” in Seward — a well-known fundraiser for cancer research. We went down to watch folks plunge into the harbor and were surprised at the lack of crowd. In years past, it seemed that the event had many people. While still a lot of people, we only saw 2 or 3 friends who ventured out in the drizzly weather. Normally, it’s packed. We couldn’t find a good place to see people jumping from and, frustrated at our lack of view, we left and walked down to Woody’s Thai Kitchen the local Thai Food restaurant. We’d been meaning to go there for awhile but our schedules hadn’t lined up with their openings.

Our taste buds delighted in the wonderful food and we had a greater waiter. It was only his second day (apparently) but he allowed us and our handlers, Justin & Wyatt, a really fun lunch out away from the kennel. It was a nice treat.

Woody's Thai Kitchen Seward, AK - Bacon Fried Rice — Woody’s Thai Kitchen – Bacon Fried Rice

We got to talk and catch up. I learned about the adventure Travis shared with the boys while out on the trail and we ate some amazing ethnic food. The meals were perfect and well portioned. We were really impressed with the food!

woody's-thai-food-seward-alaska-ginger-beef — Woody’s Thai Kitchen – Ginger Beef

Travis looked at Kusko updates and we talked about our plan for the upcoming weeks in terms of training.

Woody's Thai Food Seward, AK - Panang — Woody’s Thai Kitchen – Panang

We had a blast and we’re thrilled we had leftovers to bring back home. If you come to Seward, make sure you check out Woody’s!

woody's-thai-food-seward-alaska-yellow-curry — Woody’s Thai Kitchen – Yellow Curry

Back at home, our house dogs and cats were thrilled to see Travis:

Now, we are getting ready to watch the patriots game and head up to the Denali Highway to keep training.

On The Edge

Sarah · October 23, 2014 ·

In the quiet moments between living I’ve been rewatching Ken Burns’ The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. It reminds me in many ways why our life is so blessed. We live in such a beautiful place — where mountains and ocean and ice meet. Right on the edge of a place so wondrous that we as a nation decided no matter what secrets were hidden there, they were not worth revealing. The mountains are enough. The oceans are enough. The rivers of ice, slowly melting away, are enough. The natural world does not need altering to have value.

Our house sits on the edge of Kenai Fjords National Park but is also just a 5 minute drive from downtown.We live carefully balancing life in society and life out in the wild, balancing past and present. Often we go days without leaving home, lost in the quiet rhythms of our lifestyle that seem so antiquated compared to the fast paced of modern life.

We get wholly absorbed in work that fills our days and leaves our bodies aching. I don’t understand how you could or why you would want to live faster than this.

The Coastal Classic Train Ride — A Solo Traveler’s Perspecitve

Sarah · July 13, 2013 ·

I took the train from Seward to Anchorage today. I waived goodbye to Travis, the dogs, hopped on board, got seated and prepared for some much needed “me” time. The train ride itself was scenic but uneventful. I’ve driven the Seward Highway in the summer and in the winter more than I care to admit and know the nooks and crannies of it. Still, the train doesn’t always follow the highway and it was neat to get a new perspective. It certainly seemed more “wild” taking the train and Seward, rolling through the train windows seemed quieter to me than usual. Travelling by train certainly changed my interpretation of the town and the countryside.

At one point I saw a moose lying down in a beautiful green field of grasses and wild flowers, which most people did not see. I’ve always been rather fond of moose. They are such big, clunky, awkward animals – who wouldn’t like that? Black bears were also spotted but darted in the woods before my rail car got to where they had been hanging out. There were lots of scenic views, the best perhaps being Trail Glacier as well as Spencer Glacier. I learned on the ride that if you take a different train, you can actually get off at Spencer Glacier and go hiking or kayaking. I am definitely going to add this to our to do list.

What prompted this train ride? My parents made the decision to come to Alaska last the two weeks ago. They arrived today/yesterday and will be staying in Seward for about a week. It’s their third trip to Seward – the last trip they took was during the flood – and we are excited to share what we do with them and they insisted on renting their own car while in town. So I took the train up, so I could drive down.

The train doesn’t move quickly so if speed is your goal, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a scenic stroll through the mountains and the Alaskan wilderness then this is for you. The train goes a steady 30-40 mph for most of the duration of the trip and slows down whenever something scenic comes along or wildlife is spotted. At times, I found the speed frustratingly slow – but that, I noticed, was really only in the spots where the road parallels the train and I am sure it had more to do with the fact that these areas weren’t new.

All-in-all I thought the train was an enjoyable experience and will be sure to do it again. I imagine it would be even more enjoyable if travelling with friends or family, but for the solo traveler this seems like a great way too: cheaper and less stressful than renting a car, lots of cool views, and the option to buy food/beverages.

– Sarah

Travis has signed up for Iditarod 2014

Sarah · July 1, 2013 ·

It may be summer, but we are already preparing for Iditarod 2014. Saturday marked the first day of sign ups. Travis left our Seward tour business for a day to go and sign up while I manned the kennel and ran our summer dog sled tour.

We are more than thrilled with his performance this past year and are already working on putting together our team for next year. We are hoping that many of the challenges we faced in 2013 will not plague us — mainly flooding and warm weather.

Now that both the dogs and Travis have experience the trail once, we are hoping to compete. This past year, the goal was to familiarize both Travis and the dogs with what it takes to run the Iditarod. Believe me when I say, we learned a lot! From packing food drops to how to train, there are many things we plan on doing differently.

What did we learn?

Make a plan

Having a good plan for the race sets the tone — not only for the race but for training. The best way to train is to train the way you race, having a good plan early on will be key to our success this year.

Prepare Early

Figuring out what we need and learning to ASK FOR HELP will really improve our lives this year! Last year, we waited until the last minute to do our food drops. This was stressful and caused us to rush packing. Now that we’ve packed for Iditarod once, we have a pretty good idea of what we need and how much. We also have a much better idea of figuring out how much it will cost us and can better plan. As we really on our summer tours and our winter dog sled tours for all of our income, being able to financialy plan is key.

Fundraise

We are really excited to have the Breeze Inn located in Seward, Alaska on our side to help us plan some wonderful fundraisers. Last year, because of the flood, we actually had little time to prepare a fundraise. This year, the Breeze Inn has stepped in and will be hosting a few events to help us get to the starting line. We couldn’t be more excited! Want to help? We can always use items to donate at these events! Or you can sponsor us directly too!

Train. Train. Train.

Last fall, we were really held back due to the flood. While most teams began training mid September, we really couldn’t kick things in gear until mid November. Repairing our house and dog lot took a lot out of us physically and financially. We started off behind. This year, we are going to start fall training on time! In fact… our summer tours have allowed us the privilege of already starting! Every time we take the dogs out, we consider that a training run. It is AWESOME getting to work with the dogs day in and day out and see them grow in the sport!

We are really looking forward to another year of running dogs and chasing our dream of being the next Iditarod Champions!