Homer

Juy 1 (Tuesday) to July 7 (Monday)

July 1st (Tuesday) - Mountains, Inlets, Oceans and Harbors

We headed down to Homer via hte Parks Higway through Anchorage to the Seward Highway and then turned toward Homer on the Sterling Highway. It was about an 7 hour drive and it was gorgeous.

We checked into our campground (Heritage RV Park) on Homer’s Spit. It is a 5 mile long spit about 200 yards wide going out into the Cook Inlet. Fishing is the name of the game here. Are park is near the “Fishing Hole” where you can catch salmon right from shore. Mike checked it out and I went for a ride down the spit. So interesting and so many boats. I have never seen a harbor this big with so many boats. FYI - the view of the mountain is from our bedroom window!

July 2nd (Wednesday) - Halibut Fishing, Biking, Mueseums, Shopping and a Fish Fry

Mike started his day early at 5:30 AM with an early Halibut Fishing trip with Kurt. Kurt is a friend of a friend and graciously offered to take Mike fishing. It was an all day affair and he got back at 4:30 pm. We then proceeded to go to Kurt’s House with several other couples form Iowa and Oklahoma nad Wisconsin and have the best fish fry ever! Mike caught 5 Halibut and kept 3. He also caught and released 2 Cod and a massive Sting Ray, wing span of 6 feet. He didn’t get any pics of his fish, but here are some of hte boat and Captain Kurt.

While Mike was out fishing I enjoyed a relaxing morning of Jazzercise and the Today show :). As I headed out I was treated by this beautiful Eagle. You can see the Camper and the Jeep and how close he was.

I jumped on my trusted steed and took about a 20 mile bike ride. I rode into town and all over town. I went shopping, in several quaint stores and outdoor gear stores, then off to the Alaskan Marine Wildlife Perserve Visitors Center, the inlet to do some tide pooling, the Homer Farmers Market and ended up meeting Mike. The bike trail is marvelous here with such huge Lupine. There is a large Naval Base on the Aleutian Islands about 1000 miles from here and one of their large airplanes flew over - so cool.

July 3rd (Thursday) - Soldovia - Hiking, Historic Board Walks, and FLOWERS!

Today we boarded the Soldovia ferry and headed over to Soldovia. It is a small town with

about 248 residents in the winter and 1,000 in the summer. We took a hike and missed a turn and ended up at the locals beach. We went from beautiful trails to bushwalking and calling out for bears. Of course we forgot our bear spray. Lots of bear sign, but none to be

had.

After our hike we headed into the Town of Seldovia. It is a quaint little town with so many log sculptures and a historic board walk.

After the cruise home we went to the Salty Dog with most of the people on the ferry. We met some very nice people - Erin Homer and her Dad, Neil Homer! They were on their final Halibut fishing trip as he has dementia and vertigo. They were a blast to talk to and get to know.

July 4th Friday - Ninelcheck - Solditna - Sterling - Happy 4th of July!

Kurt and Becky invited us to a BBQ at their Sterling home. Sterling is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away. We did some wonderful tourist stops along the way. We had a wonderful BBQ, met their friends and played Bean Bags. Sorry no pics of the party.

Our first stop was at a Russian Orthodox Church dating back to the 1880’s in Ninglechick. The Russian Orthodox is the prevalent religion in the area as this area was first settled by the Russians until they sold it to the U.S. It was amazing and the view was spectacular. The three cross symbol is for the Sign on top of Jesus, the cross, and the foot rest.

We went into Solditna and walked along the Kenai River and saw some people fishing. The salmon are just starting to run. We also heard tons of sirens and found out a wildfire had started. The large volcano is called Redoubt - it erupted in March of 2009. On our way back we came across a Momma and Baby moose :)

Saturday, July 5th - Glenwitch Glacier: Glacier, Forests, Icebergs and beaches!

We spent the day hiking to the Glenwitch Glacier in the State Park.  WE were dropped off at a beach and then hiked and picked up at another beacH. We hiked 4 miles in to see the Glenwitch Glacer, the lake and so many beautiful icebergs! Of course we forgot the binoculars or bear spray. 90% of the people had bear spray and we saw at least four groups with guns. We didn’t need it. :) What a great day!

The ice bergs were so blue and then when they melted the ice was crystal clear. The icebergs appear blue because the ice absorbs longer wavelengths of light and the blue is a longer wavelength when reflected back to our eyes. (Just a little science for everyone :)

Sunday, July 6th - Boat rides, Soldovia, Halibut Cove, friends and food!

Today we were treated by Kurt and Becky Tutsami to a day on the boat. We headed over to Soldovia with Kurt, Becky and their friends (and now ours) Tracey, Debra, Gary, and Don. Some of us hunted for sea glass and we went to a great lunch. We saw some amazing animals on our adventures.

We then headed over to a town called Halibut Cove. This is a town that was built by a single guy named Clem Tellium in the early 1900’s. He bought all the land around the cove and if you moved their with your family (no singles) and built a homestead he would give you the land. The entire town was built this way. The town has a majority of its buildings on stilts and has the only floating Post Office in the country. It really was like Fairy Tale.

We ended our day by doing a bit of bike riding in the rain. We then went to Kurt and Becky’s for awesome Seafood Linguini!

Homer did not disappoint!!!! Halibut Fishing Heaven!