August 14-17, 2006 (Days 82-85)

Monday:
A little cooler, a little earlier… Today we have 168.5 miles to travel. We are running with Darrell and Sharon Waters. Once again, it is a gray day with low clouds. No sightings of the mountains from the fog and mist and rain. We drove to Naptowne (along the route to Homer) and stopped for breakfast. It was a nice restaurant. A couple other Airstreamers rolled in at the same time. We had a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and strawberry shortcake. Delicious! Since a few more stopped there and the restaurant filled up, service was slow. Our “dining experience” took two hours.

After leaving, Darrell and Sharon and we took a side road to a village called Keni. It was about 14 miles off road. We found a fabric shop there that is “out of this world”. (Only people who sew and crafters would offer this description.) There were so many bolts of material, all color coordinated, and many patterns. Many were northland fabrics that you don’t see in the lower 48. There were many flannels. I guess that is because there is a lot of warm materials used up here. We took one and one half hours there. Darrell and Dan were very patient! We got back on the road and continued on to Homer. It continued to rain all day and temps are in the low 50’s. We arrived in Homer around 3:00 p.m.

After setting up and getting established, we took a drive into the “downtown” area of Homer and out onto the Spit. Homer Spit, a geographical curiosity, is a narrow finger of land four miles long that nearly bisects the bay. There are people who make this part of Alaska their home. They are proud to be “at the end of the road”. A motel sits at the end of the road which is called, “Land’s End”, and it is truly that.

Homer is an interesting place. It is located on the southwestern Kenai Peninsula on the north shore of Kachemak Bay. Its population is 3,946. The climate in winter occasionally falls below zero, but seldom colder. The Kenai Mountains on the north and east protect Homer from the severe cold, and the Cook Inlet provides warming air currents. The highest temperature ever recorded is 81 degrees and average annual precipitation is 28 inches.

A post office was established in Homer in 1896. In the early days, many of the coal deposits were slowly burning from causes unknown. Thus, the name Kachemak (an Aluet dialect said to mean “smoky bay”), was derived from the smoke which once rose from the smoldering coal seams. Today, the erosion of the bluffs drop huge fragments of coal on the beaches, creating a plentiful supply of winter fuel for the residents. The town is a haven of charters (either fishing or sightseeing), seafood, unique shops, campgrounds on the water, and motels and restaurants. The fishing and tourism provide a lot of economic gain for the town.

A dinner was planned for us at the Elks Club, where we were on the waterfront and were served a delicious prime rib dinner. Yeh! No seafood for Dan! It was a great meal, but service was really slow. At the end of dinner, our friend, Ed, who is serving as postmaster at this stop, announced that he had received over 29 pieces of mail for our caravan. We were the second place to get the most. We had four pieces! Everybody enjoys getting mail, and we were glad to be on the list this time. We couldn’t wait to get back to the trailer to open it. Three mailers were from Renae and a nice card with pictures from Erin. One of the mailers had colored pictures and stickers from the grandkids and pictures of them at Holiday World where they took a summer trip. These are a great balm for homesickness! Thank you.

Till tomorrow and “Ladies Day Out”…………


Tuesday:
Today has been designated: “Ladies Day Out”. Our leader, Linda, has a day planned for the ladies. The men are on their own. We were told to carpool to the boat dock for boarding the “Danny J” at 10:00 a.m. It was a gray, rainy day again. The mountains were obscured by clouds, but spirits were high for a day of our own.

Our destination was Halibut Cove, which is on the east side of Cook Inlet in Kachemak Bay. We boarded the boat and most sat outside on a stack of life preservers. (Nice to have them close!) There was room for seven on the inside cabin. (Not good for motion sickness!). I sat outside. On the way to Halibut Cove, the captain circled Gull Island which is inhabited by only gulls. We saw many birds, mostly glaucous-winged gulls and kittiwakes who come in the summer to lay their eggs and hatch their young. An added bonus was seeing a sea otter resting comfortably on his back on a rock at the bottom near the water. As we entered the cove, we saw oyster beds where, it is claimed, the best oysters in the world are harvested. They are Kechemak Bay oysters. As the boat rounded the edge of the mountain, our eyes fell upon the community of Halibut Bay. All buildings are built on stilts, connected only by a 12-mile boardwalk that circles the area. There are no roads in Halibut Bay and no vehicles. We only saw bicycles and strollers on the boardwalk. Two years ago, the population in Halibut Cove was 42; last year it was 12. They don’t know who will stay this year.

When we docked, we had to climb up a steep ramp to the boardwalk. We would be free until boarding again at 4:00 p.m. for our trip back. Our first walk was to the restrooms. The 45-minute boat trip had been a challenge for some! These were outdoor johns. We walked on around the boardwalk and visited some gift shops and art galleries. At one end was the restaurant, the Saltry, where we stopped for lunch. Dottie, JoAnn, Sharon and I got the last table indoors. Others ate outside around an open pit fireplace. We were glad to be indoors away from the damp rain and cool air. I had tiger shrimp on bow-tie pasta with an orange sauce; Jo-Ann had chowder and a salad; Dottie ordered beet borscht and a salad; and Sharon had a salmon-salad burger and chowder. They served a delicious whole grain bread which is made at the restaurant. It was delicious. After lunch we walked the rest of the boardwalk and soon found ourselves hurrying to get back to the dock to board the boat. This place is the third in the world where the tide comes in so fast and so high. We were there at low tide, but we cold tell the tide was starting to come in. There were flowers every where. We are continually amazed at the flowers that grow everywhere and in pots. There were fresh flowers on the table of the restaurant. They even decorate the plates with fresh flowers that are edible.

When we walked the pier to the boat, we saw starfish, sea urchins and jellyfish in the waters below the pier. Wow. Our boat also served as the mail boat and delivers mail to the island each day it makes its trip.

The boat ride back was on an even smaller boat. I had to stand the whole way, as did about 5-6 others. The benches did not hold very many. When we got back, we shopped some of the shops along the beachfront. They were interesting places. We then got back to the campground at 6:00 p.m. and stayed in for dinner.

Dan and the guys found an establishment for their lunch called the Salty Dawg Saloon. I guess it was quite a place. It has been around for years and was an old fishermen’s hang out. They haven’t said much of what else they did! Dan did tackle the leak we had in the trailer, found it and was in the process of drying out the carpet. It was not serious, but will take some repair work when we can get to an RV supply place. Bed came early, but it felt good.

Till later………


Wednesday:
Not much to report today. It continues to rain and be cool in the 50’s. I worked on the blog and computer most of the day. Dan worked on importing our pictures so he can put some in with the blog. He also had the opportunity to spend some time with one of our caravaners who is very skilled in sharpening woodcarving knives. He taught Dan and thing or two, and now Dan thinks he can successfully sharpen his carving tools.

We ate dinner on the seafront with the Kolley’s and Ed. I had the best fresh scallops I have ever had, as did Ray. JoAnn and Ed had fresh-out-of-the-bay halibut. Dan had a hamburger.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Homer. We still have things to do. Till then….


Thursday:
We actually saw a peek of the sun when we got up this morning. We got our showers and went to a well-known sourdough bakery/restaurant for breakfast. I had stuffed sourdough French toast. It was stuffed with cream cheese and blueberries with blueberries and syrup on top. Yum. Dan was going to have sausage, biscuits and gravy, but they had just run out. Instead, he had cinnamon French toast.

After breakfast, we did some shopping and sightseeing. We drove up in the hills above Homer and had a beautiful view of Homer and the Spit.

Dinner was with Ed and the Kolley’s. We ate dinner at Fat Olives, a very interesting place. They also serve fresh catch of the day and local seafood. I had fresh oysters from Kachemak Bay (recommended); Dan had a meatball sandwich.

We came back to the campground (Oceanview RV Park) for ice cream and the drivers’ meeting for our destination tomorrow: Palmer, AK. Till then…..