Back from the Bay

Alicia and I had a really nice weekend in Homer.  While we were there, we were strolling around the boat harbor looking at the vast array of vessels docked there.  We saw a nice looking boat that advertised it was used for tours to Seldovia.  So we booked a day tour for the next day (Sunday). 

We camped in our "vamper" at Mariner Park at the base of the Homer Spit.  Our back window looked out to the ocean waves and the mountains beyond the mouth of Kachemak Bay.  Lovely.

We spent hours just exploring the beach, gathering rocks and shells, and watching the tides. 

On Sunday, we boarded our boat in the morning and spent the day exploring Kachemak Bay.  We saw lots of seabirds, sea otters, and bald eagles.  I've uploaded lots of photos to an album here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151014789168159.437719.523908158&type=3&l=7aec1c4892

Once we returned to Homer from Seldovia, we departed immediately for the 5+ hour drive home.

Homer Bound!

Alicia and I are preparing to head south to Homer at the end of the Kenai Peninsula.  The summer is slipping past rapidly.  And, we've barely done any Alaskan travel at all.  So, she and I will be "minivan camping" at one of our favorite places in the state.  If this inaugural van camping trip goes well, maybe we'll try visiting other places that way in the coming weeks.

To set up the minivan for camping, we removed the middle row of seats.  We'll fold the back seats down and inflate our full size air mattress using the car adaptor air pump.  The mattress takes up the full width of the minivan and will be the perfect size for two.  The back windows are tinted, but I'm bringing some velcro mounted curtains just in case. We also have our DVD player and a case of movies along with our car adapter outlet converter. 

We're not packing much food, just some water bottles and maybe a couple road snacks.  One of the reasons we love Homer so much is the food.  We generally spend our time bouncing back and forth between Captain Pattie's clam chowder and Two Sisters' Bakery with their chocolate bread, sticky buns, and hula hoops.  I've also been told of several other tasty venues in Soldotna, which is about an hour before you get to Homer.  So, depending on our timing, we may hit those as well.

We really have no schedule.  And, it's been a long time since I've travelled that way.  I miss it.  A lot.

In other news, Tess had an emergency appendectomy earlier this week.  That was a bit of a game changer, especially as neither Stephen nor I currently have health insurance due to our recent employment changes.  But, I've decided not to worry about that much till next week, at the earliest, when I hear something back from the hospital's business office. 

Independence Day Recap

So, we went to a little party on the 4th of July up in Chickaloon.  I have yet to process most of the photos I took there, but I'll include a few here.

My previous boss (now my contracted client) lives in a nice log cabin up in Chickaloon.  Her husband is a pilot and they have their own airstrip which makes up their front lawn.  On the side, her husband is also a state legislator. 

Several guests flew into the party in their small aircraft.  We drove, of course.  It's about an hour north of our house. 

Someone came in a Twin Otter, which is a good-sized aircraft.  It probably seats a dozen passengers.  Most of the other planes that arrived were a variety of small 2-4 seater Cessnas.  There was also one Super Cub with tundra tires.  It was interesting to see the different aircraft.  Kind of like our own mini-airshow.  Lots of fun. 

During the course of the party, there was a "flour bombing".  All the pilots were given a few little sacks of flour.  They took off and took turns circling around and flying in really low to drop a sack of flour out the airplane window to try and hit a target on the airstrip.  It was pretty funny to see the bulky Twin Otter trying to maneuver like the little Cessnas.  The pilot did a great job though.  Each plane took about 4 bombing attempts. 

There was a great potluck barbecue of food, live music (another legislator's band), skydivers, and great weather.  Alicia enjoyed the tire swing with the horde of other kids at the party. 





All in all, it was a very enjoyable 4th of July!