Homer - Just like Home!

Homer and it's backdrop

The city of Homer lies at the base of a narrow spit that juts 4 miles into Kachemak Bay. Glaciers and snowcapped mountains form an incredible backdrop across the water.

The city was founded in the late 1800s as a gold-prospecting camp, it was later used as a coal-mining headquarters and chunks of coal are still very common along the beaches; they was into the bay from nearby slopes where the coal seams are exposed.  It’s an interesting community with a mix of fishermen, actors, artists, writers, and merchants- very eclectic.

A hundred mile drive from Seward brought us here to Homer, amid glorious sunshine and spectaular views. Our RV park is set right by the ocean with great access to to a 20 mile beach; it was the first thing we did when we arrived.  The dogs were in heaven! We then had a superb meal for dinner at a very small local restaurant where everything was amazingly superb, especially the oysters.

Fredric's Fish

The following day, Fredric and 5 other guys from the group went out Halibut fishing on a thirty-five foot cabin cruiser (borrowed because the captains boat was out of commission). It was, apparently very tight quarters, with 6 guys, captain, and deck hand squeezed into a 5 x 9 foot space along with a cooler.  However, everyone caught their limit in fish (two a piece), smallest was 25 pounds, biggest was 45 pounds. Unfortunately, the fish flopped wildly when they were in the boat, and the deck hand got hooked in the hand which meant they had to return to shore earlier than expected! They did, though, return triumphantly - successful hunter/gatherers.  

Otters Seen from the Fishing Trip

 Each fisherman donated a fish and in the evening, with the help of expert people in the group, we had a fish fry…. it was superb, the best Halibut we have ever had!

Picking up the fish

Yesterday, we explored the town, shopped, ate the BEST clam chowder ever, and also picked up 16 pounds of flash frozen, filleted Halibut that now sit very contently in our freezer - and- we have no room for anything else!! 

Fish in Hand

Baylee watching the eagles

Our beach walk with the dogs included viewing two bald eagles - just amazing!

What a backdrop!

Zori having fun!

Salty Dog Saloon!

Today was another day of beach walking, relaxing, wine tasting at a winery that makes all their wine from berries (too sweet for us), and having a drink in the salty dog saloon, a bar that has been around since 1957.

Elks Lodge in Homer

And, we visited the Elks lodge, had lunch and drinks.... it's the lodge with a million dollar view - over looking the beach with views of the mountain range and glaciers -nice!

We really like Homer, great place, unbelievable scenery and great people!

Seward, the Rainy City!

Our RV Park

From Anchorage we made our way to Seward and arrived on Wednesday 14th - it is hard to believe that a place as beautiful as Seward exists. It is surrounded on all sides by the Kanai Fjords National Park, Chugach National Forest, and Resurrection Bay. It is basically a very quaint town that has unbelievable scenery. It was established in 1903 and has around 3,000 people living here.

Very wet! 

Unfortunately, it was pouring - and I mean sheeting down rain - as we arrived in Seward, it stopped for maybe a total of 10 minutes the whole three days we were there.... the beautiful scenery was very hard to find! In this picture you should be looking at a whole range of mountains filled with glaciers!!

Glacier

The group, minus me (story later) took a boat trip around the Fjords. The weather and ocean were so bad that half the boat became sea sick!!!! Fredric did manage to get some great pics of Puffins and Eagles, but apart from that, the weather was too awful for photos!

I was not unhappy that I had missed the trip when I heard the stories later!

Up Close of a Glacier

Eagles

Puffin on the left

Seals

I, alas, did not do well after the root canal, and two days later Fredric and I had to drive 6 hours back to Anchorage where I went through oral surgery to deal with the abcess… not much more to say about that except at that point I loved my Percocet! I do not have fond memories of Seward!!

Waterfalls off the cliffs

Anchorage, Alaska's Largest City

On the Boat in Whittier

Anchorage Alaska was our next stop on Saturday August 9th. Anchorage was founded in 1915 as a railroad camp and has now grown into Alaska’s largest city and main travel hub. Approximately 40% of the states population live here. Sled-dog races are still among the most revered events held here, moose and occasionally bears roam city bike trails.

View from the boat

Our group took an all day train/boat cruise to Whittier from here. Whittier is the remnants of a military town developed in World War II. The only way to get to Whittier was by boat or train until the tunnel opened to traffic in 2000. The town is very small and there is not much to look at, but the location is unbeatable. Surrounding peaks hold alpine glaciers, and sheer cliffs drop off and provide nesting places for hundreds of birds. 

Wildlife

We saw blue shining glacier after glacier, icebergs,  sea otters, and harbor seals.

Glacier

It was cold!

A Chunk of Clacier

On board the boat, the crew made margaritas made from glacier ice - pretty nice!

After the Margaritas

Glacier

View from the Train

Our Favorite Brewery

We discovered Anchorage had 4 breweries, and together with friends, managed to get around three of them before we had to head out to our next stop - great beer!

The one bummer in Anchorage was that on the Monday after we arrived I had to have an emergency root canal!!! Not a happy camper, but I am hoping it heals quickly.

Denali National Park

Denali

Our next destination was Denali National Park., a six million acre park. The keystone of the park is Mt. McKinley. More commonly called by its Athabascan name, Denali, meaning “the High One,” or often referred to by Alaskans simply as “the Mountain,” the peak measures in at 20,230 feet, the highest point on the continent. Denali is also the the tallest mountain in the world- yes Mt Everest is higher, but it sits on the Tibetan plateau, like it was standing on a chair to rise above Denali, which starts barely above sea level.

Mirror Lake

We were very fortunate as the ‘Mountain was 'Out’ both days we visited.  Only 30% of visitors get to see Denali, most of the time it is hidden behind clouds. The mountain is part of the Alaska range, a 600-mile long crescent of mountains that separates South Central Alaska from the interior. The Park is also filled with multicolored rock, glacially fed streams, debris and tundra-covered ice glaciers, lakes, rivers, and ponds.

Caribou

Of course, along with the mountain, we saw sixteen grizzlies, along with cubs, hundreds of  caribou, moose, fox, wolves, eagles, ptarmigans, and Dall sheep.

Grizzlies

The plane!

We spent the first day taking a 13 hour tour all the way through the park and this is when we saw all the wildlife. Some of our group were on a bus going out at a different time and actually saw a grizzly kill another bear, drag it across the road right in front of the bus, and start eating it….. kinda happy I missed that one!  The whole area was cordoned off by the time we made it back to that stop, as the bear sat on his ‘food’  all day. 

The second day we flew over the park and landed on a glacier - an unbelievable experience. We will let the pictures speak for themselves because, quite honestly, We don’t have the words to describe the magical wonder of what we saw.

View of the park, taken from the pl;and

Glacier, taken from the plane

Glacier, taken from the plane

View of the mountain range, taken from the plane

Glacier, taken from the plane

Glacier Up Close, taken from the plane

On The Glacier!

View of the Park with rainbow, taken from the plane

Denali from the Plane

Denali from the Plane

View of the Park, taken from the plane

View of the park, taken from the plane

Fairbanks, Alaska's northern capital - August 1st through 5th

Fairbanks has a population of about 85,000 and is Alaska's northern capital: home to the main campus of the University of Alaska and a very important point along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, which we got to visit. 

Fairbanks had some nice things to see and do- the University of Alaska had an excellent museum, small enough that it didn’t get overwhelming, but filled with very interesting stuff.

Another day we headed out with the group and took a trip on a river boat which, apart from the rain, which we got to experience the whole day, was wonderful! 

We visited an Abathskan village and learned about native customs and practices; clothing, food, weapons, hunting, and history. The Athabaskan's are a First Nation People, and take their name from a Large lake in Canada called Lake Athabaska. They call themselves 'Dena' or 'the people.'

We also visited a dog kennel that trains and races dogs in the Iditarod here in Alaska. This particular kennel is owned by the husband of Susan Butcher the second woman to win the race and the only person to win 3 consecutive years. They have also won the Yukon Quest - another dog mushing race that is known to be harder and go farther than the Iditarod. These dogs are bred from stock that survived and thrived during the Gold Rush Era and it is thought that no animal on earth can match them for endurance, dedication, and their ability to perform in the extreme conditions of Alaska. They are truly amazing dogs, and extremely loving and friendly. These dogs are very different from the 'Husky' that is seen on TV and in Disney Shows. They have a very slight build but have amazing strength in their back legs, and - they don't typically have the blue eyes!

Then we visited a an antique automobile museum that was begun by an entrepreneur called Tim Cerny. He began collecting the museums 85+ cars in 2007 and selected each one for their historical significance, rarity, or technological innovation.  The museum was Fredric’s idea, but it turned out to be unbelievably good!  Best cars either of us had ever seen from 1898 to 1930’s - even I had a great time. I can't even begin to name them all, but if you are ever in Fairbanks, be sure to visit! 

Last,but not least, Gold Panning!  Felix Pedro discovered gold in the 'Pedro' Creek in 1902. This creek is open to the public - no equipment allowed other than pans-it is used mainly by local residents. We, of course, found it and spent a nice couple of hours - along with Baylee and Zori - panning for gold.  And, yes - we did find some!

To The End of The Road....

Our trip from Chicken to Delta Junction on Wednesday July 30th was uneventful with good roads and good weather. Delta is the official Western terminus of the Alaska Highway (when the Alaskan Highway was built, although Fairbanks was the ultimate destination, there was already a road from Fairbanks down to Delta). Delta was an easy stop where we caught up on chores (yup, still gotta do laundry!) and relaxed.

After two nights in Delta Junction, we headed out for Fairbanks - our biggest town yet, with a population of 3,000 people! Couple of fun stops along the way, one of which was the North Pole - an actual town!!