Blogs from Homer, Alaska, United States, North America
Talk about a rest day. Dan and I got up at about 8 am and got to the free continental breakfast before it closed but then we were back in bed, me watching a movie and Dan catching up on some sleep. That saw us through till lunch at which time we decided to see what we could find off the resort. This lead us to the Salty Dawg. Unfortunately, they didn’t serve food (unless you count microwave hot dogs and potato chips food. We did not. So we went next door to the Asian-American place before headed into town to see what was there. First though we went looking for the Time Bandit from the TV show Deadliest Catch. We found it, and we saw a couple of crew members. Dan got them on video. ... read more
September 29 - Seward to Homer
Published: November 30th 2011North America » United States » Alaska » HomerWe got right up to a glacier. Wow! It was amazing. When we got up in the morning we decided that the only thing Seward had left that we couldn’t leave without seeing was a glacier up close and personal. Exit Glacier was the place to do it. The park turn-off was just a couple of miles down the road. We then drove 20 minutes through mountain passes to get to the parking area. You could see the glacier getting bigger and bigger as we drove closer and closer. Hard to believe we still had another 20 minute hike to get to the base of the glacier. There were three groups of kids on a field trip being lead around by rangers. Along the road leading into the parking area and along the hiking trail there ... read more
On to Soldotna and Homer
Published: September 15th 2011North America » United States » Alaska » HomerWe left Denali on Thursday morning to drive to Talkeetna where we stopped the night in an Alaska State Park. It started raining again while we were walking around Talkeetna and it rained all night and into the next morning and the rain stayed with us until we got into Anchorage. The sky started to clear and we stopped for lunch in the first view-point south of Anchorage and there was Mount McKinley. The remainder of our trip to Soldotna was wonderful, clear blue skies through some great scenery. We planned to stay in the Fred Meyer store parking lot in Soldotna. The store generously provides proper parking spaces for RVs as well as a dump station and potable water. We took the opportunity to drive to Kenai and visit the Moose Lodge that we had ... read more
Huffin’ and Puffin’ in Homer
Published: September 11th 2011North America » United States » Alaska » HomerHuffin’ and Puffin’ in Homer John got adventurous and had the Dutch Breakfast, eggs sunny side up over Gouda cheese, a slice of ham and a thick slice of toast, but sausage and hashed browns were added to that. Sharon had French toast. We disembarked in Homer at 9:45AM, assembled ashore, and later walked to the pier where our boat The Discovery was berthed. All other tours were bussed by school busses. And then we saw “the ramp” down to the tour boat. We had received a letter with pictures warning people about the ramp so they could cancel the tour if they didn’t think they could navigate it. But they didn’t do what we saw justice. The ramp was a steep iron mesh walkway, with the right side with triangular bars added to prevent slipping. ... read more
July 23-24, 2011 ANCHORAGE, AK Our first night in Anchorage after we all got settled, a bus picked us up and took us to dinner at the Sourdough Mining Company Restaurant which is a replica of an old mill house. Here we were treated to a delicious dinner which included Sourdough Corn rolls, Fries, BBQ Baby Ribs, BBQ chicken, Baked Salmon and soft ice-cream for dessert. Following dinner we were entertained by Dusty Sourdough in the tent city theater. Dusty, who used to sing with Glen Campbell, took us back to the gold rush days with song, storytelling and humor. It was here we also visited the chocolate factory. Next morning found us in the Emergency room of Providence Hospital to see a doctor about a medical problem. This beautiful hospital is part of the University ... read more
We left Whitehorse early and after stopping at the rapids below the lake I got an extreme case of drowsiness and told the others to drive on while I napped and that I would catch up with them later. I drove on til I was 60 miles from Dawson City where I parked at a place called Gravel Lake for the night and donated blood to the local mosquito population. Next morning it took an hour to drive to Dawson City where I drove around, did some shopping, took some pictures and then rode the free ferry accros the Yukon River to the provincial park where I had a nice campsite right on the river. Just downstream from the campground was a sternwheeler graveyard where three large boats were rotting away in the underbrush. It turns ... read more
Homer, Tom Bodett's "End of the Road"
Published: July 21st 2011North America » United States » Alaska » HomerIt was a short drive from Ninilchik to Homer, only 40 miles down the Sterling Highway. Homer is famous for many things: it is known as the "Halibut Fishing Capital of the World," it has the Salty Dawg Saloon, it was made famous in Tom Bodett’s book and radio show (you might remember him from the Motel 6 “We’ll keep the light on for you” ads) "End of the Road," it is home to the Hillstrand Brothers, Andy and Johnathan, famous co-Captains of the Deadliest Catch king crab boat – Time Bandit, and of course, The Homer Spit. The Spit, 4 ½ miles of road that ends in Kachemak Bay, is probably the exposed part of an underwater moraine for a tidewater glacier. A geologist from Soldotna dates the Spit at approximately 16,500 years old. During ... read more
Day 10-Friday, July 15, 2011 We decided to go to the Russian Village in Anchor Point and then go north to Nikiski and then up to Captain Cook State Park. The Russian village was not much. We drove north to Kenai and tried unsuccessfully to secure an RV site. Drove to west entrance of Skilak Lake Loop and stayed at Upper Skilak State Campgrounds. It was a great place to camp but we had a rather loud family next to us. ... read more
Jun2 13 and June 14--Homer, Alaska
Published: June 22nd 2011North America » United States » Alaska » HomerMonday-Tuesday, the 13th-14th Homer Spit weather mostly thick fog and rainy 48-50 degrees 9859-9879 mileage. Monday---read and slept until noon. Gathered up and did 5 loads of laundry at local laundromat that had wifi. Spent almost $40 to do so, as wash was $4.00 a load and dryer was .25 for 4 minutes. Drove up one of the residential roads that curved up on the hill and saw a pheasant male run across the road in front of us. In one of the lakes you crossed, we saw a mother duck with about 12 babies. Unfortunately, there was also an eagle nest across the road and we are not sure how many of those ducklings will be able to grow into adults. Moved down the spit to another campsite with 7-8 other Roadtreks. Tuesday---Booked and took ... read more
June 15--Homer to Deep Creek Campground
Published: June 22nd 2011North America » United States » Alaska » HomerJune 15--Homer Spit--weather mostly thick fog and rainy 52 degrees 9891 mileage.---really foggy and rained in the night. Went to local library that was really nice with all kinds of art work both inside and out. Bought an $8 bunch of books for 50 cents each. Had lunch at a bakery that we thought would have some great goodies. No such luck---muffins and cookies no pies, cakes etc. We both had a large bowl of soup for $7.00 a bowl. Stopped at a Marine Wildlife museum and looked around—they also had neat art inside. For example, they had a pottery relief sort of work of sea animals and plants about a foot or more in width that were brightly glazed around all the doors. The volunteer there suggested a drive we should take up higher on ... read more































