September 29 - Seward to Homer

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We 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 were markers that indicated where the glacier had been since 1815; the recorded end of the “little ice age”. We were not able to get close enough to the glacier to touch it. It was down in a valley and the slope was too steep with loose rocks for us to attempt trying. We got some great pictures though and spent some time just admiring the beauty of it.
We hustled back to town after seeing the glacier to get our gear from the hotel so that we could start the 3 hour ride to Homer. First though we did a last drive through town to get some video. We had pre-planned our route the day before when we drove through before. We were blocked unexpectedly by some construction that had half the sidewalk tore up and a whole block of road closed off.
The drive to Homer gave us yet another scenery change. As we made the turn south again at the Seward Highway/ Sterling Highway interchange the terrain started to slowly transform over the next hour. We were leaving the more mountainous areas behind. I drove from Seward to somewhere just outside of Sterling. About an hour and a half give or take. Once Dan took over it was lights out for a nap; first serious car nap of the trip. I was out for the better part of an hour. Good thing we are planning rest in Homer. I needed it and so did Dan.
When I woke from my nap it was obvious we were entering a shore area. The land was flattening out by Alaska standards and you could see the water as the ribbon of road started to follow the buffs. Pretty.
We got into Homer at about 5 pm. It was time to get to the hotel, settle in and start happy hour. The drive out the spit road was cool. The spit was a natural occurrence not man-made. It has been maintained over time and is a bustling section of the local fishing industry both commercial and sport. We got to the hotel at the very end of the spit. Called Lands End, appropriately. We had ordered up what we thought was going to be a full condo with a Jacuzzi and balcony and awesome view. What we got was a bottom floor efficiency with a dripping in room Jacuzzi tub that smelled like a cat had marked its territory. No thank you.
We traipsed back to the front desk to inquire about a different room. At first they were not sure what to do with us. It was the only Jacuzzi tub room, they weren’t going to give us a bigger unit and there were trying to call maintenance to fix it rather than move us. We asked about moving into the main resort rather than using one of the condos. That made a difference. We were given a key card and given a chance to see the room before committing. This one was much better. It was on the third floor, had a balcony and all the things the other room did not have like a king sized bed and a table to put the computer on. It was smaller yes but it had a great view and everything that we needed. Thus we made our selves at home for two nights. We didn’t miss the Jacuzzi tub because there was an out-door hot-tub attached to the resort with an awesome view. We stayed close the first night, eating in the hotel restaurant and going to bed relatively early.

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