Homer, Alaska

The plan was to stay at Discovery Campground for two nights, but it looked like today could be a nice day, and since we had done everything there was to do there at Captain Cook Rec. Area, we decided to head out for Homer a day early. Had to eat the campground fee for tonight, but oh well. Don is getting real fast and efficient at getting the trailer ready to move and we are on the road in short order.

Down the road we stop at the Funky Monkey...coffee and wi-fi! Fun place to hang out.

We are headed for the Busy Bee RV Park in Anchor Point, about 20 miles outside of Homer. You can't miss this place. They have an old trailer in front painted up to look like a big bee...it is adorable! The mail box is a bee too. Someone there did a great job creating these things. The owner has everything "bee" in the office...very cute! So, once again, Don is setting up the trailer. It looks like it might rain, so we stick around and get the laundry done and get showers. Once that is done we drive on into Homer to have a look.

Homer was founded in 1895 and named for Homer Pennock, a New York con man who spent a few months in the area. Homer sells itself as the "end of the road" as it is at the end of the Sterling Highway at the bottom of the Kenai Peninsula. It overlooks the Kachamak Bay. Across the bay, is Kachamak Bay State Park with glaciers and mountains rimming the shoreline and active volcanoes looming in the distance providing awesome, delightful views. For most visitors the town means bird-watching, halibut fishing, shopping for local arts, visiting the nearby Kachemak State Park by ferry, boat or plane.

A huge tourist and local hangout is the sandspit stretching out into the bay. A very busy, crowded hub of activity...eateries, shops, fish processing places. We drove to the end, looked around a little bit and that was it...not Don's thing. Don had seen a Thai food buffet in town so we head back to try that out. "Try My Thai", we did...you win some and you lose some. Very strange place. No one is there to greet you. Another customer in the place told us what to do...serve yourself and sit anywhere. When you are done, you ring a bell and a guy comes out of the kitchen to ring you up without saying anything to you. Very strange. Food wasn't bad, but we wouldn't try it again.

Found a road called Skyline Dr. and followed it hoping to get views. Everywhere we drive it is pretty much the same. There are fantastic views to be seen, but because of all the trees and bushes along the road, you can't see anything and there are very few viewing spots. Very scenic drive, and we did get some great views of the mountains and glaciers across the bay! Good choice! We even enjoyed a very pretty sunset from there. End of a nice day.

Our Day in Homer. July 23

The plan was to drive into Homer, spend the day, and then go back to the trailer at Busy Bee. But since the day looked like it could turn out nice, we decided to move the trailer into Homer. Don had read about a RV campground that was up on a bluff overlooking the Kachemak Bay and the mountains on the far side of the bay. That's where we were headed. The Baycrest Fuel and Store. Found a spot and got the Casita all situated. Our view looking out of the trailer was wonderful.

Before heading to the museum we had to stop by Captain's Coffee and Roastery. The owner was there and Don got to talking to him about the surf pictures he had up on the wall. Surfing in Alaska?! No thank you! But they do it...during a small window of time when the waves are "good". Tough buggers these Alaskan's. Don was not impressed with the guy's coffee and we did not go there again.

We were going to do the Historic Town Center Walking Tour starting with the Pratt Museum. Homer's natural history museum covers the geology, flora, fauna, and oceanography of the peninsula, as well as homesteader and Native cultures. One thing that really sticks with me was a short video we watched about the Kilcher Family who homesteaded in the Homer area in the 1940s. The video centered around the mother and what life was like for her raising 8 children out in the middle of nowhere. This was a compilation of interviews with her children talking about the difficult homesteader life. It was fascinating. The lady at the gift store there told me that one of the daughters is a popular singer...I am not familiar with who she is. Also, there are living history tours done at the Kilcher homestead. If we had had more time, I would of liked doing that.

After leaving the museum we started following the walking tour, only we were in the 4-runner because it had gotten cold and windy. This did not work out too well because we were slowing traffic, so we went to see the Alaska Islands and Oceans Visitor's Center. This is a wealth of original exhibits, including a replica of a Bering Sea seabird rookery and a marine discovery lab. This is a great place for kids. These exhibits center around the natural history of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve. Very interesting.

In our driving around Homer I spotted (the group of people with cameras made it easy) a Bald Eagle nest. We made several stops at different times throughout our stay here for me to get pictures of the adolescent eagle in the nest. I never got the pic I wanted...the lighting was not right. But I got a couple of good silhouettes of the young eagle.

After lunch at the Casita, we drove around the spit again. At the end we watched as tons of seagulls had a feeding frenzy out in the water. There must of been some bait fish there. After watching that for a while, we did another scenic drive, the East End Road. This took us through neighborhoods, communities, farms, meadows and forests and gave us wonderful views of the Kachemak Bay mountains and glaciers. The cow parsnip is in full bloom now and thick along the roads.

When we got to the end of the road there were several pickups with teenagers milling around. Many of the girls wore scarves on their heads and long skirts. Hmm. Don noticed that a dirt road kept going down the hill, so we drove down it. It took us clear down to the beach. It looked like people drove down there, but we just had this feeling that we weren't welcome. Another truck came down after us and the young lady driving it wore a head scarf. Hmm. Back up the hill we went. We found out that there is a Russian village called Kachemak Selo where that road went down to the beach. Those that live there speak Russian and they don't want strangers coming around...we got that idea.

Dinner tonight was at the Cup Café. Very popular, fun place! Very good food too!! A winner!!

On the way home we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

Saturday, July 24 Leaving Homer

Breakfast was to be at the Two Sister's Bakery. It had been given great reviews and we wanted to check it out. Another very popular place with both locals and out-of-towners. We were not disappointed!!! Back to the Casita, take showers, get the trailer ready to go...by this time it had started to rain. We take off and say goodbye to Homer.

We decided to take a back road to Anchor Point...North Fork Loop.
This is a 14 mile dirt road curving through the hills. Don had to take it very slow with the trailer. It was a very nice back road. Along the way we came to another Russian village, Nikolaevsk. This was settled in 1960 as a home to the Old Believers, a sect of the Russian Orthodoxy that broke away from the mother church and settled in Siberia after the 17th- century religious reforms. Those who wound up in Alaska established Nikolaevsk and several surrounding villages.

I spot a Russian Orthodox church that I want to get a picture of so we stop. After taking pics I read the sign on the gate...no picture taking! Oops...does that mean the inside or outside? Quickly jump back into the car and head up the road...no one is chasing us yet! On a large rock across the street from the church was the word "café" with an arrow pointing down the street. We thought we would stop and get coffee. Simple, yes? Not to the lady running this "you have entered a different culture" little café. Meet Nina, from the old country. Her Father-in-law was the priest at the church that you can't take pictures of until he died 2 years ago. We walk into this place and are surrounded with Russian everything. Whow! Don called it 2nd world Russian, gaudy, ultra cluttered with nick-nacks, but no one is there. We look around a little feeling very uncomfortable, when we hear stirring in the next room. We wait, still no welcome, so Don goes up to the window separating this "dining room" from what we assumed was the "kitchen" and gets her attention. Nina is totally decked out in Russian Orthodox attire. We explain that we just wanted some coffee. Oh, but she doesn't have coffee, she has Russian tea. "I will make you some Russian tea, I make this myself..." and she goes into the details of what is in her tea, with a very heavy Russian accent. Ok, we will have two teas to go. Not that easy, you see. Nina is going to do her best to convince you that you need the whole shooting match, and you are not going to get out of there unless you do. As she is getting our tea, borsch, some veggie pastry things and a small desert thing ready for us (to go), she insisted on us coming into that room with her. Turns out to be her gift store and she wants us to buy something...and she is going to throw in a free picture of herself to sweeten the deal...all with a very heavy Russian accent! Much of which we had a hard time understanding, which was not good because she didn't like it if you didn't do what she wanted you to do. Don takes off with half of our take-out order in hand and leaves me there alone...thanks. Before I get out of there she let's me take her picture and then insists that she take one of me...with Russian shall and holding her bowls from the old country. I found Don back at the trailer happily eating the borsch and pastry sandwich thing.

Nina was quite the colorful character and meeting people like her is what has made this trip so memorable. She told us that there are two types of Russian Orthodox believers...the ones with priests and the ones without. The Russians we saw at the end of East End Road were of the ones who don't have priests...and they don't get along or even like each other. They are separate groups. Typical!

By the end of our encounter with Nina, I was feeling more relaxed and enjoyed talking to her. She said this was her last summer running the café, she is getting old. She puts on full-on Russian meals...you make a reservation before going out there. She has costumes that you wear while you are there and Russian music in the background. It would be quite an experience! Maybe next time!

After enjoying our Russian lunch, we continue driving. It is raining and we are driving, driving, driving. Suddenly we see a bull moose off the side of the road. Oh, doctor!! Don skillfully pulls the trailer as far off the road as he can and I jump out to capture the moment! Wow, this is unbelievable. Don says to get closer but that didn't sound like a good idea to me, so he takes the camera and takes a bunch of pictures. By this time two other vehicles have pulled over...both Alaska cars. This must be a big deal if the Alaskans are stopping to get pics. The moose wasn't phased at all...was he actually someone's pet in disguise? He was getting awfully close to the road when we drove away. I sure hope he didn't get hit. That was cool!!!

We continue down the road. It is still raining. We come to the Russian fishing village of Ninilchik, which means "peaceful riverside place". The name is exactly right. We walked around the place and went into the café to get a couple of coffees. The young man helping us was very enthusiastic and fun to talk to. He is out from the Midwest someplace helping his grandma at the café for the summer. We enjoyed talking to Grandma too. We found out how to get up to the Russian Orthodox Church up the hill overlooking the village and said our goodbyes. This church was built in 1901...Transfiguration of Our Lord Church. We walked up the hill and took pictures and enjoyed the views across the inlet.

That was an enjoyable side trip. Back on the road again going towards Seward. We came upon a side road that Don wanted to take...it turned out to be gravel but we kept going. Again, very slow going because of the gravel. We passed lots of lakes along this road, but because of all the trees, you didn't get to see them much. We have entered a very popular fishing area and the salmon are running and the place is full of fisherman. We drove until about 10:30 and found a turnout to pull onto and spent the night there.