Jon and Lynn are back from Bainbridge and we’re on the road with our traveling companions once again. We met them back in Seward, now we’re in Homer, then tomorrow we go back up to Cooper Landing for a couple days on the way to Denali NP.
We had a few nice days in Seward, once again in a city campsite, but this time at the far end of town. This was our beach and view out the back window for four nights.
We had done most of the basic tourist things last time we were in Seward, but had not gone around the bay and explored the other side. So one sunny day we hopped on our bikes and pedaled as far as the road would take us to the east side of Resurrection Bay. This is what Seward looks like from across the bay, tucked beneath the very rugged peaks of Kenai Fjords National Park.
It’s time for the salmon to come back to their creeks and spawn, and this was interesting to watch right in town near our first campsite. There were three (which I presume) were females laying eggs on the rocks at the edge of the stream, and a bunch of others (which I presume) were males upstream fighting over who got to come fertilize them afterward. It was interesting to be pedaling by and spot this happening.
Some weather started to come in, but never one to miss the opportunity for happy hour and a book outside on a sunny day, we tucked our chairs in behind this big clump of grass that sheltered us completely from the cold breeze.
The rain made the last day an indoor day, so we spent some time checking out the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward. It’s a beautiful facility, originally funded by proceeds from the settlement with the oil company after the Exxon Valdez crashed and caused such a big mess in 1989. There was a baby walrus recently rescued from the north slope after it’s mom died and the rest of the herd abandoned it. We got to see it from a distance through the window, but the center has a good write up on and and we spent some time talking to the docent about the life of the walrus and the hopes for the future of this baby. Here is the story of the walrus rescue.
Leaving Seward we made the 168 mile drive around to the other side of the Kenai Peninsula into Homer. We chose not to stay out on the famous Homer Spit and instead found a small RV camp spot associated with a hotel right in town. This pic is looking across Kachemak Bay from the end of the spit, and the layers of colors reminded us both of a Byron Birdsall watercolor.
The fun thing we found in a gallery on the Spit is that Byron Birdsall’s daughter Courtenay is also an artist. She lives now in Skagway and we found two of her prints that we liked and bought these. Now we just need to decide if they live in the house or in Nonnie’s Diner.
The weather was pretty contrary when we got to Homer, but we had a brief enough break in the rain to drive up to the viewpoint and get some pictures of Kachemak Bay and the Homer Spit. Today the sun is out but the wind is howling, so we may try again at pix from this spot.
While we were cruising around on the east end of the bay I happened to find a winery! Who knew there was an actual winery in Homer. The import grapes and grow other fruits. So they have wines with a blend of grapes and their fruit, and some that were just purely fermented from their berries. The tasting was unexpected and fun, and we learned some new things about wine, but this fruit wine is really not for me. I did buy a bottle of the Blueberry Zinfandel blend, but now I’m not quite sure why. I was so jacked up on sugar that evening I was literally sick.
And now the sad ending to the Homer tale. Rob and I didn’t book any fishing in Valdez, instead chose to do the sightseeing boat trip. Jon & Peter fished and shipped home a bunch of halibut. We had reservations for a fishing trip here in Homer on our last day, and we were happy it wasn’t earlier because of the heavy rain. But last night we got a call from the guide and he said he was pretty sure the trip was going to be called for weather. What? Not halibut fishing? See the pic above, it’s real time what’s going on. There is a massive low pressure system spinning in Bristol Bay to our west, and another low just east of us coming ashore. Wind is getting sucked from one low to another, and blowing stink here in Kachemak Bay. Last week, very sadly, a family of four died when their boat sank in bad weather in this bay. The waves are fierce here and the water is cold.
We got up early as the guide asked us to do, just in case the wind had eased or the direction would give us some protection along the coastline. But when we got to the marina we saw only one boat going out, and the rest was all quiet. The guide arrived and said we couldn’t go, there was nowhere to hide alongshore with the wind coming from the west like it was. Sadly for him it was his 32nd trip this year that was cancelled, and with such a short season that’s a big portion of his income. I feel really sad for him. I’m having a little pity party for me, being up here all summer and being “Halibut Denied”. But I don’t have kids at home to feed. For us there’ll be another time to fish, and hopefully for him the rest of this season will improve.
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