July 8th, 2024 - Travel to Homer

We got our act together this morning, said our "see you laters" and documented it with pictures:

Love this picture of us being silly!:

We filled with great water at P/L and then dumped at the local park and headed south.  Love this mailbox:

It was very foggy so not many pictures cause all we saw was Fog - LOL!:

We made our way to Homer, where the weather did clear up a bit:

Coming up over the pass to Homer - Look at that mountain:

Mountains and Glaciers and Sea - OH MY!:

That piece of land in the middle is known as the "Homer Spit" and that is where we are staying:

Going on the Homer (Downtown) By-Pass and this is the view:

This is the area between the mainland and the Spit - it is mostly a protected Wetland:

On to the Spit:

Where the tide is low:
 

The Homer Spit:

We made our way to the Fishing Hole Campground.  I really wanted a spot where we could face the Kachemak bay.  As we were unhooking the truck, a vehicle left and this is where we are.

Now - a few things..  it is narrow and it is pricy for what we get (but really cheap compared to the other campgrounds on the SPIT).   But the VIEW - OH MY!

There is an app where you can find out what ships are in the bay.  This is Dubai Diamond.  "It is a Crude Oil Tanker built in 2007 (17 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands."

That is all I could find out.  Very interesting.

The tide is out:

Andy is their newest Harbormaster - LOL!:

After enjoying our view and after lunch, we decided to do a road trip.  The Homer Spit has many hike/walk/bike trails and many of them are lined with blooming lupine:

We decided to drive the East End Road to see what we could:

The Grewingek Glacier:

Lupine Everywhere:

After 20 miles of paved road, it turned to dirt.  We went about a mile and the road went downhill - Really Downhill!

There was two pull offs with cars parked but we continued.  When the foliage got thick, we stopped and I took a walk.

 The picture does not show but it was STEEP and around the bend it was even STEEPER.  Andy stayed back and when I got back...told him "NO WAY!"!

So we went up the road to one of the lookouts.  Meet some great folks there and the views were AWESOME!

Heading back:

Back home, tide was in..  Two pictures.. One with the tide out and one with it in - AMAZING:

The wind picked up so we did not have a campfire...  Bummer, but maybe tomorrow.

July 4th - 7th, 2024 Winding Down

July 4th, 2024

Larry and Peg celebrated with a Halibut/Cod Fish Fry - Yummy!

Andy, Jay, Peg, Larry:

They had this little pinwheels that felt like a pasta:

Less than a minute in oil - they went "POOF" - they tasted like a puffy snack - Yummy!

We had a great time enjoying our meal and chatting away.

July 5-7, 2024

We spent the last few days doing some chores, packing the truck, doing some planning and sharing meals with Larry and Peg.

It has been wonderful spending time with time, - laughing, chatting and just getting to know each other better.  Larry and Peg, Thank you so so much for having us and hanging out.

Tomorrow we head to Homer for a few days so stay tuned and enjoy today.

July 3rd, 2024 - Road Trip

We woke to a beautiful blue sky and Andy and I decided to do a road trip to check out the coast and the coastal mountains.

Flowers everywhere:

Deep Creek:

Cook Inlet:

Mount Redoubt:

One of the beaches at the Cook Inlet with Mount Iliamna, Mount Redoubt, and Mount Spurr in the background:

Mount Iliamna:

Mount Redoubt:

Both of these mountains are active volcanos and part of the Pacific Rim of Fire.

We stopped at the Iliamna Viewpoint and walked to the top of the bluff:

Long way down:

Lupines on the Bluff:

Many, Many Eagles:

We made our way to Anchor Point which is North America's Most Westerly Highway Point:

The beach at Anchor Point:

Information on the Ring of Fire in this area:

Some really good information here on those mountains and the Ring of Fire:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Inlet_Basin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Redoubt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Iliamna

https://www.nps.gov/places/redoubt-volcano.htm

We did not see any smoke or feel any earthquakes so we are good.

Ninilchik Creek:

The original town and buildings:

On top of the hill is the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Chapel.  It is a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1901.

Cool cemetery but it was overgrown:

Overlook from the church:

Many eagles:

What a great day!