Let’s go for a hike!

Seward, Alaska

July 6 - July 8, 2016

Left Homer after the 4th of July traffic.  Headed towards Seward, our last big Alaska stop before we start our long journey home.  Picked up a hitchhiker, backpacker, cutie pie from Switzerland on the Seward cutoff.  Andi, 22 years old, cute little blonde that loves to travel.  OH my, would I be worried if I were her mom.  But she nicely told me that she takes a selfie with everyone that has picked her up and send that to her mom???  OK?  She said it makes her mom feel much better.  So Bodie is now in a selfie with Andi off to Basil, Switzerland!

The German's are here!  Wow is this ever something?

As Homer is to Fishing, Seward is to Adventure!  Kayaking in the Kenai Fiords National Park, hiking, ziplines, beachcombing, etc.  We had a great 5 mile hike in the Lowell Point State Rec Area.  Started in the greenest of green trails (more so than the Northern Cascades!) and ended up on a rugged beach with a very fast moving tide that was rising :)  Lots of warnings are posted regarding these tides and assuming that many have been rescued due to stupidity.  

We spent quite a bit of time in the Seward Brewery at the bar.  Great food and such nice waitress’.  Went out to Miller’s Landing….what a drive.  Thank goodness we didn’t have the trailer with us.  That is where we started our hike and a big kayaking area for the experienced kayaker.  

Our last night together

Our last night with the remains of our “group” was a bitter sweet ending to Seward.  Saying goodbye to some of the clan was sad.  J & B will be along for the ride south, atlas until we cross Canada into Washington.  We had a lovely impromptu potluck dinner, discussing all of our different itineraries.  The SUN is out and it’s just beautiful! (and remember it NEVER gets dark).  Nancy and I played Yahtzee till late in the evening.  One of those 2 out of 7 days of the week where the sun is shining.  

No little doggies in HOMER!!

Homer, Alaska
July 1 - 6, 2016

lots of Bernie stickers, lots of Subaru's, trucks and boats. LOTS and LOTS of Eagles and very few little doggies. Very "foodie" town, focusing on Farm to Table and Organic eats, cool Farmer's Market and more than anything lots of art and fish.  I like it.  I think I could live here?  well, the weather is not so great? 

View from our Campsite

Salty Dawg...$ bills EVERYWHERE, good Bloody Mary's

Classic Homer

Fishermen "Art"

 What a quaint little village. Now I could live here.  Reminds me a lot of Ojai, except its sits along the beautiful Kachemak Bay.  Then there's the famous Homer Spit, 5 miles to the end.  Along this 5 mile stretch is where the
"action" is. Fisherman campgrounds line the beach along with fishing boats, gift shops, the Salty Dawg (very cool funky bar) and numerous fresh fish restaurants and cafe's line both sides of the street.  There is a nice bike path that bikers, mommys' with strollers and runners use.



Besides the Spit, there is a nice little town of Homer.  Large, beautiful homes with grand windows for the crazy view of the bay and the mountains and glacier sit along the East side of Homer. Small lakes are crowded with float planes ready to take customers off into the wild to see bears and fish for salmon and halibut.
Some of our crew is going on a halibut charter out to sea tomorrow.  Hoping for a big catch?

Bishop's Beach

We have feasted every night on great food.  The fresh Halibut catch, Cups Cafe (amazing dinner), Halibut Fish n' Chips that will remain a legend and ice cream with fresh picked berries from Seldovia!  We have all gained weight in the last few weeks from all this good eating.  Oh well.

Cups Cafe

It will be sad to say Goodbye to Homer.  It's been a lovely 4 days of lots of adventure and really great scenery.

Pink Gold (Salmon)

Soldatna - Kenai Peninsula 

June 27 - June 30, 2016

The Kenai Peninsula is regarded by many as “Alaska’s Playground” and boy is this ever the truth.  The landscape and geography is stunning with a wall of Volcanic Mountains to the west, glaciers, rivers and lakes make up this gorgeous peninsula and FISHING is the Key word here.  Many travelers come to the Kenai loaded down with trailers equipped with smokers, freezers, canning essentials and sealer machines.  They plop themselves down on the Kenai river for the various salmon runs, whether it be the Red (sockeye), Silver or the King Salmon.  There are also the glacier lakes that run into the Cook Inlet and various bays along the peninsula.  Each of these Bays has adorable little communities that have grown around the fishing industry.  Really beautiful area.

Kenai River boardwalk

hiking along the Russian River

What makes this place so special for me is that my family lived here for a few years in the early 1960’s.  We lived in the city of Kenai.  My little sister, Rebecca was born in Anchorage as there was no hospital in the Kenai at that time, my mom had to travel one month prior to her due date to Anchorage to have her baby.  We also lived through the Earthquake of 1964, the biggest earthquake in North America!  My job (per my mom) was to try and find our “house” in the Kenai while I am here.  Not so easy!!!  The Army base where we lived is now a Men’s Prison and the military housing was all fenced off with no plans for the future.  Still drove around and took pictures for my mom - should bring some memories back for her.  This is why we are HERE today.  My father told Kevin so many wonderful stories about the Kenai and shared pictures and “tall tales” of his great fishing adventures.  This was our planned trip so many years ago with HIM…..didn’t work out as planned, but we are here now and do miss him so much.  He would have been very proud of our accomplishment and how much fun we have had enjoying this part of his world.  

Street to our old house (1964)

Soldatna is a quaint town which entire focus is on the Kenai River and the Salmon run.  There is a cannery (in which my mom worked!) and several fish packing companies which flash freeze and FedEx all your fish home.  It’s quite the fishing industry.  Kevin and a few friends went on a Chartered Fishing boat that took them on the Kenai river in which they FOUGHT the current and the strong salmon, but caught their limit and had a great day.

I was talked into the other option of a “Fly In.” Our Float Plane would take us out to the Volcanic Mountains and drop us off in a glacier valley.  We landed in the Big River Lakes, boarded a small boat with “DAN,” our exceptional fishing guide for the day.  Just the 4 of us ladies.  WOW.  Won’t even try to go into our day.  It was just great.  We had so much fun learning how to catch these big Sockeye’s.  Didn’t need the Aleve like the guys the day before….not as much struggling in the lake with Dan as they had in the river with waders!  Scenery was spectacular, great company and such a cool thing to take off in a float plane from a lake and land on a lake.  So much nicer than a runway.  Our pilot was super nice and took us over the Double Glacier that was dusted with Volcanic ash from a recent eruption of Mt. Redoubt (10,197 ft). We were super fortunate that we had a gorgeous day as today it is raining and giving us that typical “Alaska weather” of ?????  rain, clear, cloudy???  just never know what to expect.  But yesterday was GREAT.

Kenai River fishing

Off to Homer today.  Homer is located at the end of the Kenai Peninsula and is regarded as the Santa Barbara of Alaska?  hmmm.  shall see.

Dan, our fishing guide 

Bald Eagles - lots

The BEST day

Our catch !!! Sockeye Salmon 

from the air...the various colors of the water from the Glacier spill, pretty cool

Ultimate Reward!  What a feast we had that evening

Mt. Redoubt (10,197ft)

Glaciers, Waterfalls and so much GREEN!!!!

Bodie.  The amazing travelin' dog

Williwaw Forest Service Campground

Chugach National Forest, Chugach Mountains

Portage, Alaska
Seward Highway

Overheard in Palmer - "You know you're a redneck when you use the O in the STOP sign to sight your rifle scope."  Really all the signs seem to be shot up.  I asked a lady about this and she replied, "the winters are long honey."

All along the Seward Highway into the Kenai Peninsula are Forest Service campgrounds, part of the Chugach National Forest.  Don’t worry about reservations (get that California mentality of our your mind) and each site is stunning.  Waterfalls are abundant and line the mountain sides on both sides of the highway.  So green and so much water.  Oh is it ever going to be a shock coming home in August to dry and very brown foothills. 

Boy sometimes we are pretty lucky people. Today was that day.  This campground rocks! Never have we been in such an amazing campground that is solely FS!  From our site you can see waterfalls, the Middle Glacier (one of 6 glaciers in the Portage Valley.  We hiked all around the Trail of Blue Ice yesterday and this morning before leaving for Soldatna, we hiked to the base of the Byron Glacier.  Pretty cool.  

All along the Seward Highway and turning west on the Sterling Highway into the Kenai Peninsula are Forest Service campgrounds, part of the Chugach National Forest.  Don’t worry about reservations (get that California mentality of our your mind) and each site is stunning.  Waterfalls are abundant and line the mountain sides on both sides of the highway.  So green and so much water.  Oh is it ever going to be a shock coming home in August to dry and very brown foothills.

Byron Glacier

We are settled in at Soldatna.  Fishing nirvana right here along the Kenai River.  Quite a pretty drive in seeing all the fly fishermen standing alongside and in the river fishing Salmon.  The campground we are at is nice enough for being right in Soldatna.  It will do for our fishing adventures while we are here.  J and B put up their cocktail tent "mosquito tent" and we have a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle ready to go!  We'll see how we do on that.  Don't need any lights since it never gets dark.  

Portage Glacier- we took the 1 hour cruise to get close up to this big guy

Good example of how blue the ice is

Kevin showing his "avalanche" stance

Portage Valley - so many Glaciers