19 July 2017
Living at Johnson Lake State Park near Kasilof.
Yesterday was supposed to be our big fish charter trip to catch rock fish and salmon. Mother nature said “Nope”, not today. We got to the charter office at 0545 and Merry said she text me yesterday and this morning that the trip was canceled due to weather. But I have limited service on my Verizon, I did not get the text. So we headed back home and took a nap.
20 July 2017
This morning the weather was perfect. Of course, our “One day” fishing license” with King Salmon Stamp expired yesterday…. The sun kept peeking out from under the clouds so the first thing we did was walk. We do so enjoy our walks in the morning. As we were looping around the campground we saw a moose with her two calves. I look a couple of pictures with the phone and we left Mama cause she started looking at us and we did not want to get Mama angry when she was having breakfast.
George did some research (surprise, surprise) and there is a 14 mile scenic loop just north of Homer that takes you to the top of the mountain so you can overlook Homer and the bay. So that is the starting point for our day. The drive took us thru the little town of Nikolaevsk. Yep some more Russian influence. Parts of this little town looked like it had stood the test of time and other parts were very modern.
We saw a Baba (grandmother in Russian) tending the gardens in her babushka (scarf). The scenic drive started on blacktop and as we curved through the hills turned into a well maintained gravel road. Then we saw some highway workers were putting more gravel down and at one point George had to put the truck in 4 wheel drive to get down the road. Lots of fun! The view was awesome, but the sky was a little overcast and cloudy so we decided we will do this drive again when the sun is out in full bloom.
At the end of this road we decided to go into Homer since we were only ten miles away.
Homer is a small city on Kachemak Bay, on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. A population of about 7500 people and is known as The “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World ” and nicknamed “the end of the road.”
A focal point is the Homer Spit, a long strip of land (4.5 miles) with shops, art galleries, seafood restaurants and beaches with a lot of fishing boats docked at its harbor.
We stopped a the visitor center and got a city map. The view of the Homer Spit was breathtaking. The colors of the bay and the lighting was on point. George took a bunch of pictures. At the visitor center one of the workers said the Farmers Market was going on so we headed towards it. Unfortunately when we got there it was over so we headed to the “Spit”.
The Homer Spit is big enough to have three rv parks and even built some condos at the end of it. Kind of like Key West but much colder. Driving down the road we saw old boats, buoys and all kinds of neat nautical stuff that will be fun to photograph at a later date.
We grabbed a bite to eat at the Harbor Bar and grill and then walked around. The shops on the bay side are on stilts and we found a walkway to the beach. Now this isn’t your typical beach. The sand is black, we figure it is because of the black rocks, lots of flat black rocks and then in one area there were large rocks covered in barnacles. Hmmm… I found my first piece of sea glass. It was bright green so it was easy to spot. We walked along the shore for a good ways and decided we were going to come to stay for a couple of days after our stay at the Anchor Point State Park.
Normally when we explore we just kind of wing it and today was a good day of doing what we had planned and then the bonus was all of the other great stuff we got to see and do.
Interestingly, we have been at the “Beginning of the Road ” in Key West, and now we are at the “End o
f the Road” at “Lands End” in Homer. From one end of this great country to the other.
This “Long Scenic Drive” is just exceeding all of our expectations. We are so grateful.
