Oh what a beautiful........fire???

Good news/bad news. Isn't that always the case. Always a catch.

Good news: The sky has been clear, temperatures have been in the 60's and possibly hit 70-75 in the next couple of days. It really feels like summer. People are out and about and all with smiles from ear to ear. It is amazing what the sun can do for a persons disposition. It hasn't rained for about two weeks here and I am LOVIN it.....I think.....

Bad news: Yesterday evening, 8pm, sun still high in the sky. Ray and I are outside on lounge chairs reading magazines and soaking in the sun when a haze fills the air. Ray swears it is clouds, but I know better. It was smoke. As curious as I am (or as Ray says NOSY) I jumped into the car to go to the top of the hill to find out what was going on, and all we could see was "more smoke". Since Ray did spend some time with the Forest Fire control in NY, he puts the fire at about 30 miles away. We tried every radio station (that would be 3 on our dial) and no mention of the fire. When we awoke today, we saw the news. It is a devastating fire spreading towards Homer. What is worse is that they fear our electricity may be cut due to the path of the fire. They say if that happens, we could be out of power for a while......perhaps days.....that wouldn't be good.

In other news, since this blog seems to be about news, I decided to cut and paste some ACTUAL Police calls in Homer, Alaska. They publish these calls in the newspaper and generally they are pretty funny. Here are a few of my favorite from this past week.

**A woman at 8:07 a.m. reported her car was taken from the airport. The woman later discovered someone in her family had moved the car.

**A man at 6:03 p.m. reported another man had his hat he recently lost and would not give it back. The man called back later and said the man returned his hat.

**At 6:46 p.m. Thursday, a caller reported a female inside the Homer Public Library, monitoring a baby left in her vehicle with a hand-held monitor.

**A man at 4:30 p.m. came to the police station to ask about regulations regarding street juggling.

**A man at 1:27 a.m. reported three naked men standing around a bonfire on the Spit and refusing to get dressed.

**A man at 9:23 a.m. reported two older camp chairs stolen from their Spit campsite and replaced with a newer camp chair.

Now, mind you there are some "serious" calls to the police, but I found the ones that were pretty funny, and surprisingly, every week brings a new string of incidents, which are equally as funny. Almost worth getting the paper just to read the Police section. Hey if David Letterman's writers run out of things to laugh about, they don't have to look far in Homer.

Until next time, be well!

Halibut Cove

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day. The rain gods must have determined we were worthy of a day of sunshine, and BOY did it shine! We took advantage of the sun and took the Kachemak Ferry aka "Danny J" over to Halibut Cove.

Halibut Cove is a very small artsy town on a privately owned island. There are something like 35 year round residents that live here, the number goes to 250+ for the summer. From the looks of the homes, it looks to be a retreat for folks who may have a little bit of money. The homes and design on the island is beautiful. There are no roads, just walking paths, which keep the island quiet and serene. Plop that right in the middle of the state park with the sea, glaciers, mountains and wildlife, and I would consider Halibut Cove to be as close to Heaven on earth as you can get. There are 12 blocks of boardwalk for the public to enjoy with lots of artists shops and one restaurant.

We took full advantage and ate outside on the deck of the restaurant. The restaurant is called the Saltry after all of the herring fisheries that used to be here. At one time in the 1920's there were more than 1,000 people living here due to the fisheries. The restaurant has a beautiful deck area which is covered and a large fire pit keeps guests warm on cool days. They also have a neat touch pool with starfish and other interesting things from the sea to keep kids (and kids at heart) entertained.

We had the most perfect table overlooking the water and an unobstructed view of the area. Top that off with a dozen local oysters, fresh baked bread and a wonderful hand picked garden salad and that my friends is a great day!

I hope that this was just one of several trips we will be able to take over to this remarkable area.

No visit to Homer is complete without visiting this town, I still can't believe that we vacationed here for so long and never came to see it.

Other than this quick day trip, we have been working. The tourist season is starting to really gear up. Getting around town is almost impossible. I have resulted in doing my grocery shopping at 7am, because of the traffic (and that it is the ONLY grocery store in town).

Here are some more pictures for you all to see, we hope you are all well. Be in touch soon!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=civebgo7.1gumdiyj&Uy=-bk655v&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Rain Rain....GET THE #$@@@!!! OUT OF HERE!

Ok Ok, maybe a little dramatic for my title. But I swear it has been raining for 2 weeks straight. Not that light drizzly tolerable rain Alaska is known for, were talking full out downpours. Then just as it looks as if it going to clear, and the sky lifts ever so briefly, another storm comes in. Urgh! Well we haven't been letting the rain get us down too much as we are Alaskans now, and need to be TOUGH (yea right...). I can't believe it is June 4th and the green on the trees and grasses still have a ways to go. The lilac bushes still have no sign of new buds.



Ray and I both have new jobs. I am booking charters for tourists (fishing, kayaking, remote cabin rentals..etc..) I really like the job, but there is so much to know. I am excited to work with people to make their vacation memorable, plus the special perks Ray and I are able to get aren't bad either (wink wink). Ray is working maintenance at a resort called Land's End. The jury is still out if he is enjoying the job, so stay tuned. He does enjoy that every day brings different tasks and chores and that he is outside working a lot of the time. However, he works on the days I have off, and I work on the days he has off, so unless one of us quits our job, it looks as if travelling around Alaska this summer is completely out. I really don't like the sounds of that. We really wanted to get to Kodiak this summer and travel to Lake Clark. We also wanted to be able to do some serious fishing.

I LOVE beach walking, and on the last day we had together before we started our jobs, we went for a 5 hour walk on the beach in Anchor Point. It is the most westerly connected road travel you can get in the United States. As we were walking we noticed at least 100 or more Bald Eagles. Just everywhere. We were curious as to why they were in this particular spot, and we think we figured it out. As we were walking along the beach, we couldn't help but notice hundreds and hundreds of fish skeletons. We were asking ourselves "where did they come from?"...one quick look at the water determined our answer. The fish charters must be filleting the fish on the boat, then discarding the rest. They say this is recycling, and I suppose it is, but it doesn't seem exactly "natural" to me. Well while we were walking (and walking) I found a $10.00 bill wrapped in seaweed! Lucky me the Eagles had no interest in cash!

A few weeks ago we also had the Coast Guard come to Homer. It was neat to watch the helicopter circle and land on the spit (our boardwalk area). We were able to go up to it and talk with the guys and see inside it. So cool.

Here are some more photos for you to look at. We will be in touch..until then be well.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=civebgo7.1kgqkzzf&Uy=zezwar&Ux=0

Spring has Sprung!

The scent of cottonwood is just starting to make it's appearance here in Homer. It has an intoxicating sweet balsam scent, that I adore. I have often wondered why the scent was never captured as a perfume or essential oil. Perhaps a project to look into during the winter....

Here is a picture of the cottonwood tree....

Even though the calendar says "spring" the grass is just starting to turn green and small buds are arriving on the trees. It is certainly nice to start to see some green around town. The boarded up stores are starting to open up for business and people are slowly trickling into town.

We have extreme tides here in Alaska, and this past week we had severe minus tides, which are perfect for exposing clam beds! So we tried our hand at razor clam digging. It was a beautiful day on the beach, but because of a severe winter storm (that we found out about AFTER we tried clamming) a few years ago, the clamming has been difficult. We found several razor clams but they were too small to take home. We did find about a dozen ENORMOUS butter clams bigger than the size of my hand. All in all we came home with about 15 clams, which is a huge disappointment. Three years ago I remember razor clamming and getting our limit within a couple of hours (60 clams per person). Ahhh those were the days....

Yesterday we went to a small town called Seldovia. It is not connected to the road system which makes it a bit more remote. They were having a wood carving chainsaw festival. For those who know Ray, he loves wood, wood carvings and any type of crafting with wood. It was a fairly small festival, however, the carvings are beautiful. We spent the entire day walking around the town, hiking and chatting with the local folks. Seldovia is a beautiful small town with a more relaxed atmosphere than busy Homer. Most of the places in Seldovia have no running water and people rely on their neighbors. I like that type of lifestyle and wouldn't mind living like that for a bit, but Ray is dead against it. So running water and electric it shall be, for now......

Until next time, hoping you are all well.

Getting Settled

Hi again,

We are here, getting settled. Starting to feel more like home in our new place. We rented a very small (650 sq. feet) 1 bedroom apartment above a 2 car garage. It has an amazing view (pictured) and I can't ever imagine tiring of it. The past couple of weeks we have been trying to get everything in order. It has been non stop running around.

Homer is a very small town, which we like. The local grocery store is a place to shop and converse with everyone passing you in the aisles. The post office should consider serving draft beer because at all times there are at least 20 cars in the parking lot and at least that many people inside chatting and sharing pleasantries. We signed up for ACS cell service the other day and chatted with the sales woman who discussed our options. We chatted about our big move and she wished us luck. Then on Saturday we cruised garage sales and one of the sales was the woman from ACS. Strange.....

Another funny story (well to me anyway) was when we went to the DMV to change our drivers licenses. We thought they would just take our old ones and snap a new photo and away we go. Well, not exactly. After proving who you are, where you live, and chopping off your right arm, they make you take a test.....huh? a test???? well we decided to give it a try. It is 20 multiple choice questions...how bad could it be??? Ray was up first....he flunked at question 8 or 9....then it was my turn....surprisingly I pass on the first try (girl power). The nice DMV lady told Ray that he could come back tomorrow and try again. So the next day we came back and as soon as we walked in the woman shouted " HEY RAY, are you ready to take the test over again?". I was shocked that she remembered him. (ps. he passed with flying colors the second time)

We are also trying to get past the sticker shock of groceries and fresh produce. I paid 1.99 for ONE red pepper the other day and made darn sure that I used every last bit of it. A gallon of milk is 4.50, bag salad (small bag) is around 3.50. Gas is still relatively inexpensive to you all in the lower 48, as it is still under 3.00 a gallon in most places (2.89). Groceries are less expensive in a town called Soldotna which is 73 miles north of Homer. So we bought a trusty cooler and have made two trips already to save some money.

We plan to find some jobs in the near future, but now we are taking advantage of all of the "early bird" specials the resorts and small boats have for the "locals". Tonight we just returned from Seward. Another small harbor town on the other side of the Kenai Peninsula. (see map and disregard the lodge ad) We spent one night in Moose pass at the Trail Lake Lode which was a forgettable experience (Beth you were right). Then another night in Seward and a 4 hour whale watching cruise in Resurrection Bay. The cruise was nice but it absolutely POURED the entire time so I do not have any photos to share with you all. We did see some dall sheep and tons of eagles and a few humpback whales. I was numb and soaked by the time we were done with the cruise. The weather here can go from sunny and 65 to rain and wind and 40 in a matter of minutes. Which we experienced first hand. So if you haven't visited and plan on it, bring layers, lots of layers!

Here are some photos for you to see. I hope it works for you all! Talk to you soon!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=civebgo7.6aogcm03&Uy=uw0yo8&Ux=1

May 2, 2007
ARRIVAL!

We arrived in Anchorage Sunday afternoon to a big beautiful sun filled sky. Temperatures in the 50's. Most of the people around town are locals and wearing t shirts and shorts which I find amusing. They say that it is above average in temperature this week.
Finding a car to buy was an experience. No one was pushy or annoying as you would expect. We visited approximately 15 lots and found the people to be so pleasant and happy to talk with us. We finally settled on a car that we couldn't even see or drive as it was in Soldotna (3 hours away). They drove the car up on Monday night for us and we drove it away within 10 minutes. A personal check and a handshake promise to get insurance gets you a car in Alaska. Pretty funny. In any event we LOVE the car it is a 2001 Audi Allwheel wagon. I like the fact that it is a wagon. It has the suspension control so you can lift the car up with a touch of a button. There are some other great features that we are still finding as we drive it. Plus it has a Bose system (very nice).

May 2, 2007

We have been in Anchorage for 3 days and our car is literally packed so tight we HAVE to go to Homer. We bought a tv, vacuum and kitchen items to fill our apartment. All in all I think that we have spent more than we anticipated so far even though we are buying modest items. Add that Ray has the WORST cold ever (the last time he had a cold was 6 years ago) and he is a little grumpy.....:)

So off we go this morning to see our new place. I will take pictures along the drive to share with you all. It should take us 5 1/2 hours in total today, but we plan on stopping and taking in the sights. I just LOVE the drive from Anchorage to Homer. With the sea and the mountains and the smell of the salt air, it is truly a remarkable drive. Be in touch soon with you all!

Here is a link of Homer for those of you who may not have seen it, click on webcams.

Hallo Bay Bear Viewing and Adventure