Homer to Seward

We left the cold shores of Homer and headed to Seward.

  The Kenai Peninsula has the most roads in Alaska so it's possible to see quite a bit of it.

I think this is Mt. Turnabout, a volcano that is part of the Aleutian Chain, called the Ring of Fire.  We didn't have to go clear north to Anchorage, we turned off at Cooper Landing (a gas station and a restaurant) and headed south again.

Along the way we found a nice campground.  It was too early in the day to camp but we enjoyed a very scenic lunch.

It's rare when I like a picture of me, but I like this one.

If you take the train from Anchorage to Whittier, you'll see scenes like this too.

The girls and I thought this was a funny thing to do. Gary was less amused but he took the picture anyway.

Of course we had to stop and visit Exit Glacier.

It's possible to get very close to this glacier.  The wind that came off it was impressive and cold.

Mako's Water Taxi Ride

We spent the morning walking around Homer and going in to shops that were open.  Still early in the season, there were a lot of stores still closed.

We visited the Pratt Museum, just an awesome little place full of interesting displays about the area.  There was a webcam of a place called Gull Island.  Anyone could use the joystick to zoom in on the birds.  We decided we wanted to see it.

We booked an excursion for later in the day.  It was quite chilly on the water so we bundled up.

Our boat guide was most gracious, willing to stop and let us look at the things we were interested in seeing.

Kachemak Bay is stunning, especially wonderful to see in a small boat.

Our guide has spent many years out on the water and knew how to skirt the rocks below.

Gull Island is home to 8 species of birds, gulls, kittiwakes, cormorants, puffins, murres, pigeons and more.  I've never seen so many birds in one place.

In addition there were sea otters, just about the cutest critters on the planet.  The females had just given birth to their young.  They float on their backs with the babies perched on their tummies.  When an eagle flies over looking for lunch, they roll over and dive into the water to protect the young.  We saw it happen and it was so cool!

Alfred Hitchcock had nothin' on this batch of birds!

This male otter was on his own, just enjoying himself.

That was My World on May 24, 2010 and what a wonderful day it was!

Bald Eagles

I was sitting in the motor home waiting to go on a water taxi trip when my husband came in and said there were two eagles sitting on the beach.  I grabbed my camera and headed out.

The wind was blowing pretty hard.  When I looked at my camera I realized I had the polarizing filter on and the pictures were dark.  Once I took the filter off they cleared up and the focus improved.

I kept creeping closer to get better shots.

Then of course they took off,

but not before grabbing some nest building materials.

I've seen eagles before but never have I seen them do this.

It was very exciting to watch.

Homer

This is not a sign I'm accustomed to seeing.  I couldn't help but wonder if a tsunami was coming if the residents would be able to get to higher ground in time.  I never did ask anyone who lives in Homer.

Does this thing even float?  The road was cluttered with all kinds of old boats.

We made reservations at a campground but when we arrived discovered we were one of four campers.  It really was early in the season!  We took a nice walk on the beach.

I love the combination of sand, water and mountains.

What's not to like?  (Except maybe winter here.)

But, as we discovered later that night, we had entered the Land of the Midnight Sun.  It never got dark, we couldn't see stars, it was sort of a dusky kind of night for the rest of our stay.  It was weird to be sitting in the camper at 10:00 p.m. in broad daylight!

Kenai Peninsula and Soldotna

This is our Chalet, 32' long (9.75m) with two slideouts.  It felt quite spacious and comfortable.

After leaving Portage Glacier we headed west to the Kenai (keen-eye) Peninsula and Homer.  This region is exceptionally accessible by Alaska standards.  Our destination that day was Homer.  Of course we had to stop along the way.

We are here!  After months of dreaming and planning, we stopped for a traditional tourist shot.

There are a lot of stairs and boardwalks along the Kenai River.  Fishing is the major attraction but we didn't fish--too many places, so little time.

Someone else caught a big one.

Can you imagine fishing in a big wooden boat?  No high tech here.