Labor Day, 2015

A Little Trip to Homer

We drove south to the seaside village of Homer last Friday, which is about 120 miles southwest of Anchorage. By road, the actual distance is 220 miles. Mountains are pesky things, you see; always getting in the way of roads and low-flying aircraft, too.

With Alaskan summers being so short, road construction must either happen all at once or be stretched over multiple summers. On this particular trip, there are construction zones from Indian (not far from where the highway south first runs along the Turnagain Arm, above) to Anchor Point, just north of Homer. The longest zone is 25 miles long. There are delays, tie-ups, and pilot vehicles involved. It's not pretty, but pretty tame when compared to big-city traffic.

Lots and lots of sitting still, like this.

Still, the delays added an hour to a drive that's already long enough. :)

The first view of Kachemak Bay

Getting into Homer is a descent from a high bluff along Cook Inlet, down to sea level. There's a nice lookout point/park along the highway, where you can get out, stretch your legs, and admire the view. If the skies are clear, and the air isn't hazy, you can see most of Kachemak Bay, a good bit of Cook Inlet, the Homer spit (below), and the volcanoes.

Didn't I mention the volcanoes?

Mt. Iliamna

Mt. Redoubt

Augustine and Mt. Iliamna are easily visible from Homer, and Mt. Redoubt is just a bit farther north. The last two are also much more easily seen from the highway as you head toward Homer.

Mt. Iliamna (left) and Mt. Redoubt (right)

For those who are interested, Augustine last erupted in 2006. Iliamna hasn't erupted since 1876, but Mt. Redoubt was naughty most recently in 2009. That one dumped a lot of ash on the entire Kenai Peninsula, and well up into the Mat-Su Borough north of Anchorage. Anchorage itself received only about 1/8" of ash from that week-long event. Homer got a lot more.

the Homer spit - a miles-long pile of rock and sand left behind by glacial activity, jutting out into Kachemak Bay

But I digress. I do that a lot. :)


So.

We stayed at a little inn on the coast, a mile or so west of the Spit. The land on which it sits is some 30 feet above the beach.

What beach, you ask?  This one:

It's a beach at low tide only, of course. Joggers, folks walking their dogs, and even a few people on horse-back traveled by while all that sand and rock was exposed.

But Reverend Paul, you ask, what's it look like at high tide?

Like this:

We ate at a number of different places, and really enjoyed the food at a few of them ... heh. Places like

The Duncan House Diner - fantastic breakfasts with home-made biscuits and gravy. Yum.

Inside the Duncan House Diner. The owner bears a reasonable resemblance to Sam Elliot. :)

Captain Pattie's, on the Spit. Wonderful seafood, all fresh-caught in Homer - of course. :)

 

All Hopped-Up Espresso, for great muffins and coffee.

Fat Olive's, which comes highly recommend. It doesn't look like much from the outside ...

but the pizza was really, really good.

So we drove the East End Road all the way to the head of Kachemak Bay - great scenery, with views of mountains, glaciers, and the Bay.

We visited several art galleries, looking for a picture that my wife has seen here and there. No one had it, but at least we got the name of the photographer.

But we got sunrises like this:

and plenty of mountains across the Bay.

It wasn't as relaxing a get-away as we'd hoped, but then not every long weekend will be a home run. We're glad we went, just the same.

It was good to sleep in our own bed last night. :)

Getting Out of Dodge

Not sure if I'll be posting over the next few days. We're heading south to beautiful town of Homer for a long-awaited/overdue break from the frenetic activity of the last couple of months.

There will be pictures. :)

No Posts For a Few Days

I will be traveling tomorrow, heading some 320 miles northeast to an Appleseed weekend in a village within hollering distance of the Yukon Territory.

Pictures? Yep, we'll take 'em.

Posting? Not before Tuesday, probably. Y'all play nice amongst yourselves ... and while you're at it, stop by my friends' sites, listed on the sidebar.

They've got this.



I'm so gone ... I wasn't even here.

Busy, Busy Weekend

Yesterday morning's unexpected snowfall (they said we'd get "less than an inch", and then warned it could be "three to six inches."

It was 16" at my house. (Since the local newspeople apparently don't do weekends, I've not seen any reports on an official total for Anchorage.) That ate up the first two hours of Saturday, when we typically do our grocery shopping. You know, before the reavers hit the stores.

After clearing snow & digging out the cars, we spent the next few hours investigating new living room furniture. We're downsizing, and wanted something along the lines of an extended loveseat with center console - cupholders and such - and a recliner. So that's what we wound up buying.

After that, I moved a bunch of things to the first floor. Then we watched a movie.

This morning, we moved the master bedroom to the first floor. The dresser & overstuffed mattress were a bit of a pain, but we got 'er done in a few hours. Then we moved the electronic piano downstairs to the newly-created guest room. I put my guitar & a small practice amp in the newly-created office where our bedroom used to be.

Things are starting to resemble what we've been dreaming about for several years. :)

Then I helped Older Daughter cut some carpet-to-tile transition strips for her new place, and assisted with nailing them in place. While I was doing that, my wife did the grocery shopping.

She's home now, planning a pasta dinner tonight, and the couch is calling our names. I think we're done ... for now.

The Long Weekend (Updated)

One of our local 'talking heads' said something this morning about "remembering the fallen and those who have served".

No.

Memorial Day (formerly known as Remembrance Day) is about those who died. "Those who have served" are remembered on Veterans' Day.

Yes, they're all worthy of veneration. But - for example - me living with a minor but permanent disability does not compare to giving one's life.

All I ask is that we live our lives in a manner worthy of those who gave their all, and not let their sacrifice have been in vain.

* * * * *

This will be the first weekend this month in which we haven't been either traveling or running like crazy to get everything done. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to some downtime.

Y'all be careful & stay safe.

Here Comes the Rain Again

It started raining again last night, a gentle dripping that filled the air with sound more like a lullaby than a storm. The sleeping was good; no children shouting outside into the wee morning hours; no skateboards clacking and banging on the asphalt as Baryshnikov-wannabes try and fail to make that one spectacular move they see in their heads. The one that their adolescent bodies cannot reproduce, as they fail to conceive that success comes only after countless hours of practice. But they try again, as hope springs eternal in those of that age: they know they'll live forever, and injuries only happen to other people - the unlucky, the subjects of "epic fail" and "faceplant" videos on YouTube.

The morning is still rainy and quiet. Only half-way through a holiday weekend, there's little traffic noise from the highway, as everyone who wanted to head south was on the road by 3 p.m. on Friday. Boats and RVs, pop-ups and tent campers, all headed to the Kenai Peninsula for the so-called last weekend of summer. I've been in Homer for holiday weekends, when the tents are set up on the beach so close together than you cannot walk between them. The guy ropes form an intricate lace pattern too uneven to allow passage.

How those folks can sleep, with nothing but two layers of nylon and a couple feet of air between them and the tent next door, is beyond me.

I like Homer - a lot - and the scenery of Kachemak Bay is nothing short of spectacular, but I prefer it when the tourists are elsewhere. Strolling the sands of the Spit in March is an amazing experience: the low waves rolling in, the bald eagles flocking in numbers too large to count, and the blue skies and mountains and frosty air are delectable.

Memorial Day & Labor Day weekends ... not so much.

No matter. It's supposed to rain most of the day, so our activities will take that into account. I like walking in the rain, too, so we'll see.

Have a great day, folks.