June 21, 2012 – Ocean View RV Park, Homer, AK

We drove about 1 ½ hours to Homer this morning. We had spectacular views on much of the drive. Homer is at the bottom of a peninsula and is surrounded by mountains on 1 side and the Kachemak Bay on the other sides. We drove down the Sterling Highway which ran along the edge of Cook Inlet, across the inlet there were glistening snow-capped mountains on an uninhabited section of Alaska. The snow covered mountains included four volcanoes and numerous glaciers.

One of the volcanoes we saw on the drive.

View out of our window.

After setting up the camper, we drove around town a little and went down on the spit which is a narrow strip of land that sticks out into the Bay. We got out and walked on the beach with the dogs for a while. There were several fishermen on the shore. They were catching Flounder and Dolly Varden (similar to trout). One guy who was fishing with his wife and little boy said he was getting tired of catching so many fish. He said he would barely get his line in the water and would feel a tug. We saw a couple of bald Eagles looking regal as they surveyed the water looking for fish.

Eagle

Walk on the beach

We brought the dogs back to the camper and ate a bit of lunch before going back to look at some of the numerous little shops along the spit. Scattered among the souvenir and clothing shops, there were a number of buildings which housed charter fishing businesses. We watched as one group returned with their catch and proceeded to clean it. The business will clean and freeze the fish as part of their services. We then wandered in and out of the various shops for a while, then ate an early supper in one of the restaurants. Larry had fried halibut and I had grilled salmon. It was all very delicious.

Shops on the Homer Spit

Today is the summer solstice which makes this the longest day of the year. We have come quite a way south from Fairbanks, so we don’t have quite as much sunlight as they have there. I doubt that it will get very dark at all there tonight. The sunrise here is about 4:46 am and sunset is about 11:30. Figure almost a couple of hours of twilight beyond those times and we will have, maybe, 1 ½ to 2 hours of darkness tonight. I had made some black out curtains for our bedroom a few years ago, so we are able to keep our bedroom fairly dark, but it always looks like there is a light left on out in the living room area.