Thursday, July 16, 2015

Two Weeks in Homer--Part Three

Saturday, July 4th dawned as a cool, cloudy day with rain forecast for the entire day. The plan was for all the Boomers in the Homer area to get together for a 4th of July potluck. The gathering place was Larry and Connie's rig. As with any Boomer get together (often called a Boomerang), there was plenty to eat and drink. The rain arrived and we all stayed in Larry and Connie's rig talking about our adventures in Alaska and other places. The weather cleared in the evening and Larry got us all outside for a dronie picture.

 Larry also took an aerial photo of Mariner Campground with all the rigs staying for 4th of July. The campground cleared out on Monday and very few of the rigs were left.
Sunday we took a drive to the end of Kachemak Bay.  There was a steep dirt road at the end of the bay that we drove down to get to the beach. No, we weren't in the Honda, we were in Larry's jeep. We had a fantastic view of  Grewlingk Glacier and the bay when it was low tide.
As you can tell, it was a cloudy day and threatened rain for most of the day. We returned to Homer, did some last minute shopping at Safeway, then went back to the rigs.

Monday, we all drove to Ninilchik to check out the Russian church and do some sightseeing. These boats belong to a Cooper River fishing company. They can only get out of the marina at high tide. Notice how they are all tied together--no one can come or go as they please!
As we drove the road near the beach, we saw a lot of eagles. This is one of the young bald eagles we saw.
Then it was on to the Russian Orthodox church. Connie's dad told her she needed to visit it to see the grave with all the fish hooks that is behind the church.
 Well, the cemetery is overgrown and has a few very narrow walking paths, but we couldn't find the grave with the fish hooks.
 The church is in the process of being painted and the windows were covered to protect them from paint.
We stopped at the visitor center and the gentlemen running it recommended we stop at a nearby fish weir where the salmon are counted and the eggs are harvested. We found the fish weir, but there were no people or salmon anywhere near so we returned to Homer.

Tuesday would be our last day in Homer. Bob and I wanted to get in one more hike so we chose to hike Homestead Trail. The trail was nice and had a lot of boardwalks to get across areas of spongy ground.
 As far as we could tell, this was the homestead gave the trail its name. There was no way to get to the dilapidated house.
 At the top of the trail there was a bench dedicated to Homer's 'Walker,' Reuben Call.
The sign beyond the bench gives directions to one of the local roads.

 The bench also gave us an opportunity for a picture together. That is Kachemak Bay in the background.
 In the winter when there is enough snow, the boardwalk trails are snowshoe trails.
 Wednesday was a travel day. Time to head back toward Anchorage to continue our trip north to Fairbanks and Denali!

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