Home on the Homer Spit for Five Days

This is Peter commenting while the youngins are catching up on their z's.  

After 14 days of pounding out the miles it is time to luxuriate in the beauty of Homer, Alaska.  We are staying with Cindy Detrow, a childhood friend of Anna's.  Her home overlooks the bay south of Homer.  We could not have asked for a better hostess, nor for a better view!  I am sitting in her study as I write overlooking the bay south of Homer with a huge glacier in the distance.

We have no specific plans for the next few days, but a few of the options that we are entertaining are as follows:

1.    Thomas would like to take a sea-taxi and hike up to the glacier.  He will definitely be taking his bear mace with him.  We’ve informed him repeatedly that the mace is to be sprayed at the bear to keep him from charging, not to be sprayed on yourself to make you unappealing to the bear!

2.    We’ve heard numerous rumors that there are streams in the area where the spawning salmon as so thick that one can run across the stream, dancing on the backs of the salmon, and like Peter of old, truly “walk on water”.  We want to see if that is urban legend, or if it can actually be done!

3.    The Homer Spit protrudes five miles out into the bay, at the end of which there are hundreds of boats, a boat graveyard, a hotel, condos, and numerous things to see and do. (One of the boats from “The Deadliest Catch” – the one with the skull and cross bones – is anchored out there and we are considering getting a picture of it). Anna and I are considering renting bikes and pedaling out there while Thomas will take his road bike and take on a more serious biking challenge.  (We saw a tobacco store in town and chuckled at the name of it – “Homer Spit Tobacco”!)

4.    Trolling for steelhead salmon in the bay is high on the list.  We were told you fish in the bay, because once they start heading up stream they are preparing to spawn, and their bodies have already started to decay.  Bear may not care, but apparently we have more discriminating tastes than bears.

5.    The only way to get anywhere out here is by seaplane.  Going on a birding expedition, or a more general wildlife tour are a couple of options.

6.    Fishing for halibut is perhaps the most popular fishing sport for this time of year.  We’ll look into that.  There are full day options or half day, and they guarantee a catch!

7.    On Wednesday Anna will fly with Cindy to a remote island south of Homer to accompany Cindy in her assignments as a speech pathologist with the Alaska school system (weather permitting).

8.    And high on the list for all of us is just chilling.

Saturday we head back to Anchorage.  Anna flies home at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday.  Thomas and I will spend a couple more days in the Great White North before we start to head south.  We have yet to determine our route – but we have a number of options we are considering, not the least of which is the Cassiar Highway, which caused us all that grief a week ago!