June 28, 2010

Left Creek-side as soon as we could. Hit the road south. A pleasant drive. We stopped along the way to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. Stopped at Summit Lake for lunch. We had eaten there before and the food was still good. Continued on and arrived at Ninilchik and found the State Recreation Campground we were looking for. It has about 40 campsites and only 3 were occupied. After Creek-side this is absolute paradise. We are dry camping. Using headlamps to read by and the battery, that I had to take care of with the fuse, powers the fan for the propane furnace. No internet here. Lots of mosquitoes though. Had a simple supper, built a campfire, roasted marshmallows. How could life be better?

June 29, 2010

Had breakfast and left for Homer. Just outside the campground is an Russian Orthodox Church which is open to the public. We had never seen one before and did not want to pass it by. This is a small church that was established in the 1800's and was located down in the village. In 1907 a new church was built in it's present location and is still active. We learned that the churches are always facing the east. The parishioners, minister and deacons all stand. The church had lots of ornamentation and pictures of it's saints. The minister was there and let us take pictures of the inside of the church, himself and the outside of the church.

We arrived in Homer itself. Homer was named after the Con Man who founded it. He established Gold Mines (that were virtually worthless) and sold shares in them to wealthy Eastern Investors.

Most of the real action takes place on Homer Spit. We drove out to Lands End and saw all these people fishing. We had planned on sending Joyce out on a Halibut boat but when she saw this she wanted to bank fish. We decided to buy her a license for the next day. Home Spit is crowded with automobile, trucks and RVs. By the number I expected to see mobs of people. They must have been on boats fishing or something because the number of people around did not fit the number of vehicles.

Stopped at Safeway and got Joyce's one day fishing license which cost 20 dollars and a King Salmon stamp for another 10. Other than bait she was ready.

June 30, 2010

Up after a fine nights sleep. Headed to Homer and some fishing. Stopped and got bait, some proper sized hooks and a 3 ounce sinker(which she lost on the first cast). Joyce spent the morning catching fish with me sitting in my chair watching and just chilling out. The action was good. She lost track of how many she had caught, but we kept the first one for dinner. Went and had lunch and came back for more fishing. And that was what she did, all fishing and no catching. Even though she was frustrated for the afternoon it had been a good day. The pollock tasted good for supper tonight.

Another campfire and marshmallow roast. We have decided to now make the turn to come home. We have been on the road almost 9 weeks and while Joyce would be willing to stay out longer, I am ready. I figure it will take us 3 to 4 weeks to get back. We want to visit Joyce's college room mate in Toledo, and the Carls in Cincinnati. I plan to get down thru Canada as quickly as possible. I am tired of $3.69 gas in Alaska and $4.00+ in Canada. Plan to take a northern route over to near Duluth, swing in to Canada and come down thru Michigan, which was my mother's birthplace. We have almost 5,000 miles to cover to get home. We have driven 10,000 so far.

July 1, 2010

We are now in Palmer Alaska about 40 miles from Anchorage. An uneventful day traveling. In a commercial RV park tonight with electricity, water, showers and Laundromat. The temperature is pleasant, the sky is blue and the sun is shining. No idea when it will set, but it will be late.

Tomorrow we head toward Tok. We have decided to take somewhat of a side trip to Chicken Alaska. We always joke about it's name so we thought it appropriate that we go there. This will send us north and then back to the Alaska Highway.