7/31/13: Homer

Another early, yet beautiful morning in Homer.  Rick was up and off to the marina by 6:00am for his second day of Halibut fishing with his favorite charter company out of Homer.  The three of us stayed at camp and tried to plan out our last full day in Homer.  Brayden had not gone to many of the shops yet and desperately wanted to find one thing:  a hooded sweatshirt that said "Homer, AK" on it...  Do you think that we could find one in his size???!!!  NO!!  Everything was toooo big or toooo small -- poor guy.  He was kinda of sad, but rebounded just fine.  

After looking all over for a sweatshirt, we decided to walk back to camp via the beach and go on an agate hunt.  Kailey was the lucky agate finder today -- believe it or not she found it in the parking lot!!  Crazy for sure, but we will take it!!  Then it was back to the trailer for lunch.  While we were eating lunch, I noticed something that appeared to be a really long line of logs floating by.. we got out the binoculars and realized that it was actually a ton of Sea Lions that were in a line!!  It was really cool.  They would float so far down and then break formation and swim back up stream and start all over again!  Really fun to see them playing in the water with one another!

Before we knew it Rick was calling to let me know that he would be back to the dock shortly with another load of Halibut -- yay!!  I went down and gladly picked him up.  He once again got his limit on halibut and would be busy vacu-sealing the fillets for awhile.  While he did that, Kailey and I took Bo out for a beach walk (and more agate hunting).  We came back to camp to find "Story Time with Rick" (as Kailey called it)...  We had new neighbors and they were all gathered around Rick chatting away about, shocking...  fishing!  Ha!!  As it turns out the neighbors were on a family reunion adventure that included sisters & brothers (and all their kids) that were traveling around Alaska for a week this summer.  The kids lived all over the USA and flew into Anchorage to meet up.  They were sooo nice and had kids that were the same age as our kids.... needless to say, they all hit it off and took off to the fishing hole right behind our camps.  Kailey hit it off with the older daughter, Liz and they just had a great time visiting all night!  Rick who was up really early went off to bed and the kids and I joined them at there camp for s'mores and more visiting.  We were able to see a bald eagle fly right over our heads at camp and land on a light post right across the way from us... we all walked over and got a REALLY close picture of it.  After the eagle fun, it was back to there camp for more visiting...  The sisters of the group and myself sat around the fire and talked away, while the kids fished.  In Alaska, during the summer, it doesn't get dark until VERY late... ha!  Well, before I knew it -- it was VERY late and actually getting dark!  Um, yes myself and the kids were all still up playing!!!  We all decided to let the fire go out and headed off to bed.  Needless to say, it was a VERY early morning!!  :) An early morning that would include packing up and heading back to Soldotna!!  Ahhhh!!  Oh well, it was worth it - we had such a fun evening with our new friends!

Cool shot with Kailey's camera that is black/white&color:

The Sea Lion log-boom:

Eagle at camp:

Cool fishing boat off of camp:

7/30/13: Homer

So, today the guys were up again at 0530am to get ready for their big day on the charter.  With lunches already packed, they were quickly ready to take off to the marina.  Another beautiful day here in Homer, so we were all hopeful that that would mean they would able to stay out today and get some Halibut!!  They left around 0600am and walked to the marina to find out they were all a-go for today... hopefully when they got out the fishing ground the weather (and water) would agree....  They left the dock and rode out about 20 miles to the fishing area.  The water was still a bit choppy today, but the captain said it would be ok and they were fishing before they knew it.   Um, choppy it was, and my poor baby boy was sea sick and barfing before he knew it.  Poor guy!  The cool thing is that barfing or not, Brady had the first "fish on" and pulled in his first ever Halibut!!!!  YAY!!!  The rest of the day proceeded to be more catching of Halibut and before I knew it I was getting a text at 1:30pm letting me know they were on the way back and would need a ride from the dock because they had a ton of meat to haul back to camp!  Yay again!!  Unfortunately, Brady got sick again on the way back in to port and was barfing once again...  This time he fell asleep and got some rest before being back at port.

KK and I spent the day exploring the upper half of Homer and then stopping off at Safeway for a few groceries.  We didn't find to many things, but had fun looking around town.  I just LOVE Homer and so it was neat to see more of it this time.  We just made it back to camp when I got the text from Rick that they were back -- off to the Marina I went.  They had quite a bit of Halibut meat, which is always a welcome!!!  Back at camp Rick vacu-sealed the meat and then got it all in the freezer.  

Tonight was the night we decided that we would be going to our FAVORITE Finn's Pizza!  I tell ya, if you are ever in Homer, AK --- you MUST got to Finn's Pizza!  After ordering we were able to get an outside beach table and enjoy the scenery while we waited for the excellence!  One of the charter boat had just come in and the deck boys were filleting the meat up just down from us.  Rick and the kids went to watch while I made sure our table was saved and watched from there.  The size of these fish was absolutely amazing!  Seriously, they were HUGE!  It was amazing to see how FAST those guys cut up the fish and were on to the next one!!  Pure skill for sure.  Before we knew it, pizza arrived.  We stuffed ourselves silly with pizza and then rolled back to camp,

We enjoyed the rest of the evening around a campfire.  Then it was time to prep a bag for Rick (he is going on another Halibut Charter tomorrow) and the BED!  

Sunrise in Homer:

Lines are out and BB has the first "Fish on":

Ohhhh Yeah!!!!!:

Poor baby:

Awake and feeling better:

Finn's baby:

Watching the guys clean the fish:

Agate hunting with Bo and KK:

Camp:

7/29/13: Homer

Today we again woke to sunshine, what a blessing for Rick and Brady's charter today.  The alarm went off at 0530am and Rick was quickly up and at em... Brady was not far behind him.  Before I knew it, they were off to the marina.  

Kailey and I had plans of shopping on the Spit and just enjoying Homer.  I let her sleep in (and that she did not waking up until 0830am -- which for the early bird of the family, is LATE).  After showers and breakfast we were just planning our day when I got a text from Rick that they were coming back to port... it was terribly choppy out where they were and the captain called it and they were coming back -- but would get to go out tomorrow instead.  So, since they were close, we girls decided to wait at camp until they came back.  Glad we did, as the little boy of the house was "starving" -- he continued to eat 5 scrambled eggs and then told me he was "ok" -- oh man, I think he is growing again.  I had a fire going outside and at camp it was completely calm, so the boys took a nap and us girls read in our books for a couple hours.  When they woke up we were ready to head out and they were thinking they wanted to fish at the end of the spit -- perfect!  They dropped up off at the spit and continued down the road to fish from there.  It was a great day of shopping with my favorite girl.  The guys had no luck, so they decided to head back to camp and fish the "fishing hole" off of camp instead -- us girls would walk back to camp.

After shopping, the wind totally picked up and KK and I walked (and froze) back to camp -- seriously, it was BLOWING!!  I shouldn't have been shocked, yet I was?!!??  Anyhoo, back at camp we chill-axed and after another nap by the boys (it was a very early morning) Rick though he wanted to go down to the spit and get a hat and shirt he had spotted the day before.  The kids didn't want to come, so off to the spit we walked (about a half mile) --- leaving KK in charge and Bo on protection duty while we were down there (they were watching a movie in the locked camper with Bo, we were not to worried).

At the spit Rick quickly found his hat and shirt that he wanted and we decided to watch the men at the docks cut fish from one of the charters.  Wow, couldn't believe it -- there was a 180lb & 110lb halibut that was being weighed... and a HUGE Lingcod!  What I wouldn't have given to bring that home to freeze!!  It was fun to see them weigh them and fillet them up really quick!  Then we went into the Salty Dawg Saloon that was next door to hang a $1 bill with our family "signature" on it.  If you don't know already, the Salty Dawg is famous for the inside being covered with $1 bills that people have signed.. it was fun to do that!  Now, we are on the walls forever!!  Now, back to camp.  Found the kiddosjust finishing   their movie -- perfect!!  Now it was time to get dinner going and relax at camp the rest of the evening.. oh and fish if we wanted too....  :)

Sunrise in Homer:

My favorite boys on the boat heading out:

On the boat:

Walking back to camp:

Rick's BIG halibut he caught at the end of the road:

The BIG 180 & 110 pound halibuts:

Rick and I at the Salty Dawg:

Our $$:

View of sign from camp:

7/28/13: Homer

Today we again woke to sunshine!!  The downfall to being right on the ocean, we are having fog that rolls in daily as well.  Sometimes it is in the morning, sometimes the evening and then sometimes both -- but again, we are in Homer -- so let it snow if it wants to, we will be smiling!  

So, today we headed up to the Islands & Ocean Visitor Center.  This is a really cool center that is full of everything ocean and islands!  Ha!!  No seriously, it was great!  We did the tourist thing and watched a video about Kachemak Bay and saw many exhibits about the marine wildlife in the area.  They have some rangers on hand that you can go on a tide pool walk.  The tide was out, so that was not an option, but the exhibits were great!  After that, we re-supplied at Safeway and then headed back to camp and made a fire.  The fog was rolling in and we wanted to stay warm for the rest of the afternoon.

After dinner, we walked down to the marina and drooled, I mean looked, at boats.  It was a beautiful evening and we wanted to get an evening Bo walk in and find the charter boat for the guys.  I spotted a boat that made me be reminded that my wonderful Grandma is with me everywhere I go (picture below) -- it made me and KK smile.  After walking the marina awhile it was time to head for home and pack up a bunch of goodies for the boys, as they will be gone all day tomorrow fishing for Halibut.

Another great day here in Homer!!

A welcome sign at the spit:

I miss you G'ma:

Reading time:

Bo is tired:

 

7/27/13: Homer

Well, we woke to SUNSHINE today!!  Yay!!  Rick walked Bo and saw that the site we were moving to was already available, so we made quick work of breaking down our current camp and moving on down to the new site for the next week.  All worked out and we are now enjoying Homer.  The boys are planning on doing a Halibut charter on  the 29th and then Rick again on the 31st, so we had a few days to explore together.  

After lunch we headed down the spit to checkout the shops and just look around.  As always, it was much fun!  We were happy to see that all of our favorite places were still there and open for business too.  The Homer Spit is literally where the road ends, it gorgeous and where we are camped we literally have the ocean water on both sides of us and mountains that surround us!  We love it here and are just really enjoying it so much! 

After some shopping, we headed back to camp to get a fire going and Brady and Rick wanted to fish in the "Fishing Hole" -- I just realized that I didn't really explain the hole either.  The fishing hole is a man made lake of sorts that is fed solely by the tides of the bay.  So, fish of all types can swim in the hole on a high tide and then when the tide goes out they either go out with it or they hang in the hole until the tide comes back in.  The water levels are high on both low and high tide, but on the low tide there is not enough water for them to get out, so they swim around in the hole.  We have even seen seals in the hole on high tide eating the salmon.  Brady loves that he can grab is pole and literally go right off camp and be fishing for salmon.  I love that I can see him and he can hear me call his name too ;)

So, the boys fished and KK, Bo and I did some agate hunting on the beach off camp.  We were unsuccessful ---  ho-hum!  We found lots of other cool rocks though to add to our beach bowl at home.

After that it was just sockeye dinner and a campfire until bed!  Ahhh...  I will never get tired of this life!!!

OUr new camp with the fishing hole in the back, right off camp:

Yep, it is BRIGHT!

Another view from camp:

Our girl:

Mr. Eagle (with KK's camera we zoomed in on him from camp- he was far away!)

7/26/13: Soldotna to Homer

Woke to steady rain this morning here in Soldotna..  That steady rain seems to have made the mosquitos multiply over night -- ugh!!  We packed up in no time and were off to the best little town in Alaska!!

On our rainy drive down we came across a bull moose eating on some grass on the side of the highway.  It was nice to see a bull, as we have been seeing a lot of momma's.  Since we were so excited to get to Homer, it felt like the 70 mile drive took FOREVER!!!  We have not been traveling in quite a few days/weeks since setting up camp in Soldotna, so that could've added to the feeling of driving on and on.  The rain followed us to Homer, but hey... we are in Homer and it could be hailing and I would still be happy!

We are staying at the same RV resort that we stayed at last time.  We didnt make reservations, but were very lucky to get a beachfront site for at least one night.  There would be a caravan of travelers checking in the next day and we would need to move.  It all worked out just fine though, because we got the beachfront site the first night and then we have been at a camp site right on the "fishing hole" the whole rest of the time (which is where we were hoping to be.  So, all is dandy!  

We got camp all set up and then played on the beach in the mist and fog most of the rest of the day -- oh and did laundry!

Mr. Moose:

Welcome to Homer:

Our camp on the beach:

Kids found a log and made a teeter-totter:

Bo got some much needed ball time:

Sand writing:

Not sure, brother/sister love?!:

My adorable husband:

Brady at the fishing hole:

Campfire: