Day 27

We ventured to Homer, about 60 miles south of where we're staying. It was still cloudy and rainy but we figured if we sat around waiting for sunshine, we'd never get to Homer. We stopped at the little town of Ninilchik where the big point of interest is an old Russian Orthodox Church and Jan took pictures (in the rain).

A couple of our books cited a "must see" photo opportunity right before entering Homer and we were anticipating a great view. Once again, no view, too many clouds.

Our first stop was the Visitor's Center to get information on things to see and do. The woman we spoke to gave us a map of the city and pointed out 2 scenic drives with views of the city. But, the first place she sent us was right down the street where there was an eagle's nest in an old dead tree. It was right by the road! We were probably there for 45 minutes watching them and taking pictures. We even saw a little fuzzy head pop up a couple of times.

After a short drive around Homer, we went to Homer Spit (a peninsula that juts out into Kachemak Bay). The entire "spit" was packed with people, tents, RVs & boats - we couldn't even find a parking place because it was so crowded. We were told it's only like that on the 3 summer holiday weekends. We were meeting Jerry & Nancy for lunch and, fortunately, it's not as crowded at Lands End where there was a nice restaurant. We sat by a window that looked out over the Bay and were entertained by the people fishing. One little guy was about 5, had his fishing pole and waders, and actually caught some fish. He was very cute and we got a kick out of watching him. Jerry visited with the boy's dad and they are originally from Window Rock.

After lunch we went back to Homer and went to a gift shop and bakery (we NEEDED brownies & lemon bars). We decided to check out a beach near the bakery and found two more eagles just sitting in a tree by the parking lot. After that, since it wasn't raining and the clouds had let up a bit, we went back to the "must see" viewpoint. There were still clouds but Jan got a few pictures.

We didn't want to head back to the trailer so we drove back to Homer Spit and did some browsing in the shops on the Boardwalk. While we were there, Jan started talking to a man who owns a fishing charter and it turned out that he and his wife went to Moon Valley High School. Small world.

Homer Spit is the end of the only continuous highway in the US (Jan read that in one of our books)- it goes from Key West to Homer. This weekend was the finish of a motorcycle rally that started in Key West and ended here. We understand there were 800 riders and they paid $1000 each to participate in it. Jan visited with one of the riders - he's from Manitoba and is 69 years old. He had to ride from Manitoba to Key West to even start the ride.

Then a miracle happened - the sun came out! We jumped in the truck and re-visited the scenic drives that weren't very scenic earlier in the day and Jan finally got the pictures he wanted.

The last excitement of the day was that we got to see and take good pictures of a moose! It was right by the road! Jan saw one yesterday on his bike ride but didn't have a camera. It dawned on him later that he did have a cell phone - that's the second time he's done that.