More from Homer, Alaska

 Homer was awesome..  The pictures above were taken on the Spit.  It is a strip of land 5 miles long that extends off Homer and is just wide enough for a row of restaurant's and shops on each side of the road.  There is a campground and fishing charters and marinas too. You would think high tide would wash it away it is so narrow.  It was very unique.  The last picture is the Spit as we were looking down at it from on top a mountain.

John went deep sea fishing for Halibut.  The sea was too rough, so the trip was cut short and only two fish were caught on his charter.  No boats went out the rest of the time we were there.

We became good friends with the couple from Missouri, John and Sue. They were camping beside us.  They were working as volunteers for the season at the Marine and Wildlife Science Center.  Not only did we enjoy their company and use the good information they shared with us, they shared some halibut and salmon with us.  We have been blessed to have met so many wonderful people on this trip.

This was taken on the tip of the Spit.  At one that was all iced over.  When the ice melted it created a Fjord.   A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by ice segregation and abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound, which is this water between the mountains.  All I have to say about that is the beauty is amazing.

This is taken from our campground in Homer.  The snow in between the mountains is a glacier.  During our nine days there the glaciers melted significantly.  It has been unusually warm this summer in Alaska.  I call it perfect weather, in the 60's and 70's.  We have had beautiful weather except in Denali.

This is a hiking trail through wild flowers.  It was high above Homer and you can see the glaciers behind Boone.  We were getting up there with them if you know what I mean. You wouldn't believe some of the roads we had drive to get to these places.

We learned that the white flowers, Northern Yarrows, in the background can burn and cause very painful blisters if you come in contact with their sap.  They use to be used for medicine during wars.

By the way, if you click on the pictures you can enlarge them.

The next stop was Soldotna for the sole purpose of catching Salmon.  Soldotna is on the Kenai Peninsula and the Kenai River runs through there.  It is the salmon fishing mecca of Alaska.  My problem with the idea of John salmon fishing was that the river was wide, deep, cold and very swift.  One missed step and you are gone.   But he put on his waders and went three different times.  I am sorry to say John did not catch a salmon but other fishermen didn't either.  Commerical fishermen had been up steam and cleaned them out, they said.  And it seems that salmon run at different times.

We didn't get any pictures in Soldotna.  We didn't need any reminders.  Ha.

John wanted a picture if a volcanic mountain.  It was near Arrow Point which was about 25 miles from Homer.  We saw it on our way to Seward.

The Firewood wildflower is everywhere.  They are all along the highways.  The flower blooms all summer.  The Alaskans say when the die snow is coming.