Ahhh, back in the land of the Mid Night sun

August 10th

Mr Woody picked us up at the airport and delivered us to the Chateau MacHuber (Ken and Heather's). As per the norm it was rainy and cool but still nice to be in the chilled Alaskan air. It has been a long day.....

August 11-14

A few days of rest and relaxation. We ran around Anchorage a bit. Went to the Anchorage Museum, a VERY cool place and really recomend it to anyone in the area to check it out. We tried to do the museum and the Native Cultural center all in the same day and ran out of time to get through all the museum after the Cultural Center. Check them out. Went for a nice bike ride with Tim and friends one evening on the Powerline Trail, it was spectacular scenery. Sheri and I spent a day driving dow to Girdwood (North side of the Turnagain arm)just to check things out. There are some really cool houses there! Made another trip to REI and picked me up a newsleeping pad and a couple new rain hats. We may need them as Friday set a new all time record for the most consecutive days of measureable rainfall, 27 in a row. I love being involved in record setting :)

August 15th

Up and out and down the road. Headed down to Hope to checkout the scene on the way to Homer. Hope is well off the beaten path on the south side of the Turnagin Arm, almost in sight of Anchorage but a 85 miles by road. We pitched the tent at Porcupine Campground then took a couple hour hike.

August 16

On our away to Homer we stopped in Cooper Landing at a Quilt shop and Sheri did some shopping. The weather is rainy and cool, surprised I know. a quick lunch in Soldotna and then on to Homer. The drive into Homer was very cool, as you come off the top of the bluff, the city and mountains came into view. We headed down through town and out onto the spit. We found a water taxi to take us accross the bay to our yurt we had reserved for the rest of the week. The wind was cranking over the mountains from the south and the rain was blowing sideways. We stopped by the Salty Dog for a beer. The Salty Dog is a famous little hole in the wall that you just have to see. The walls are completely coverd with dollar bills with names and notes written on them. After that it was Halibut chunks and fries for dinner. The weather was so crappy we wimped out on camping and got a hotel room for the night.

August 17th

We woke up to clouds and winds just cranking again, but this time it was coming out of the ocean and whipping up some good waves on Kachemak bay. We had some breakfast and headed to the spit to get our gear down to the boat docks for our water taxi. We unloaded our stuff into a cart in a steady drizzle. The Mulligan (our taxi boat) pulled up to the dock and we loaded our gear on board. Luckily there was a cabin that we could get in out of the rain on board. Of course the rain stopped once we got inside. The ride accross the bay was a pretty good roller coaster trip, lots of air and sea spray. About 45 minutes later we were pulling up to a big rocky point called Quarry Point. We dropped a ladder off the front of the boat and unloaded our gear. After the boat left we shuttles our gear up to the yurt. It was nestled in a grove of alder trees, sheltered from the windy waters. The yurt was a 16 footer with three twin mattresses on platforms, a table and a small barrel stove. After settling in we took our chairs out to "our" private rocky point for an evening of watching.

August 18, 19 and 20th

The time was spent sipping coffee in the mornings and looking through the spotting scope for wildlife and birds. Afternoons involved a bit of hiking, exploring and more scoping for distant life. Yurt life was great, the solitude was cool. It was a strange thing, we could see Homer in the distance and see boats passing by all day yet we were alone on our own little space...........

August 21

Last night we camped on the spit, it was nice sleeping with the wind and the sounds of the waves crashing in. We drove the east end road to the end of Kamachek bay, pretty drive. Starvin Marvin's pizza for dinner, very tasty.