At Home in Homer

[From Craig] Well, I guess we have come as far west as we can in Alaska,  based on this sign at our current campground:

Most of our fellow campers here are fisher-people, and some just drop in to use the fish-cleaning facilities.  But they have to take their byproducts down to the beach for natural recycling:

We spent most of a week at Kyllonen's RV Park in Anchor Point, about 17 miles north of Homer. I tried to get reservations in Homer at one of the few places that had full hookups, but had no luck. One told me they had a caravan coming in, another was just full, and the last was closed. We could have gotten a dry camp spot, but Craig would rather have hookups.

Kyllonen's is small, and typical of the independent places we have seen in Alaskan Kenai peninsula. Nice owner-operators and good for fishermen. It is after all, all about the fish! 

There is a boat launch at the beach at the end of the road.  

One of the afternoons we were there, we took a short walk on the beach. The tide was out, and the water was quite far away.

Tractors are used to haul the fishing boats to the water. None were being launched when we were there, but there were dozens of empty boat trailers lined up above the high water mark, and tractor prints in the sand.

These tracks were fun to see.

Were they coming or going?

There must be a kelp forest out there somewhere.

The beach is on the eastern side of Cooks Inlet. When it was clear, we could see a mountain range across the water that includes a couple of volcanoes.

Giant Hogweed with Mount Iliamna in the distance

When I took this picture, I hoped to capture both the flowering weed and the volcano. It worked, and I got a bit of the water as well.

We drove down to Homer several times. One of those days the fog was heavy over the water, with the mountains in the distance above.

It was so beautiful.

We did not find Homer interesting nor attractive. We did go out on the "Spit", a small gravely island connected by a causeway to the mainland. It is a major RV parking area. Hundreds of RVs, big and small crowd into the parking lots. Only a small number of the spots have any hook-ups. Most are dry and squashed together. 

There are several clumps of tourist shops, restaurants, and fishing charter offices. We went for a fish dinner on Saturday. I must say the halibut we ate was v ery good, but it was very expensive and the portions were small.

We also went to the Homer Farmer's Market. It featured the usual cast of handicrafts, jams, and flowers, with a few farmers thrown in. Large leafy things were plentiful. The kale, chard, lettuce, and spinach were wonderful. Several kinds of spring onions and garlic were also available. 

We bought some of the largest oyster mushrooms we had ever seen and used them to make one of our favorite dishes, Rigatoni Casanova the next night.   

Something fun happened on the first day we were here. Craig was outside and I was putting things in order in the Alfa, the he called to me "One of your blog followers is out here, come and meet her."

Cynthia of Ease On Down the Road was also at Kyllonen's. We have never met before. She said she has followed my blog for a long time, and recognized the duct taped front end!  We chatted for a while, and now I will be following her down the road as well.

I love it when we meet friends we have never met before! 

We left Kyllonen's on Sunday and went north about 30 miles to Scenic View RV. It is another small, peaceful place. It is not listed in the 2017 Mile Post because there was a change of ownership. I found it in "Alaskan Camping" which I have found to be an excellent resource.

We will be slowly migrating north through the Kenai Peninsula for a while.  Suggestions for things to see and do are welcome!

Meeting Blogger Friends

It's fun to meet other bloggers.  People who you have read about and who have read about you for several years.

Craig took the picture

Today Craig and I had the pleasure of connecting with John and Sharon. I have followed their blog, On the Road of Retirement  for several years now. 

Because Sharon had an appointment in Berkeley I proposed a lunch connection at the Berkeley Bowl. It was quite close to where she needed to go. 

Not the fanciest place, but as far as we are concerned the best grocery in California. We really enjoyed talking to them.  Time went too fast.  I hope we can connect again someday, somewhere.

Got Out and Took a Walk

I had a very pleasant day today.

Levonne and I met up for a light lunch and a walk on the beach.

I think it was good for both of us.
Along with some real fresh air, we got in some good "friend talk."

Both of us brought cameras along, and both discovered the batteries
in our cameras were to low to use.

So here's a picture, that I pulled off the Web, of the cement boat we walked over to see at the Sea Cliff Beach in Capitola CA.

It was a perfect day for a walk with a friend.

I should do more of this.
I live in such a scenic area.
 No need to travel far to find great walks.

New resolution:  One day per week taking a long local hike!

Exercise Goal:
1000 miles on the treadmill or trail.

2 miles Thursday April 14

3 miles on the beach on Friday

Total walked = 328 miles  

Someday I will be hiking 1000 miles in National Parks!

Ruby Falls TN

Last week our daughter asked if we still had an old Super 8 movie she had made for a 5th grade class assignment.  I knew just were it was, and in the process of getting it out I also brought out a box of old family films and the projector.  She has offered to take them and have them transfered to a digital medium.

There aren't very many, and for the last few nights Craig and I have enjoyed, or groaned thru scenes from the late 70's and 80's.

Boy were we young!  And I was THIN!

One three reel saga is of our car trip from Wisconsin to Florida to go to Disney World at Christmas 1976.

We have lots of footage of driving thru Tennessee.  One place we have never forgotten is RUBY FALLS!

As we drove we saw sign after sign along the highway.  We had to stop.  It was well worth it. At least for a couple of very inexperienced travelers.

Ruby Falls is near Chattangoona, and in my humble opinion it is a tourist stop worth doing if you like caves.

I just thought I'd mention it to any one who is lucky enough to be going to the Rally.  I think it is to the South and West of the Rally, but in the same state! Some of you may be driving that way.




By the way, thanks for all the fun and encouraging comments on yesterday's post.  I've had my doubts about taking him along from time to time.  Now I tell him he can go if he is good.
(I did get one SPAM comment that Blogger caught.  It showed up in my email, but not on my blog.  It was for male enhancement products.  Must have been because of the title :~) )

I do take comments to heart and think about what others say. I have thought about doing a trial run, or some part timing, but that is a subject for another post.

Time to get to work!  I have both sculpture orders to do, and more wallpaper to strip!

Is Craig Coming Along?

On Sunday, we went  to a very nice BBQ celebration of a friends 50th anniversary.


We got to see a lot of our mountain friends that we haven't talked to much over the long winter months.


One of them reads  my blog, and when Craig was talking about our future RV intentions, my friend said he couldn't tell if Craig was going along or not. 
The answer is ...  


drum roll ....


Yes.


It was his idea in the first place!  At times he seems reluctant, but it is not so much about the idea of spending a couple of years in an RV, as it is about the process of what we have to do to get there.


People have asked why we are "doing so much" to the house, why not sell it "as is"?  


The truth is we are really only doing things that we should have done over the last 20 year!  We have ignored a whole lot of maintenance and cosmetic repairs.  


I remember an old John Wayne movie where the rancher Dad kept saying "Come next summer ..."  when it came to some repair or other.  Well, our theoretical "next summer" has come.  Now is the time!

We made two big steps toward the future because of the BBQ.  One of our friends teaches photography at the University, and there was talk about how she had just put in a big new darkroom into her garage.  Does anyone still develop and print film?!!

Three houses ago, in the 80's, Craig had a darkroom.  We still had all the equipment in boxes in our garage.  We talked to her, and she agreed to take the enlarger and any other equipment we wanted to get rid of.  If there are things she can use, fine, if not she will take them to the University and find a student that can make use of them.


We hurried home, began unpacking the big old boxes and bagging up the disintegrating and (only slightly) mouse chewed wrapping papers.  Dusted things off and repacked them nicely.

We discovered the packers had mixed photographic equipment with fish tank stuff, so we unpacked all of that as well.  When we lived in Texas, 30 years ago, we had five salt water tanks.  When we moved, we sold a couple, but brought most of the associated stuff with us to California.  Living in earthquake country, I was not inclined to have a couple hundred gallons of water in glass tanks around the house, so we never got back into it.


It is all so old, we don't even want to offer it on free cycle.  but Craig has agreed to help me load it up and take it to the dump this weekend!


YES!  Yes, he is coming along.   He is talking about our plans to our friends and he is willing to get rid of the fish tank stuff!   


Great progress!

Playing hooky is good for the soul

One thing I just do not do enough of is getting out and experiencing the many wonderful places within easy driving distance from my home.

Just before Christmas I met up with Levonne a camp host and  fellow blogger. We decided that since she expected to be in the area for awhile,  we would make date for January.

It seems that is just about the only way I get out!  If I plan ahead and make a date.  

It feels a bit like playing hooky.  We went to Carmel, had a nice lunch and went to a photography exhibit.  Levonne tells it far better on her blog a camphost housewives meanderings than I can.

It's getting late and I'm ready for a nice cup of Sleepy Time tea.

Good night friends.