Road trip to Homer

My plan for today was to go fishing, but all of the guide boats were filled up with a huge group of Russians. My plans changed and I spent my day off going with guide Johny to Homer for guided sightseeing trip. Only one lady client was going, so the more staff on the trip the better to make her experience better. It will be a trip I will never forget and makes my journey to Alaska more fullfilling and will make it harder for me to leave at the end of August. I took many photos, many of which everyone will have to wait to see, since there are so many.


Our first stop was near deep creek off of the Sterling Highway at a Russian Orthodox Church. It had a great view overlooking the Cook Inlet. Here we saw 3 moose, which I was unable to get a photo of. Moose are like deer here and I have seen and had many close encounters. Here we could also see people down on the beach digging for clams at low tide.

Next we drove for a little while and stopped at an art gallery. I never saw myself enjoying an art gallery, but I was surprised and would say that everyone should stop here. The artist was Norman Lowell and all of his paintings were outdoor related. It is a place to see because he moved to the kenai peninsula in the late 50's from Iowa and raised a family in AK. His original homestead is still on the property and by all means is rustic. There seemed to be thousands of paintings by him in sizes from a 1 foot by 1 foot to as large as 20 feet by 20 feet. They were all originals and prices were only listed on some of the small paintings and I saw prices over $40,ooo. The cheapest prices were in the hundreds for prints of the originals that were from all different types of mediums. He is still alive and was told that he does not like to sell his stuff online. He and his wife have a large log home that they didnt stain, so it would retain a natural rustic look.

After that it was on to Homer, which in total was about 70 miles from fish camp. Here we first stopped at an overlook where we could see many mt ranges, which included active volcanic mts. that form the ring of fire.

Then it was on to a museum which showed alot about alaska. It had info and mounts of the different animal, fish, and bird species of the area. Much more also that is too much to write about. From here we took a hike down a scenic trail. To my surprise we looked to our side and a 2 year old bullwinkle was bedded along the trail. John took the our client (Adriane) ahead, while I stayed back and took some great pics. I wont tell how close I got, but the pics might give you an idea.

From there we headed to the homer "Spit", which is a penninsula that sticks out into the bay infront of Homer. It is a major boat harbor for fishermen, and is lined with shops, restaurants and camping. I had prawns and calmari rings for lunch here. They were good and were served like fish and chips, so prices weren't too bad.

After the tour of the Spit, we headed for the Homer brewery. They had 7 different brews and allowed for 3 samples each. I had a hard time choosing between an Irish ale and and a scottish brew, so I convinced the hippie behind the counter to give me another round of sampling. I would have liked to have bought a half gallon of the Irish ale...but the scottish brew was too good! Sorry walsh's.....tasted too good!

The beer was for later, so we still had to stop at a local winery on the hillside of Homer. Here we got to sample 6 of their alaskan wines. Most were sweet wines from the berrries of alaska. John was driving and Brian(another employee) was underage, so Myself and our guest (Adriane) did the sampling. The wines were good and I had a good time with Adriane. Her husband and son went fishing, while she went with us. My favorite wine was an alaskan port and a gooseberry wine. They werent too bad in price either. I think they were about $20 a bottle.

Our trip ended with a stop at the visitor center in Homer. They was some detailed exibits on the history of alaska and our country for that matter also. There were displays on the attack on dutch harbor by the japanese and other war related facts as well. We finished off at the visitor center with a 30 min video on the alluetan islands and on the war in alaska.

It was a great trip and now my Get'er'done list includes the Adventure camp with the kenai fjords, fly in bear camp, and halibut fishing in seward. Hopefully I can see them all, but I think I will at least see 2 of these before I leave. Long post, but well worth it! My suggestion is that everyone should see alaska!