From Seward we had a free day so we headed down to Homer to see it and to catch a glimpse of the Time Bandit. We LOVE Deadliest Catch and watch it faithfully, so when we heard it docked in Homer sometimes we had to try.
The Drive was beautiful. We could see the ocean to whole way. Dave stopped along the way ans ran over to see how far the ocean really was and this is what he can to. He told he it's a good thing he stopped running a few feet before or else he would have toppled over the cliff. It doesn't look so bad down, but look along the ridge......It's a cliff. Good thing I was sleeping in the car, that would have been helpful for him had he fallen off.
The Homer sign.
Kite surfers. Dave really wanted to do this but I told him no. These guys we flying all over the place. Not safe and not going to happen! Sorry Dave.
We wondered up and down the harbor and never found the Time Bandit...bummer. We did find a store they have there in Homer along the ONE street in town. Dave was so excited to climb in the crab pot, he wanted to play more with it but there was a family with younger kids there too and I think he was self conscious.
As we were driving out of town, we saw people gathered at the bottom of this scraggly tree with cameras. We saw the nest and it was big so we stopped, we didn't want to miss anything. Then this Bald Eagle flew in and landed in it and then this baby popped his head up and she started feeding it. The baby is dark brown/black color and not small.
We didn't see as many Moose as we thought we might, which made us sad. We stopped along this lake to look for some, they had to be around somewhere. The ground was so squishy, not wet just really spongy. Every step we sunk into the ground cover, it felt like we were walking on a mattress. There were no Moose. We finished driving to Soldotna, where we scheduled a fishing trip the next day. The Guide, Tom picked us up from the dock at 5:30 in the morning and took us out all day. We were fishing for King Salmon, the biggest kind. We were very excited until he explained that you could only catch one. We thought okay, we will fish for something else. NO, once you catch your one you are done for that day. Pull in your pole and watch everyone else fish. I was so mad! I searched for the perfect fishing trip for Dave and now he would get to fish for 10 minutes and then sit in the boat for 8hours and 50 minutes. Dave reassured me that he would have fun either way, he was fishing for Salmon in Alaska. The trip ended up being so much fun. Dave wants to go back when the boys get bigger so they can fish the Kenai River.
Dave, bright and early after our french toast breakfast. We stayed at a B&B, which is different in Alaska. We stayed at someone house, literally. We knocked on their front door to get in and they showed us to our room. Then they showed us the bathrooms and the shower rooms, two different rooms. It was weird but we had a good time.
This is the dock on the property. They said when the Salmon run started your could us a net and catch Reds/ Sockeye from the dock.
The bait we used, they were BIG fish.
Dave caught one after we had been out for 2 hours longer than we were supposed to. Tom felt bad that only one of us had caught something so he kept us out. He kept saying just a little longer they are here somewhere. Dave's fish was about 12 lbs. He let it go, it really wasn't worth keeping and shipping home 5lbs of meat.
I hooked a fish....a big one. I fought it for about 10 minutes. I kept begging Tom to take it so he could get it in the boat but he wouldn't. He wanted me to get it myself. I was so tired and the stupid fish wouldn't give it up. Dave was so encouraging and kept snapping pictures. The fish finally came to the top, showed us how big he was and then spit the hook out and swam away. I was so disappointed but I was shaking so bad from fighting him, I was just glad it was over. Dave hooked his fish right after I hooked mine, that's another reason he didn't keep his.
This man and his wife were with us and he caught his within the first hour. It weighed 47lbs. Tom said mine was at least 50 from just looking at it. But mine got away.....
Sorry the pictures got out of order. They call this combat fishing, you start all the way back and then you float along until you get the end and then you start over again.
A close up of Dave's fish.
This lady, Cindy didn't even get a bite. They were from South Dakota and Tom is from Spokane. We loved Tom. He talked the whole time about how during the summer his guides fishing on the Kenai and then he goes home to Dental school. He wants to be a dentist, noble except he CHEWED the WHOLE time. It really was funny!
We finally saw a Bull Moose as we were leaving back to Anchorage. It was right of to the side of the road next to a big sign about how many Moose have been killed this season.
We drove down to Kenai to see where the River met the ocean, and we came across this. The whole time we had been there everyone was talking about how the Reds were late and the 'run' should start any day now. Apparently it started and the river on both side were packed for miles. Everyone just had nets and were catching Salmon like crazy. If you are a citizen you can catch as many as you can/want, since that is all they have to eat. We stopped under this bridge and watched for a while, it was really cool.
We then headed back to Anchorage and stayed the night before we flew out the next day. We had so much fun. I love Dave so much and we have a great time together, but we hadn't been alone in over 6 years and we needed some alone time! It was so nice to have him to myself and get to know him without our kids. We did miss them and couldn't wait to get back to them, but we got to sleep for 9 nights UNINTERRUPTED. That is priceless. We are forever indebted to my parents for watching them for us and keeping them safe. The boys would love for us to go somewhere else so Maymee and Papa Jerr can watch them again. I here on a weekly basis, "Maymee let us have dessert after breakfast!" or "Maymee lets us eat Poptarts!". I'm so glad they love my parents and they were good for them. I hope it means they will do it again......?
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