Homer, Alaska

This weekend Zach and I with the dogs in tow traveled 4 hours southwest on the Kenai pennisula to Homer. The weekend was filled with trials, tribulations and fun. We stayed at my co-worker's cabin, which was quite cozy. After fumbling in the dark through snow up to our knees to the cabin Friday night, I managed to promply lock us out of the cabin within 5 minutes of arriving. We hunted for a "hidden" key for about an hour and a half and concocted many ways to break in before I realized I had the coworker's phone number in my pocket and my phone was in the car, which was thankfully unlocked. With the key found we settled in.

The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast of bacon and coffee while drying our socks from the night before on the camp stove. We then headed out to explore Homer. Unfortunately, we didn't get far before the car got stuck in the snow. Four hours later (tow trucks are slow and useless when they are not 4-wheel drive) after digging ourselves a path the neighbor managed to pull us out and up the hill to the road.

We explored Homer by first getting some well deserved lunch. Then after a quick driving tour of town we headed to the Spit. The Spit is a 4 mile long jut of land that goes out into Kachemack Bay. There are several businesses offering fishing charters, fish and chip and Salty Dawgs. We opted for the Salty Dawg since it was a bit chilly for fishing and we had just finished lunch. The Salty Dawg is a fisher man's bar covered in $1 bills, life preservers and a thick layer of dirt. Lots of fisher men were at the bar drinking what appeared to be the house drink - Irish coffee. After sharing some locally brewed China Poot Porter from the Homer Brewing Company, we headed out for a closer look at the bald eagles that populate the Spit during the winter.

Tired from our adventures we grabbed some fixings to make dinner and headed back to the cabin, this time parking at the top of the hill and hiking down, a lesson hard learned.

Sunday, we packed up the dogs and went along the shoreline and watched the tide come in. Honey was curious at the froth the crashing waves produced, but was ultimately scared of the water. Frodo wisely kept his distance and resisted Zach's offers to go swimming.
We then proceeded back to the Spit, but left the dogs in the car so that Frodo didn't accidently become lunch for the eagles.

Having conquered Homer we headed back to Anchorage. We stopped in Soldotna to have some lunch. Frodo decided he would be most comfortable to ride between the bikes stacked in the back of the car. He managed to get into the gears and get grease all over his face, Rambo comes to mind.

Today, Seward's Day, a state holiday and no work for me, is a beautiful day. We have walked the dogs and enjoyed the sunshine. Break-up is on its way, if not underway.