Goodbye Seward - Hello Homer

Yesterday was our final day in Seward.

As usual - we did not waste a drop of it.

The day begins early not only for me, but also for the working boats.

Below a sport fisherman leaves port just as the sun is cresting the mountains.

If you look closely you'll notice a pair of otters cruising the bay as well.

Do you see them?

As the day matured the outlook was for another beauty.

So it was time to hit the trail.

While Dave opted for a serious hike - 8 miles and 3500 foot vertical up onto the ice field,

Ron & Maxine plus Kate and I took less extreme hike to the foot of Exit Glacier.

Our hike was about 4 miles round trip and a 500' vertical.

If you look lower left you can see Kate in the photo.

Up at the foot we paused for this self portrait, then we headed back down.

By the time we returned to our RV's the winds had picked up on Resurrection Bay 

and the kite surfers were out in force.

Wet suits are a must in this cold water.

The photo below - taken at 9:45pm - shows the boat that we took on our whale watching

cruise (6pm - 10pm)  returning to port right on schedule.

We had our own wildlife viewing right from the back of the RV.

This Sea Doodle was close to shore and made for a great photo opportunity.

This morning we picked up camp and headed 160 miles over to the west side of

the Kenai Peninsula and the town of Homer.

Along the way we stopped for a rest stop and Ron took Missy for a walk.

Missy is 16yrs old, deaf and blind, but still gives Gracie and Lucy a ration of crap

when they infringe on her space.

Last week after traveling over the Top of the World Highway she was crying and

having a hard time walking and we were afraid that her days might be numbered,

however she has bounced back better than ever.

We think the rough roads just jostled her old bones a bit to much and she was simply sore.

Our new location for the next two days is the Baycrest RV Park just 3 miles north of Homer.

What a beautiful location!

If you click on the interactive map "where are we today" (top right)

you can see our path today and we we are now.

John & Dave decided to go down the hill into town and camp with the masses on 

the Homer Spit, but we opted for the view and the quiet up here overlooking the bay.

We are high up on a bluff overlooking Kachemak Bay and the view

from the back window is to die for!

Our back yard...  a 180 degree panorama of stunning beauty!

The view from my office window.

We watch fishing boats far below coming and going up the bay.

Far across on the other shore are snow capped peaks and volcanos.

And just when we thought it could not get any better I spotted several Bald Eagles

that were patrolling the bluff in search of prey.

Meanwhile the park - and this area - are loaded with these beautiful purple

flowers.  I'm not certain but I'd guess they are in the Lupine Family.

So for now I'll call them Kenai Lupines.

Each time I think we've found the most beautiful spot and then we keep

surprising ourselves and find one even better.

I can't imagine getting a nicer view that this....

But then again - I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

Stay tuned.