These first two pictures give you a good idea what River Salmon fishing is like during a peak run. This is where the Russian and Kenai River's meet and will be where we go in a couple days when we come back this way. The lake is Kenai Lake right outside the motel Parking lot, and this moose was just trotting along the highway - there are caution signs up mentioning that there have been 140 Moose Kills by car last winter!

 
45 minutes after leaving the hotel, we're in Soldotna, a town rich in mining history, but one we're not stopping at other than for breakfast at Sal's Klondike Diner. True to form, and in keeping with my guidelines on going to eateries with a womans name, Sal's (Short for Sally's - the woman who opened it years ago) was a fabulous breakfast - and with 4 doggie boxes, kept us in eats for another hour and a half on the way to Homer. The drive south to Homer was along Cook Inlet, with several active volcano's off to our right, this one is Mount Redoubt, last erupting in 1989. Got to Homer about 12:30 and headed right for the Seaside Farm to check in and drop our stuff. The original plan was to go horseback riding on the beach, but the tide was coming in and we planned on going tomorrow morning on the low tide, so we went to Homer Spit instead.

 
Homer spit is a little sandbar jutting off to the south of Homer andis a fisherman's paradise if you're into Halibut. The record Halibut taken in this area is well over 300#. The kids are more interested in shopping and we spend a bit of time on the mini-boardwalks checking out the gift shops and ice cream parlors. At the very end of the spit is where we will be staying tomorrow night - at the Lands End Motel. Some of these scenic shots were taken on the Skyline Drive overlooking Homer, and you can see the spit sticking out into Ketchimak Bay.

 
 
On the way down from the Overlook, we spot a mother Moose and twin calves on the side of the road in the bushes...I'm quick enough only to get one of the calves. Mid afternoon we head back to the Seaside Farm...I've described it as more like a Hippie Commune, but it is really an independant Hostel, which means it is not a spit and polish youth hostel of the major recreation areas, but a real working farm that the travelling kids can work off a nights stay in the hostel, or camping, or the cabins. We have the Largest Cabin, kinda spartan but really nice change of pace from the sterile motels we've been used to on the trip. (Except last night at Cooper Landing - I enjoyed the flavor of that place!) The woman who runs this farm, Mossy Kilchner has owned it for 23 years.

 
Mossy's neice is Jewel - the singer who hails from Alaska...Homer actually. She spent several years right here at this farm while her parents went through a divorce it seems, with Mossy acting a like like her mother at the time. In fact one of the kids will be riding her horse in the morning... well, "her horse" as in the one she rode when she was here years ago.

 
The little outhouse you see in #22 is right outside out back door, and is the actual bathroom for this place, but there is access to the Hostel bathroom and shower across the road. Gotta love it! Kim and I take a hike past the camping area and down to the beach out back, stopping off at the "Seashell Cabin" overlooking the cliffs of Ketchimak Bay. Nice place but a long walk to the bathroom, and only sleeps two close friends...nice romantic getaway though!

 
Pics #28 & 29 show the Pavilion, an open-aire covered veranda of the most rustic variety that is home to the Hostellers who camp or take bunks in the Hostel a few yards away. Looking forward to the campfire tonight! - Thats it for right now - might do some more later tonight after dinner...nothing special - kids wanna do Burger King tonight and ya know what?... This is their trip, too and we're more than obliged to accommodate them.

 

 
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