Homer, Alaska

Set out to Homer, or Homer Spit, to be more specific. Homer is a small fishing village about 225 miles south of Anchorage on the west side of Kenai Peninsula. The Spit is a 4.5 mile finger like narrow piece of sand and gravel projecting off the mainland. Forces of nature have tried to wash it away for years, but human intervention of building rock walls have kept it intact. Now it consists of a huge harbor, ferry docks, RV parks, restaurants, shops, hotels and condos. Homer is one of the few places in the world where several glaciers and active volcanoes can be viewed at the same time. Presently they have over 40 active volcanoes. Mt Redoubt has been rumbling since January and finally erupted on March 22. There have been many warning signs and literature written about evacuation routes in case of an emergency for earthquakes and tsunami, too. I forgot that Alaska lies on a vault.

The weather here has a milder climate. It doesn't get as cold in the winter with the average low in the mid teens, but the summers are also cooler with temperatures in the low 60's. When we were in Fairbanks we notice electric cords hanging out from the front of cars. This is so the residents can plug in when the temperatures falls below freezing. The parking lots have an abundance of electrical boxes with outlets to plug into. This is to prevent their engines, oil, etc, from freezing. They must turn off the power during the summer because I tried to use several outlets for my hair dryer without luck.

We seem to camp in sites without electricity for 1-2 days at a time. So most of our camping has been "dry", meaning our RV is self contained. We have our own water supply, propane runs the frig, stove, furnace and hot water tank. The battery runs the lights. Therefore we only need electric power for the microwave, central air, TV and my hair dryer and curling iron! This has been the adventurous part of this journey.

Back to our visit at Homer. It rained all day so visibility was not good. But the fisherman had a busy and successful day. We saw some bald eagles and lots of halibut hanging on the lines waiting to be fillet.

We have been on the "road" for about a month now. Andy and I still like each other, as of this writing. The first week or so was rough times. Mostly the learning process of how everything on this camper runs. We are still modifying some things. The small living space hasn't been an issue....yet. We have been outside mostly. Actually we have talked about coming back here next summer and work for the entire season. Looks like we can drive buses for the park service.