July 21, 2018
This morning finished breakfast and I stopped to chat with my other neighbour. A very nice older couple (John and Kay) that live a couple hours away, but come down to the campgrounds just to get away. John and Kay pointed out some great places for me to visit while in the area … where I can take pics of waterfalls, scenery and wildlife. John talked to me about when he went out fishing yesterday and caught some halibut. He then called me to come over and gave me a package, talk about neighborly. This is what I will certainly have for supper tonight, oh yum J. I was talking to him about two specific photo’s I wanted to take and one was of a bull moose in a swamp. Well, while we were talking about this, I looked over John’s shoulder and there was a bull moose! I walked back quickly to get my camera and I went out into the field. I managed to get a couple pics before it disappeared into the woods too quickly for me to get an excellent shot.
I went back to see John to thank him for the halibut and he asked me if I wanted to see their trailer. He introduced me to his wife, Kay , and we had quite a chat. They mentioned about catching the ferry in Homer to take me and the vehicle over to the state park and they only have a gravel road there. He indicated you can camp just about anywhere over there. They talked about Seward and that the best cruise to take is the Major Marine. It is a full day cruise and you see a large number of marine wildlife and glaciers.
After a couple of hours chatting, I made my way back to Homer and drove onto the public beach for a picnic lunch.
Once I landed here I had a crow come right close to me. I sat in front of the truck and it flew right onto the hood and was right behind me. A few people that walked by stared at the crow and they must have thought it was my pet. LOL
When I drove through town, I saw some photographers with their tripods and camera gear pointing up into a tree. It was an eagle just perched above its nest. You could hear the baby eagle crying for food. I took a few pics, but the lighting was on the wrong side and there was too much shadow.
I headed over to the Spit and stopped to take photo’s of the Marine Monument. While there a young local lady shared with me a few things I needed to see. One was the Salty Dawg’s, a saloon which is an icon on the Spit and has been there since 1957 (approximately).
I then drove over to see the baby eagle that was on the pile-on and this time used my huge lens. I got some nice photo’s of the bald eagle and the baby eagle.
I drove to the end of the peer and saw a few people fishing on the shore. This area was called the end of the road and marked the beginning of ferries that take you out to Kodiak Island or across the harbour to the State Park.
As I began my drive back to the campsite, just outside of Homer, I looked back and saw a fog bank rolling in fast. It made for some interesting photo’s that is for sure. At one point, I was driving above the fog rolling in, what a marvel.
As I approached the campsite, which is about 15 miles away from Homer, the fog was rolling in this area as well. I decided I would drive the ¼ mile to see if any eagles were near the beach. Well, I am certainly glad I did. There were over 4 eagles and made for some beautiful photo’s, while flying through the fog. Also, when they landed on the beach having the fog behind them … I really like how many of these photo’s turned out.
Back to the campsite and now time to prepare a major feast! I got everything prepared and started the fire. I decided I would cook the halibut in the frying pan over the open fire. Once I got things going, I got the halibut unwrapped and WOW!!!! They were over 2 inches thick!!!! After covering them in a dill sauce I made and covered them in cracker crumbs they were ready in 40 minutes.
What a feast!!!! I was so full, but couldn’t stop eating the fish, talk about yummy.
After eating and cleaning up, I went over to thank John and Kay again for the lovely fish. We chatted for another hour and I was ready to get some sleep. We said our good-byes and hope to stay in touch. Such great people!