July 31 Homer, AL

Thursday July 31. We had a great breakfast with Alaska reindeer sausage, a little spicy and salty. http://www.fishex.com/fish-market/sausage/alaska-reindeer-sausage.html I was able to visit the local bead shop http://gigsbeads.com/index.html. on my walk on the back to Ocean House.

The sun was out, the temperature is in the 70's. So much for all the warm clothing we brought along. Shep and I took an early morning walk out on the beach that is formed by the low tide. It goes out well over 100 yds. It high tide it is up to the seawall below the Ocean House in the background. We observed 3 bald eagles lined up checking out the beach. We were able to get pretty close to one of them. He definitely kept an eye on us, but basically did not really care much. The are so many small seaplanes here to take people to fish, to see the bears and in the case of many locals it is how they get around. http://www.truveo.com/Seaplane-Take-off-in-Homer-Alaska/id/4198058260 The inlet here has them just lined up. We spent most of the afternoon out on the spit http://www.seldovia.net/photogallery/The%20Spit/Photos_Spit.htm walking in and out of the shops and bars. The most famous is the Salty Dawg, http://www.saltydawgsaloon.com/where we stopped for a mid day brew.

Notice all the dollar bills, and various items of clothing nailed to the wall.
We had sliders and Alaskan Crab for lunch.

Everyone here is very friendly and helpful.

We bought King salmon to grill for dinner. The hot tub is great after dinner when the light is about perfect on the mountains.

July 29 -30 Anchorage to Homer, AL

Tues. July 29 Up early;cab to the airport; wait for flight; 5 hours;in the air; movie "21" http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/21/; tasteless sandwich; 2 wines each; finally land in Anchorage!!!

We schlep the luggage on and off the shuttle and then across the street and down the ramp to the car rental, more schlepping in the elevator and across the lot to the Jeep Grand Cherokee. We now realize that the four of us have 7 checked bags, 2 camera bags, 3 backpacks, 2 purses , 1 fishing pole carrier and 1 messenger bag (man-bag) that all need to fit in the back of the SUV. We finally got it all in, some of it in the backseat, and we are off, with no view out the back or rear view mirror. We get to the Royal Suites where Jeanne has booked us the only inexpensive 2 bedroom suite. Now we find out why it was cheap; we were the only tourists. Everyone else staying there is itinerant workers. Not the best part of town and certainly not the cleanest place, but we bite the bullet rather than search for another place at this point.

The entertainment was to watch the horseshoe match behind the bowling alley across the parking lot.
















We decided to explore Anchorage and find
someplace to eat dinner. We had drinks on the roof of the Snow Goose http://www.alaskabeers.com/
and then a fabulous dinner at Orzo.


We returned to the "presidential suite" (appropriate only for the president that has destroyed our credibility, got us into a war we can never win, and took us from an economic powerhouse to a recession). I took 2 Excedrin PM so that I would not notice that it was still light out nor hear the horseshoes clanging and passed out for the night.



Wed. July 30. We were up early and out of there quickly. Breakfast was at
Granny B's, a quaint little dinner, with a friendly waitress from West by God Virginia. On the road to Homer (250 miles south)we were just awestruck by the mountains that appear to be everywhere in almost all directions.

We had to stop for stretching and photos.
















Some of us are better at triangle pose than others. Kipp has his thingy hanging out there, doesn't he?


There is still quite a lot of snow on on the mountains and a lot of dense vegetation everywhere also. We stopped for lunch in a little place that offered Italian-Mexican-Greek cuisine. We all had seafood salad sandwiches or fish. With Kipp driving and passing everyone we finally arrived in Homer, pop.5400.
http://www.akms.com/


Our accommodations, Ocean House Inn, http://homeroceanhouse.com/ are wonderful. Our rooms have a spectacular view of mountains and glaciers down to the sea.
We also have a fabulous view of The Spit.
http://www.akms.com/spit.html

Jeanne and Kipp have a little kitchen set up so we decided to get fresh halibut to cook on the outside grill. We had a great 'el fresco' dinner. The mosquitoes tried to join us, but we were able to fight them off.





Shep and Kipp walked down to the beach below us at low tide.
























Jeanne wanted to watch Dancing Talent on TV while I decided to upload pictures and update the blog.
It is difficult for a night owl like me to deal with the fact that it is
10:20 and still really light out.


I should have brought a sleep mask.

This is the sunset at 10:45pm!!!
Everyone else is asleep; I was out taking pictures and making friends with the other guests in the hot tub.
Imagine that.

July 23 - 28 Slide Lake Campgroung, Jackson, WY

Wed. July 23 Out of Horse Creek about 10:30 into DuBois for the morning. The KOA provided a place to dump, do laundry and wireless connection. All of this suited me just fine. I did have some problems getting email out to some but will try again later. After a few short construction delays over the pass we made our way to Slide Lake campground to meet Greg. He had a wonderful site overlooking the lake that would accommodate his mini airstream (named the Mini Winnie), our Arctic Fox, Alex's tent and 2 extra vehicles. Dimmie and Alex came after work for a wonderful dinner and campfire.

Thurs. July 24 Greg had an appointment in town which gave us the opportunity to check out the space in below their home where we are planning to leave the Fox during the Alaska trek. We spent about 2 hours in Jackson, long enough to boast the local economy, before we went back up the canyon. http://www.jacksonholechamber.com/

Fri. July 25. The temperatures here are all over the place. from low 40s to upper 80s. So we spend a lot of time changing clothes. Cold when you first get up and then blazing hot in the afternoon. I drove Greg and Shep about 15 gravel road miles above the campground so that they could bike back. I had Maggie and Max with me on the ride back. I am so glad the 2 dogs are getting along. Max is a Maltese who thinks he is a pit bull. The views are spectacular in all directions. There are a couple of ranches up here that are so isolated I really do not know how they survive. UPS and FedEx cannot deliver here in the winter! Dimmie came after work with a young female med student from Germany that had been at Rabun Gap when they were there, Eva Latte. She was a delight.

Sat. July 26. We all went into Jackson again for the Farmers Market. We bought fresh corn, Flat Iron cherries, garlic scapes (something new for me). Then on to breakfast at a new resturant, Eleaven. Wonderful bagel sandwiches. Back to the camp for the day. Eva and Greg kayaked on the lake where they saw a huge beaver lodge and the beaver! She and I spent a lot of the afternoon decideing what had to be packed for Alaska. Not many shorts, thats for sure.

Sun. July 27. After a great Greg breakfast, we took the Fox to the "Zeigler estate" where Shep did a magnificent job of backing and parking. Long hot showers and a stop in town for something to eat on the road. We went back to Eleaven where Shep and I both thought that the young man at the register looked familiar. He is Hunter Frosbach??? Kiski class of '92. He has been in Jackson for 12 years and is one of the owners of the restaurant. http://www.eleavenfood.com/ We had a nice chat and promised to stop back when we return. Kiski boys are everywhere. We then drove for about 5 hours through a rather desolate terrain to Salt Lake City. Jeanne and Kipp had a wonderful meal waiting for us.

Mon. July 28. Salt Lake City http://www.visitsaltlake.com/visit/

is such a treat for us. It is so urban and clean. Jeanne took us about on several errands today. We visited her school Rowland Hall,http://www.rhsm.org/

We visited a shop to exchange some jewelry that Shep had bought for me as a present, neat store.http://utahands.com/

We are all in a frenzy of activity to make sure that we have all our gear for the cold weather that we are anticipating.North to Alaska, we will be "Anchored Down in Anchorage for the next couple of days.

July 19 - 22 Horse Creek Campground, Dubois, WY

Sat. July 19th. Today is a trip into DuBois. http://www.duboiswyoming.org/
http://bighorn.org/
First stop was back at the KOA for showers. Today is the annual DuBois Museum Day. We have attended several times. The highlight for Shep is the bison/wild game stew; my fav is the fry bread with Wyoming honey. There are several demonstrations and displays. A woman in period forest service gear with a horse andpack mule team gave the kids short rides. A retired teacher who gives talks and demos life as a mountain man in the required trappings. We had seen his talk when we stayed at Absaroka Ranch. The locals dress in period garb; we saw Miss Kitty and the piano player and I think I saw Matt Dillon dishing out stew. It is always a fun experience where we get to talk to several of the locals.
We did not ride the jackalope this trip. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/13249
A brief stop at the bead store before we headed back up the valley to camp.

Sunday July 20th. Shep decided to take a bike ride early this morning. It took him over 3 hours (I was starting to get just a tad concerned) to finally do the Bouroughs Creek loop without getting too lost. The remainder of the day was spent laid back reading, beading and fishing. Shep and I went up the canyon to fish. It is high walled and very quiet; one of my favorite places. The fishing was a bit less successful than the other pursuits. Just a lot of relaxing going on.

Mon. July 21st. Since the fishing is off here, Shep has decided to make a day of it and drive about 4o miles to the East Fork of the wind River to fish. We have been here in the past. There is a lot of water rushing through here this year, making for an interesting experience. Shep caught a fair size cut-throat right off the bat which, of course, is the intermittent positive reinforcement that keeps everyone fishing. I like splashing through the water on a hot day.


Tue. July 22nd. We took a short walk out of the campground to see a ton of wildflowers and quite a bit of various types of scat and small bones. He is a biologist. His afternoon fishing was better for Shep while I worked on another bracelet. A lazy afternoon at camp.

June at OBX

We spent the month of June at OBX with a motley crew of friends and family coming and going. The first week was involved a couple of romantic days alone. We returned to Jennerstown,PA for the wedding of Cory and Danielle.

We returned toAvon where we were joined by Bruce,Paula,Jessie,Fotis and Matty for a wonderful week with a touch of Greek.

John and Geri enjoyed the surf and sun.

Judy and Bill returned.

Doug, Bonnie and Bruce returned after a couple of years elsewhere.

Bruce was a busy boy: fishing, skim-boarding,swimming and, of course, gaming.

A wonderful week was had by all.


The last week was the motliest crew of all. The Locust family plus one.(Wiley and Judy; Lara, John and Casey)

Kevin

Al and Jean

The Texans returned. Ellen and her cuddly redneck husband Jeff

It was a bittersweet week for us all. We all miss Judy Moss so much that it hurts; but for all of us to be together takes the edge off just a bit. It was good to remember, talk and share our feelings; the laughter and the tears. We know that we need each other.

Early July 1 - 18 On the Road Again

Early July found us at home for a brief time. Long enough to wash clothes and pack the Artic Fox for the journey west. We left home on Sat. July 12. We had a very uneventful trip to Gratis, OH to visitwith Kathy and Tony. We spent Sunday morning at the world’s largest flea market, picking up a few items for our trip. Kathy and I went to a bead show in the afternoon. This will not be a surprise to anyone; I did buy some beads. Tony fed us well both nights. He sent us on our way.

Monday July 14th with a couple of the biggest, mouthwatering sandwiches for our lunch. We drove for many hours in very hot weather to arrive in Oxford, IA for the night.

Tuesday July 15th was another long hot day on the road. We made it to Lake McCounaghy. We stopped for steak dinner at Ole’s steak house in Paxton, NB. While we were dining a rain storm blew across the plains lowering the temperature a good 23 degrees, from 94 to 71. What a relief that was for us to sleep. Van’s Lakeview Campground was a little wet and very sandy with only a few sites that actually had a lake view, but it did beat the KOA next to the interstate.

Wed. July 16th was the longest day, well over 500 miles to reach DuBois, WY. Since we arrived so late in the evening we decided to stay at the KOA in town. $45!!!! And a lot of people. Sad news greeted us. Chuck Hanson, the campground host at Horse Creek, had a fatal heart attack the week before at the campground. I did see his wife, Betty, who was staying with her family at the KOA. She expressed that it was the way and the place that he would have chosen. Chuck and Betty, who were the volunteer hosts for over 20 years, will be sorely missed by all who camp at Horse Creek. Happy trails, Chuck.

Thursday, July 17th we made a brief stop at the butcher shop in town for some of their wonderful filets and sausages. Then it was up the valley to Horse Creek. We managed to get the site that has a lot of sun with a view up the canyon. It is very peaceful and quiet here. We met the new host, Jack. Setting up the screened canopy was a treat, since we had trouble remembering which pole went where. It is needed protection from the mosquitoes and the mid-day sun. A little fly fishing in the afternoon finally broke my 2 year drought of no fish with a good size trout.
Friday, July 18th was a sleep in day. The temperature dropped overnight; unfortunately we had not added the needed blanket to the bed. Once the sun came up, things warmed up considerably. Maggie led the way up the hill on a short hike. I was feeling a bit dizzy from the altitude. (No snide comments!) We tried to fish again but they were not cooperative today. Shep caught a couple before they quit biting. I finished a bracelet that is a commission piece for a 50th birthday present.