Life Before Bethel

I can't believe that I'm capable of such a huge oversight. I spent nearly a week in paradise and I didn't tell anyone about it. All I can do is apologize for not sharing Seward and Homer with you. Uh well, and show some of our photographs with you too, I suppose.

After our cross country trip from Indianapolis to Seattle, Pam and I set out to see some of what we missed last winter. Before we could enjoy ourselves, however, we had to pay our dues. The first challenge on our quest was buying airline tickets at a good price and then to rent an affordable car. We failed at both. Not only did we pay more than both of those services are worth, but we had to jump through 500 flaming hoops before we were ready to start our vacation. I hate traveling.

Once we were on the road, life was pretty good; expensive, but good. Our plan was to go to Seward and Homer, the two places that we didn't get to last winter. Our first stop was in Seward.

Like Valdez, Seward is another perfect place in the world. It's right on a major water way, Resurrection Bay, which is surrounded by huge mountains.

The one thing Pam wanted to do while we in Seward was do some whale-watching. The only problem with her request was that whale-watching season was over. You see, May and June are the best whale-watching months and we were there in mid August. Sorry, Pam. We did take a nature cruise, though. It was a half day tour of Resurrection Bay to look at the natural beauty of that place. Take a look for yourself:

If my memory serves me correctly, these are Stellar Sea Lions. If that's not right please don't bother correcting me. It will only destroy me self-esteem. Look kids! Puffins! We were on a really good boat for taking pictures, the bay was pretty clam for a breezy day, and we got really close to a lot of our subjects, but it is really tough getting high quality shots with a cheap camera.

These are some of the Harbor Seals we saw. It's tough getting their picture, because they are very shy.

And with being the home of some really cool animals, Resurrection Bay is also the home of some cool rocks that jump way up out of the water.

Back in Seward we saw some charter fishermen showing off their catch. Pretty cool, huh?

Oh yeah, I also found out how I'm going to spend my retirement years. Look at this retirement rig.

Is there a more beautiful sight on the Earth than a boat harbor that's surrounded by snow capped mountain?

We visited Exit Glacier and saw some other glaciers, but I'm getting tired of uploading photos so you don't get to see them. We also saw sea otters and eagles, but none for you this time. If you want to see more, tell me and I'll post them.

After we left Seward, we went directly to Homer. The four hour drive was long but beautiful. We saw a moose and some awe inspiring views of the Pacific Ocean. When we finally made it to Homer, we went directly out to the spit. The Homer Spit is a very cool, very touristy, but very cool place. I saw this little shop that I fell in love with. Not for the products they sold, but for the building. It is all logs with splayed walls and a pointy roof. I'd love to have a home like this.

All to soon the party was over and we made our way west to Bethel. Talk about contrast. Bethel is different in every way imaginable from the Kenai Peninsula. I like it in Bethel and I'll like it more when it snows.