Day 35 (7-5-12 - Clam Day at Ninilchik)

                                                                      First Razor Clam

We woke up the sound of rain again.  We thought, (kinda hoped),the camp host would back out on clam digging.  He was ready to go.  BJ, (camp host), had the bucket and the gun and was in for the hunt.

The other camp host was also on the beach looking for clams.  He could spot a clam a mile away.   He would look, draw a line, and say dig here.  Lauren would dig, and dig, and dig.  Finally, he would pull up a clam. The little fellows are sandy.  It took a lot longer to clean them than it took Lauren to dig them up.

We had about 40 razor clams.  We cooked a few of the clams for supper.  We cooked plenty of french fries, in case we didn't like the clams.  It was pretty good.  We are not giving up white perch for them.  Well, I guess we might, we have no more white perch, so we need another source of food. 

Dang, it's tough living on a fixed income.

                      
Pictures:  https://goo.gl/photos/ShvFrkKEYwA7RFKo9

Day 34 (7-4-12 - Ninilchik again)

We have had the furnace burning when we are inside and the campfire burning when we are outside on this 4th of July.  It has rained off and on and is it is chilly, same as yesterday.

We watched people digging razor clams again this morning.  The camp host is taking Lauren razor clam digging tomorrow.  He told us that the low tide will be about 11 am tomorrow and he will loan his gun to Lauren.  This way we will know if we want to buy our own.  He said that there is a camp host position opening July 15th here.  You get free camping and it pays $450 a month.  He told us to talk with the park ranger if we are interested.  This would be a great office with a picturesque views.

We have layered up today.  We had on under armour, jeans, and insulated jackets with hoodies.  We were at Glacier National Park a couple of years ago on the 4th.  We threw snowballs and were warm.  This is the coldest 4th of July we have ever experienced. 

It is fantastic to watch the fire works show here.  They shoot a roman candle up.  It is still daylight, you here the pop, and see the fire light up.  There is little color to the roman candle.  We get our money's worth is South Mississippi.  We light our roman candle, we see the sky light up, and we wipe the sweat from our brow.  We don't know how lucky we are,   Kinda getting home sick, NOT!!!

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/N82om9vZsaMSQYbn7

Day 33 (7-3-12 - Ninilchik)

Today, we have been wet and cold, then cold and wet.  It has been a cloudy, cold, rainy, almost miserable day.

We were laying in the bed listening to the waves crash behind the campsite around 3:45 am this morning.  This was so nice.  At around 3:50 am the people camped next to us, (from Pennsylvania), fired up their generator.  All for the relaxing sound of the waves crashing.

Our neighbors on the other side of the camper, (from Alaska), invited us to go razor clamming this morning.  We told them that this looks like work to us  and we would rather watch. We walked about a mile and a half up the beach this morning to watch them.

It is amazing to see so many people line the beach at low tide with shovels and a thing that looks like a post hole driver.  They call the thing that looks like a post hole driver a gun.  Lauren was excited again, thinking he would see a clam big enough that thay would have to "Choot em".    Our neighbors have enough clams to make a big  pot of clam chowder.

We were cooking elk steak and baked potatos when  our neighbors came over with caribou sausage for us to try. It was all delicious.

Lauren has enjoyed building the campfire with Amanda's wood.  It's a good thing that he didn't find a women like Amanda before me.

As I am typing this at 8:30 pm the rain is peppering the roof of the camper.

Pics: https://goo.gl/photos/WrQgLHFcQmC4wFoGA

Day 32 (7-2-12 - Homer to Ninilchik)

The waves are crashing behind our campsite on the Cook Inlet.  We have a fantastic campsite on the beach at Deep Creek SRA. The mountains are barely visible through the clouds. We can see the boats fishing outside our window.  We would be outside, but it is cold.  It is in the low 50's, partly cloudy, and the wind is Howling. 

We are at Ninilchik, which is 35 miles north of Homer.

We took a couple of strolls on the beach today.  The tide was way out when we got here.  Deep Creek surrounds one side of the campground and joins the Cook Inlet.  There is a gorgeous bluff behind the creek.

We walked up to the tractor launch and watched a boat coming in from the inlet.  A skidder backs the boat trailer in the water, the boat rides on the trailer, and the skidder pulls the boat out.  It is the most unique boat launch that I have ever seen.

This must be the razor clam digging capitol.  We saw several 5 gallon buckets of clams at different campsites.  The clams are about three times  as big as the oysters are at home.

I saw my first drift wood retriever.  A campsite next to the creek had a dog that went down the steep bank of the creek, started barking, found a piece of driftwood, and carried it up to the campsite.  As cold as it is here, I'm sure his finds, help keep the firewood stocked.

There are a lot more eagles here than Homer. We have seen almost as many eagles as we have sea gulls since we got here. We are  mesmerized by the eagles here.  The eagles flap their mighty wings to run off the sea gulls on the shore.  This gives the eagles the prime selection of the chume in the inlet.  I can't do anything but watch.  I have never seen a beach with eagles and sea gulls.

We noticed when it is low tide the birds flock to the beach and there are about 4 times as many boats fishing.  Looks like the locals and the birds know what is happening here.

After a  great day, we ate left over halibut.  We sat around the campfire,  birdwatching, (which I never thought I would ever do), we are ready to go to bed and hear the waves crashing,  I love to hear the waves when I am sleeping.

This is my favorite place since I left home.

Razor Clams

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/26pBaezKy39bJ7rr6

Day 31 (7-1-12 - Another great day at Homer Spit)

We strolled from the campground to the end of the spit then back again this morning.  It was 49 degrees, cloudy, and a light wind.   It was nice. 

We debated whether it was time to move on or to stay another day.  We decided to stay another day.

Lauren went fishing in the fishing hole.  He didn't get a bite.  There were 2 seals playing in the water and a huge golden eagle watching while he fished.  I took plenty of pictures.

I told him to try fishing behind the camper in the bay.  He didn't catch anything.  He skipped rocks to entertain himself.  The  fish weren't biting so he might as well have fun.

I cooked my homemade chili with the help of the generator.  It was the prettist view that I ever had cooking chili.  I hope that the chili taste as good as the view..

Today was the anniversary of daddy's death.  I mentioned this to Lauren as I was cooking the chili. It was cloudy, and a lot colder because the wind had picked up.  Lauren said  I bet Otha can do something about the weather.  All the sudden the wind slowed down and the sunshine came out.  It was fantastic.

After I cooked the chili, a truck pulled up and asked if we needed firewood.  They said that they would give us a good deal.  Of course, we were interested.  Lauren bought some wood, and by the way it was a good deal from 2 women in a truck. 

Lauren commented on the younger women's tatoos and found out she did it herself.  She had arms that were  bigger than a lot of men.  She has to be tougher than most men because she tatooed  herself. 

We  have noticed that there a lot of women cleaning fish in Alaska and we are impressed.  These women made us believe that these women are TOUGH and self sufficient. 

We also cooked Halibut tonight.  I hope the frozen halibut taste as good as the fresh.  The chili I cooked tonight will be for another meal.

The tide is a major event at Homer Spit.  The tide range is 28 foot.  We have the water lapping  right behind our camper then as the tide leaves you can walk a LONG way before you get your feet wet.  From what we read, this tide is more extreme than most.

We saw bald eagles,  a golden eagle, (which is rare in Homer) and seals in the fishing hole.  It appears that the seals caught more fish than the people fishing in the fishing hole.

Pics:  https://goo.gl/photos/fYQbS1GHMeyyS1nY6

Day 30 (6-30-12 - Homer Spit)

Homer Spit from Skyline Drive

We had a beautiful day today.  It was sunny and in the mid 50's.  But unfortunately, the wind started  howling which was quite cold. 

We took a ride across the Skyline Drive.  It has realy pretty views of the spit, the reservoir, the Kachemak Bay, and the Beluga Lake.  We saw 3 moose in town and a bunch of bald eagles on the bay.

We picked up our fish that we had vaccuum packed and frozen.  We took everything out of our camper freezer to make room for the halibut.  The freezer is full.

We watched the videos that Captain Lane did for us yesterday.  Now we know why we are so tired and sore today.  No one should complain if they pay $20 a pound for halibut.  I know from experience this is hard work, but it was fun and I would do it all over again. It is one, (if not) the best fishing trip that I have ever been on. 

Pictures:  https://goo.gl/photos/CKmwna2wZ6bE828i6

Day 29 (6-29-12 - Halibut Fishing Trip at Homer Spit)

We have been on the road for 4 weeks now.  We are more exhausted from our fishing trip today than we were from packing up the camper before we left.

We left camp at 7 a.m. and returned at 5:15pm to go halibut fishing on a boat named, Intodeep .  We went about 15 miles in the boat to Cook Inlet. We saw a lot of snow topped mountains and a puffing volcano. 

The weather was nice.  The waves were around 4 feet.  It was a great day to be on the water. Lane and Doug were great Halibut Fishing teachers.  Tux (Lane's dog), was so happy to see us today.    He is a sweet,energetic dog.  We kept 7 fish and threw back about 10 waiting to get the big fish.

The poles that we used had a 3 pound weight.  It is hard to fish with a pole that has a 3 pound weight that is 200 feet deep.   When I got a fish, it was all that I could do to hang on, use every muscle in my body, and reel the fish into the boat.. 

The first halibut that I caught got off when we were trying to land him.  He would have been a throw back, so I was not upset about losing the fish.

I was able to land the 2nd fish (with a lot of help from Lane and Doug).  This fish weighed about 35 pounds. I don't know if I could get a bigger fish in the boat. The fish flopped around and covered  my legs and feet in blood and fish slime, I hope I can get that smell out of the boots before I go hiking again in bear country. 

I caught 4 fish before Lauren caught one.  I thought that Lauren was going to be skunked.  He finally caught a cod and then several halibut. 

When the fish is really big, he can hurt you when you put it in the boat, so they shoot the fish before pulling the big fish in the boat.  Lauren was disappointed that he didn't get yell, "Choot Em."  I am going to start yelling,"get the gun," instead of "get the net," when we catch next years big crappies.

I stopped fishing around 2 p.m.  After you pull in 6 halibut, every muscle in your body hurts.

I made it until 3 p.m. until I got sea sick.  My Scopolamine patch did not prevent me from getting sea sick.  Doug and Lane gave me sea bands to put on my wrist and then I was fine.  In the past, I have been so sea sick that Lauren had to pack me off the boat.  I am glad this only lasted a few minutes.

We could never have found better teachers than Doug and Lane.  They were really patient with us.  We appreciate Lane, Doug, and Tux for allowing us to fish with them.  It is nice when locals give  you the opportunity to fish with them and do everything that they can to help you catch big fish.

We saw several sea otters and a bunch of eagles today.

Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/iGd4KTXV2FUgAkpC8