Scenic View Campsite, Ninilchik

Bob and I walked up a trail and took this shot of our 3 RV's. In the back row from left to right, Joe, Bob and Jack's.

Just behind our rigs is a steep cliff that separates us from Cook's Inlet and the mountains in the distance.

The name of our campsite "Scenic View" is fitting. Such beauty here.

There are 3 volcanos in the mountain range behind us. The biggest is called Redoubt Volcano and last erupted in 1989. So picturesque. We will miss this beauty, but who knows what we will see our next stop.

Norman Lowell Art Gallery & Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer

Today, our big adventure was visiting the Norman Lowell Art Gallery in Homer.

As luck would have it, Norman himself, was there. He talked to us and invited us to visit his home, old homestead and studio that were right on the premises. Norman is in his 80's now. His poetry and paintings are all over the world. He specializes in paintings of beautiful Alaska. It's mountains, waterfalls, lakes and wintery scenes. We couldn't even afford a "print", but we thoroughly enjoyed his work. Norman is still actively painting even though he is blind in one eye and only has 10% in the other. Nice man.

Norman lives just a few feet away from the gallery. They were original "homesteaders" back in 1959.  They were given 160 acres.

 

This was their original homestead. The home they now live in, is a few feet away.

This is Norman's art studio. He no longer uses this, but still paints where he has an abundance of light due to his near blindness.

 

Next stop--------The Salty Dawg Saloon. A must visit in Homer.

There are thousands of dollar bills hand signed and tacked everywhere. It's not uncommon to find bras, panties, caps or just about anything hanging.

Here we all are. Bob is enjoying his $4.50 Bud Lite. Joe had a Salty Dog. Our next stop is McDonald's. Sue wanted to visit the winery, but we couldn't find it. I was looking forward to the free samples of crackers and cheese.

Ninilchik fishing for Halibut

Our boat is ready to be launched. This big tractor takes it out to sea by hooking to our trailer and letting it loose. When we came back, it was waiting for us to drive right back on.  As you can tell by the picture, it was not a hot sun-shiny day. Temps in the 50's and misting.

Bob's first fish was not as big as he would like, so he told the captain to let it grow up some more. We all caught fish that we threw back in, hoping for bigger ones. We were allowed 2 each or 12 total. We got our quota and one for the captain.

This was my biggest catch and the biggest so far until Bob started showing off.

Bob caught both of the 2 biggest fish. They weighed 30 pounds each. We all caught fish and all had a good time. We enjoyed our Captain Levi, too.

Back to shore, getting out of the boat. We were all kind of cold and ready to get back.

We were pretty proud of our catch. It was a good day for all of us.

Bob was happy to claim those 2 big ones, but we all caught nice ones and the small ones taste the best, they say. Our captain cleaned the fish for us. When we got the fish home, we used Joe & Sue's vacuum sealer, split up the fish and froze it in the freezer Joe bought.

This is our captain, Levi. He did a great job making our day fun and successful.

Homer's Spit, 4th of July at RV park

It was a great day for a fishing trip at Homer's Spit. It's a tourist area in Homer with one little shack after another from ice cream to bars and souvenir shops. Unfortunately, the fish wouldn't get on any one's hooks. No fish this day. The mountain scene across the ocean was awesome.

Amongst the attractions on Homer's Spit is this graveyard of old boats. I love the lupine flowers along the roadside.

This houseboat has long been abandoned. I thought it looked haunted.

We had a potluck dinner to celebrate the 4th of July at our campsite. We have very nice camp hosts. Very accommodating and treated us like family. One day, Bob, the owner, was smoking salmon and gave everyone a sample. Delicious.

Bob, the campground host, dressed up like a Norwegian Wench and danced with this old man celebrating his 80th birthday. 

Ninilchik Scenic View RV Park

"On The Road Again". We left Anchorage and headed for Ninilchik, where we are hopeful to catch lots of fish. We are chartering a private boat Saturday to catch Halibut. Today we are going to Homer to get anything, maybe salmon.

It's been kind of cold and overcast since we left Anchorage. This is a picture of our campsite. It's small and the hosts are very friendly. We have a beautiful view of the ocean. Actually, it's Cook's Inlet.

We drove into Homer to check out the fishing possibilities. Going to give it a try today. This bald eagle is waiting for someone to throw out an unwanted fish.

Glacier Discover-Alaskan Railroad

We all bought tickets for a great Alaskan Railroad trip to see some of Alaska's Glaciers and other beautiful scenery.

All aboard the Alaskan Railroad Glacier Discovery.

Our first sight of a glacier. I zoomed in on this one. It's the icy blue area on the right side of the picture.

We went through 5 tunnels on our ride. Everyone was supposed to hold their breath going through, but I think they cheated.

Some people who took the train with us, took a side excursion down the rapids. Others took a hiking excursion. We stopped on our way back and picked them all up. Everyone survived.

I hung out the window and snapped our train going around a curve. Beautiful snow-covered mountain ahead of us.

Say "Hi" to Joe hanging out the window.

Here's another glacier. See the icy blue area in the middle of the picture.

We saw many gorgeous waterfalls. Where does all that water come from?

This is Spencer's Glacier. It was very large and beautiful. You really have to see for yourself. Pictures don't do them justice.

Glacier in the middle, beautiful valley below. Sooooo beautiful! I think this would make a great jigsaw puzzle.

Snow-capped mountains, beautiful rapids and snow banks in the foreground.

This a terrible picture, but I had to post it to prove that we saw eagles. In the tree on the right is a bald eagle on it's nest. There is another eagle on top of the tree on the left.        REALLY!!!!

Day at the Anchorage Zoo

 

We all really enjoyed the Anchorage Zoo. I forgot to take my camera, so Joe sent me a pic from his camera. The polar bears were everyone's favorites. This one jumped in the water and played with the big balls and swam and swam for us. Many of the exhibits were animals from all over the world that had been injured in some way.

Zoo