The Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church was our first stop along the Sterling Highway on our way to Homer. The weather today is the worst of our trip so far. It rained all day long. So plans were altered accordingly.
The church was founded in 1846 and this structure was built in 1901.
Since it was still raining we stopped to shop at Timberline Creations in Anchor Point.
While Christy shopped, I took pictures. This place has some really cool old artifacts from Alaska's gold mining past.
It also had some very colorful plants outside.
We stopped at the Anchor River State Recreation Area to see what we could see. It turns out that there wasn't much of a view across Cook Inlet but I did find informative signs....
...and amusing signs.
When we reached North America's Most Westerly Highway Point...
...we got out and enjoyed a walk on the beach despite the chilly wind and rain.
I thought this was an interesting shot on the wet sand.
Boredom set in so I tried to get a picture of Chrissy jumping on the beach. Since she barely cleared the ground, it took about ten shots to finally get her in the air.
At least she was smiling.
Then I proved to her I could jump off the ground high enough to get the picture...it only took two tries.
I continued to take pictures on the beach but I was bummed we had no view of the volcanos across Cook Inlet.
This selfie helped cheer me up.
So did writing in the sand.
We made it down to Homer and stopped at the Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center which is the gateway to the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge.
We hiked through Beluga Slough to Bishop's Beach on Kachemak Bay.
I love these Advice from Nature signs.
The boardwalk was close the neighborhood on the beach. A little local flavor on our nature hike...
...and some unbelievably large seaweed on the beach.
While I was amazed at the crazy seaweed...
...Ken was searching for gold on the beach.
I'm not sure what Karen was thinking but I'm sure it was something that included warm and dry in her near future...
...while I am sure Chrissy was looking for wildlife.
Eventually we made it to the Homer Spit and grabbed some lunch at this place.
Then stopped for a drink or two at The Salty Dawg Saloon....
...where they sell giant size Alaska beers...ok it was 12ounces but it looks huge from this angle.
Tourists from around the world have left notes, messages or just their names and hometowns on dollar bills pinned to the ceiling...
...life rings...
...and just about anything hanging in the bar.
Still raining but beer always helps raise the mood, we hiked down and back up the Spit. Here's what we saw.
I thought this was a great way to bring awareness to how much garbage is in our oceans.
The industrial end of the Spit was mainly fishing and ocean equipment.
Here's Ken about to trespass on U.S. Government Property. I think he was going to steal one of these giant buoys but didn't feel like dragging it back to the car.
The hotel and restaurant and the end of the Homer Spit.
The beach here is covered with flat black rocks that are great for skipping across the water.
All kinds of sea life on the beach...
...including a jellyfish.
The Seafarer's Memorial in Homer
We saw this vehicle twice but never met the people in it. But a little search on Google and I found them. A couple of young Czechs touring the world. You can follow them at http://www.cruisingnomads.cz
After enjoying a couple of slices of pizza at Finn's Pizza, we checked out the boats at the harbor.
Still haven't kayak on this trip but I know we will somewhere in Alaska.
Always good to know when you are on a thin sliver of land surround by water.
Really can't describe this, you are seeing what we saw on the north end of the Homer Spit.
Eagles are everywhere up here.
Didn't get a chance to eat here but it is a cool looking place. We stopped for ice cream on the way back to our cabin. Just to be polite, I'll say we met an interesting young lady but the more we talked with her...the happier I was to leave...alive. Just kidding but it did become a running joke with the four of us over the next couple of days. Just for the record, it was really good ice cream. It would have been a really good last meal.
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