Alaska Trip March 7-9, 2006, Homer, Days 4-6

Time sure flies when you're on vacation and having fun. Here's a summary of the last few days:

Day 4: March 7, 2006.

Lunch at Cafe Cups in Homer. Excellent place to stop if you're ever here. We went back to Dad's cabin for more destruction. I settled my dispute with the shower stall by folding it into 3 pieces and loading it into the truck for it's final death march to the local landfill. We managed to tear out the kitchen sink, the "marijuana room" (where the previous owner had obviously been growing plants), and the toilet (too disgusting to discuss here). Later we went to the Homer version of REI, called "The Gear Shed," where Marci and Dad made some purchases. Dinner was at "Fat Olive's," a great pizza/beer/wine joint. Some of the best pizza we'd ever had, and got to sample some more of Homer's local brew.

Day 5: March 8, 2006.

Finished up minor cleanup and screw tightening at the cabin, followed by a tour of some Homer art galleries. Also made it out on the Spit to the Salty Dawg to get a friend a sweatshirt, and to try to find a geocache (we struck out due to some snowdrifts). Click on photos for the full pic:
We also checked out my favorite lighthouse for some photos...

We visited some local art galleries, and Dad also got to set up some accounts for the propane and electricity at the cabin. Late in the day, we did some more geocaching near a local "Islands and Oceans" museum, which led us to a snowy trail. I was busy fiddling with the GPS (looking down), and when I was about 12 feet from the geocache location, I looked up...into the face of a moose. There was a huge moose laying almost precisely where the geocache was supposed to be...scared the living crap out of me. I accepted it as fate that I was supposed to find the moose instead of the cache, and moved along....later in the evening we visited Cuz Ken to return his tools, and finished the day with Ken and Linda for dinner at the "Homestead" in Kachemak Bay. Again, great food (notice a trend?), and great company.

Day 6:March 9, 2006.

Today we got up for our flight to Nome, fairly early. Got to the Homer airport at about 7:15, only to discover that our flight was to be late. The guy at the airport counter reported that the tardiness of the flight would most likely interfere with our travel plans (partially due to the fact that I am without ID, too). We had to reschedule our flight to Nome for the 10th. We spent the day shopping, had afternoon coffee at Captain's, and took a great snowshoe to look for another geocache (struck out again!).

After our hike, we headed to Anchor Point, the western-most highway point in the U.S.

to see the sunset. We watched the sun set and Mt. Augustine spew ash from the cab of the truck, toasty warm with plenty of wine and cheese. Tomorrow, to Nome!!!