Cycling Alaska 2002: One more day in Homer

Day 17--Sunday, August 4, 2002, 33.48 miles (on & off the Spit several times and around Homer)

Ah, Homer. We just can't stand to leave it. Will stay an extra day—today, Sunday—and Jess will buy back the day by hitching us a lift somewhere up the line. This is her promise and our plan. I really don't have to worry. Jess is such a charmer, good things come our way.

When Jess got in last night, we fixed my halibut for supper. Since there was nothing around with which to make shish skewers, we settled for beer-la-baisse. We're forced to be inventive with our meals. Jess traded a large piece of the halibut filet for half a stick of butter. I went to the grocery-hardware store down the line and found an onion, lemon juice, and a potato. We diced the onion and potato and a piece of a ridiculously large carrot Jess has been carrying with her, and sautéed them in our one cook pot. Then I cut the filet into cubes (or some semblance thereof). Jess donated a can of beer as the stock to which I added the fish. We let the fish stew simmer until the halibut was finished and then ate it with some crackers we had saved from our fish 'n chips meal. It was delicious!

More fish, this time given to us by a Dutch couple
who had too much from their day's catch

Got up this a.m. at 7, ready to wash all my fishy and Jess's kayaky clothes. But the immaculate little laundromat doesn't open until 8, so here I sit beginning today's report, drinking coffee, and watching the boats and wildlife on the Inlet side of the Spit. A bald eagle, only about 20 feet up, flew directly over the picnic table last night. A loon snoozes on the swells near shore as I write this. The mountains, glaciers coves, and islands across the way stand out clearly on this sunny, nonfoggy morning. Life is good.

Our plan this morning is to ride our bikes into Homer to get our film developed, eat lunch at Cafe Cups, go to the sourdough bakery for bread, etc. I will catch you up on our goings on at the end of the day.

Homer's Cafe Cups. We wanted to eat lunch here but unfortunately it was closed on Sunday. We heard that is more wildly artistic inside.

Day's End: Did the fishy wash and then Jess and I biked into Homer from the Spit. There is a bike trail along the Spit for about half the distance. We were excited about seeing some of the places we'd read about and eating lunch at Cafe Cups . . . but alas, most places were closed. We did drop our photos (5 rolls) at a pricey 1-hour developer, and also cruised the town. On the way back, we stopped at a "produce" store that had the usual sorry collection of "fresh" vegetables. Bought some broccoli, a couple of small zucchini, an avocado, tomato & cuke for the evening meal. Then we stopped at the Sourdough Express and bought a loaf of bread. Could hardly wait to get back to camp to eat some of the smoked salmon on the sourdough (left).

There were several pairs of rednecked grebes on a small lake we had to cross to get back to the Spit. One was sitting on a nest near the road and had two chicks. There were also several swimming chicks.

After lunch, Jess read and took a nap and I walked the beach. I was talking to a fisherman who was fishing just for the fun of it—catching cod and small flounder, and starfish, etc., and throwing them back—when Nadine came running up. She and David had camped one night at Seaside Farms and did not particularly like it. Too many people, too close. They had moved to a campground on the bluffs above Homer. They were going to take a bus to Anchorage on Wed., and from Anchorage plan on flying to Sulawesi. They'd been looking for us.

I invited them to come for supper. They said they'd bring a salad because they'd found a real grocery store. While we were talking, the codfish-catching man hooked a gull. Nadine waded in thigh deep and untangled the gull. After it was free, it just floated on the water and allowed her to stroke it. We told her to pick it up and throw it into the air, which she did, and it finally flew off.

I went back to camp and told Jess the exciting news: We were to have guests for supper! Then I rode into town to get the photos, and Jess hitched up the empty BOB and rode back to a spot where earlier we had seen some good driftwood for the evening fire.

When I got to the photo shop they told me that their machine had broken down and that they had only one of our five rolls of film developed. I was disappointed, but I have labeled these and will send them off on our way out of town tomorrow. I'll get the other rolls developed somewhere up the line.

When D & N arrived, we prepared a feast. Nadine made a big tossed salad in the plastic tub I carry fresh food in. Jess bought a oversized bottle of wine and we cooked our onion, broccoli and zucchini in our one pot and then added a packet of spicy rice and let it all simmer until done. I cut big slabs of sourdough. Well, we four managed to eat all the rest of the smoked salmon, the whole pot of veges and rice, the rest of the sourdough, and the bottle of wine.

Jess enjoying wine out of her "Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn" mug while steaming the rice.

After supper we moved a big log next to a fire ring on the beach and toasted marshmallows on whatever odd stick we could find. Drank some ginger beer that D & N had also brought while we watched the sun set (at 10:30 this far south, making it darker, but still light all night). It was a great evening, and we hated to say good-bye again.