Homer Alaska August 2006

As we said when this blog was started we would recap some of many adventures from the start of retirement travels. This is the first entry of our Alaska trip revisited.

8/15/2006: As we got up and prepared to leave for Homer it was raining lightly. The Lord gave us a chance get the trike loaded, (never took a ride), and the outside stuff done. We left rainy Seward in the rain and headed to Homer on the other side of the Kenai. Light rain fell during the entire 160-mile trip. We arrived at A Fisherman’s Resort in Homer it is a small but very nice park, seven sites total.

Now the real fun began. We tried to back into site #7 but there were 2 metal posts in the way so we couldn’t get in. They said we could probably use site #2. As we backed into site #2, the trailers’ left side tires started across the corner of the grassy portion of the lot. All three tires sunk to the axles immediately. Lynn hollered on the walkie-talkie, “PULL OUT! PULL OUT!” And then reached up to stop it from falling...DUH! She quickly realized she'd better just get out of the way. It all happened so fast...! The trailer listed at about a 30-degree angle with the dump valves also stuck in the mud, we were stuck real good. This time we were glad it had been raining because all the dump valves dug into the ground, but just sank in the soft mud, not too much damage.

Thank the Lord we did have a good hitch setup, so we twisted but didn’t break. But we were stuck and it was beginning to rain harder. Fellow RV’ers to the rescue... the park manager and several of the guys at the park came over and we began to dig and use bottle jacks to raise the left side up so we could get timbers under it.

They weren’t too receptive of a woman’s opinions until Bruce gave them the same answers. Lynn gave them a few GOOD ideas, (which they finally used after she said, “ What do I know? I’m only a woman and this is my trailer.”), then went into another RV for a cup of hot tea with one of the wives of the men who were helping. She decided she didn’t need to be out there in that rain anyway.

With only the left hydraulic jack holding up the rig, (Lynn's idea), we had to disconnect the trailer and that was very scary. It was still tipped so far, and we had to remove the rear tire on the left side. This crew helped us to remember why we have RV’ed for 30 years.

After about three hours the trailer was shored up with timbers and ready for a pull. The trailer was hooked up so Bruce put it in low and we pulled it out leaving a very large hole in the ground quickly filling with water.

The park manager wanted us to stay and we felt we owed it to him to stay after we had wrecked his grass. Everyone involved watched, coached and Lynn prayed as we backed into site #2 and finally setup... level. We made the needed connections, had a bowl of chili and went to bed after thanking the Lord for keeping us all safe and the Alfa (our trailer) livable. AMEN! What a day!

8/17/2006: Today we had made plans to go to Seldovia, AK, a small town that is southwest of Homer across the bay and can only be reached by plane or boat. We took the boat that gave us a small tour of the bay on the way over.

Seldovia was first established by the Russians in the late 1700s it was the only all weather port in this part of Alaska until the 1900s when Homer was established. Seldovia is a nice small fishing village; We have decided that if and when we want to get away from it all, this is the place.

Again we had a delicious lunch of fresh grilled salmon at the Mad Fisherman Restaurant. We walked the village, ate wild berries both raspberries and salmonberries as we watched salmon jump in the river. Sure wish we had a large baggie to put some of those berries in, but it was fun just to eat them recklessly and not worry about carrying them home. When picking berries in Alaska, you always keep an eye out for bears.

The very best thing about this day was THE SUN CAME OUT! After returning to Homer we completed arrangements to go bear watching over Cook Inlet at Katmai National Park next Wednesday, a day with Alaskan Brown bears, guided by Chris and Ken Day who guided the Alaskan portion of the movie “Bears” for IMAX.

We had a nice dinner; Bruce had a hamburger and Lynn had fresh Halibut. Then we went home to do laundry and take out the trash.

What more is there to say? It was a very pleasant day on the boat, watching sea otters and all the other sea animals along the way. The Puffins are so fun to watch. Lynn said they are much smaller than she had imagined.

8/19/2006 A spectacular sunset over Beluga Lake, Bruce kept taking pictures and it kept changing. This picture is a favorite.

8/21/2006: Woke up to sunshine trying to come on through and it did. Downloaded the trike ready to take a ride. Rode out to Anchor Point via the old Sterling Highway, nice Alaska countryside but no critters of note.

Had lunch at Anchor Point and then we rode out to the point that is the farthest west you can go on a road in all of North America. We had a good view of Cook Inlet and some of the volcanoes that make up the Pacific Ring of Fire.

We rode up the coast to Ninilchik a town established by the Russians during their occupation of Alaska. This town had a very interesting Russian Orthodox Church, (still having services), and cemetery, a very picturesque village.

We returned to Homer and cruised down the spit for dinner. At Land’s End we got to see a Bald Eagle teach flying and hunting to her fledgling, very cool.

8/23/2006: What a beautiful day we woke this morning to sunshine, not a cloud in the sky. Today is our bear watch day!

We went out with Emerald Air, Chris and Ken Day. We flew out of Beluga Lake in their 1960 DeHavlin Otter over to the Alaskan Peninsula on the west side of the Alaskan Range to the Katmai National Preserve. We flew past the most active volcano in Alaska, Mt. Augustine, which had a minor eruption in January and had a building lava dome. It has ash and steam output all the time.

Bear viewing in a beautiful remote area with a blue sky and stream full of spawning red salmon is just unbelievable! We walked and watched for about six hours. The closest bears came within maybe fifty feet. We got some great pictures, it was a day very hard to put into words.

It was a great day and it gave us a different concept of Brown Bears in the wild. They are intelligent, playful, and very curious about everything. These bears are not confrontational when they don’t see us as a threat or a food source. The worst thing that we can do is leave any trace of ourselves, especially food, in their place.

God created bears as he has all other things, some we can put to use for our well being and others we endure or enjoy, depending on perspective. Hunting is good when fulfilling the need for food and clothing, but to come into an uninhabited area just for the sport of killing these animals is wrong. This is their space, we have even called it a National wildlife preserve, and we the citizens of the USA gave them this space. It is our obligation to see to it that they can always be safe here. (There is a push to open this area up for trophy hunting.)

We walked about 5 miles in those 6 hours. We were pretty tired at the end of this day, but it was a good tired! What a fabulous zip-a-dee-doo-dah day!

Easter Sunday at Cowboy Church

Easter Sunday in any Christian Church is time for celebration after all Jesus has overcome sin and death to be our Lord and Savior.

At Western Heritage Cowboy Church of Lake Hills TX. there was another reason to celebrate this Easter Sunday. After meeting under a tent canopy for at least two years their building was ready enough for the first of many worship services.

Lynn and I are just happy that we have been here for this celebration being what they call here, "Winter Texans", and after picking this church just by the road sign. We found a congregation that love each other and serve the Lord in their ministry.

As we pulled into the parking lot, the cowboys were out there directing parking on horseback. These guys will come up with any excuse to ride their horses! WHCC had decided to serve Easter breakfast to all who came, biscuits and gravy for 300+ people, plus breakfast pastries made by many of the fine cooks in the congregation. Even on the motorcycle, Lynn has managed to bring our donation of breakfast items now and then.


The building has been going up since Christmas, and even though it isn't finished we've begun to worship in it... but, hey! we have been meeting in a tent, and this building has walls and a roof of metal! The interior walls are just studs and the plumbing may not be finished but they moved the porta potties over from the tent location. These people love the Lord and are ready to serve.

Worship began with "The Band", and as I have said before, a Texas country style praise band with a group of great singers. Pastor Cliff preached an excellent salvation message and the Holy Spirit was there.
The day was a great time for everyone. We heard there were 401 people in attendance and 178 cars in the parking lot. The best part was seeing folks like Eddie Leibold showing off a grandchild and one of the cowboys from the parking lot crew who missed his horse during the service. Kids had a great time hunting plastic candy-filled eggs after the service.

The messages have been Christ centered and definitely God inspired. Pastor Cliff has a servant's heart as do the band and core members.


I am just glad Lynn and I have been able to worship with and enjoy the company of these folks. We will certainly miss them when we pull out of here the end of April. We will continue to pray for the success of this church as well as many others in which we have worshiped as we have traveled. As we explore this beautiful country, we will continue to add to this list of faithful churches and wonderful Christians we met along the way.

West Texas Big Bend NP

Last November we left New Mexico headed for our chosen (by dart board) winter home of Lake Medina Texas. We decided there was no better time to see BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK. After all Bruce had just turned 62 and got his senior citizen lifetime pass for the National Parks, so we might as well use it.

Now Big Bend NP is not a park you stop by on your way to the west coast, east coast, or the gulf coast. It is place where you must WANT to go and MUST plan your trip to get there! This park is in far west Texas, so when you look at a map of Texas, that area down the side where the Rio Grande makes a U-turn and heads NNE...it's right there.


We turned right off US-90 in Marathon TX and
started the 95 mile drive to Rio Grande RV Village, (our desired destination for the next week). Rio Grande is a no hook-up campground with a lot of very nice sites some in the sun and some in the shade. Many are large enough for any RV on the road but some are for tenter's only. All had nice picnic tables and animal resistant food storage boxes. Those boxes are to keep critters like javelina and coyotes out of the tenter's food so you don't see them in the CG. But there is one javelina, you may very well see..."Lonesome George", (picture #1), the unofficial greeter at RGV. The story seems that he is to old to learn new tricks. After they put in the critter resistant boxes, all his buddies left, so now he hangs out hoping for a handout or opportunity.

We downloaded the trike and were ready to begin the exploration of Big Bend NP. Our first trip didn't require much driving as we took a basic birding hike with one of the rangers, Lynn loves bird watching, (and Bruce is picking up some of that enthusiasm). It was fun but it seemed that even the birds down here go somewhere else for the winter.

Next we left the campground and rode over to the parking lot for the trail head for Boquillas Canyon, (pic #2). This canyon makes up the south east border of the park. Once you climb over the hill you descend into the canyon and walk along Rio Grande until the canyon walls block your way.
One of the features you may enjoy while in Boquillas Canyon is Victor the singing boatman, (pic # 3). The story goes that Victor operated the row boat that prior to 9/11 took campers across the Rio for a time of shopping, eating and enjoying the village of Boquillas del Carmen, a small village miles from nowhere who made their living off the visitors. At that time customs didn't care. Now, no tourist can get to the village or big trouble with the border patrol, (except to go all the way around), so Victor brings over walking sticks, painted things and trinkets leaving them with a collection jar for your money (donation) not legal but these people have to live, too. Victor will sing for you and do special request and accept tips in the jar.

The window at the Chisos Basin, (#4), is beautiful. The Chisos Mountains are 35 miles from RGV up hill all the way you climb from 1800 ft to 5300 ft not a steep climb but you can coast back to RGV. On the way you get see the plant life and wild life as the scenery, (and climate), changes from arid desert to mountain meadows. One of the interesting features of the park are some of the plant life unique to Big Bend. From the Chisos basin there are many trails to hike and for those who are so inclined, (not us), get a back country pass from the rangers and spend your time backpacking in the boonies. There is also lodging, a very nice restaurant, and campground in the Basin. (For smaller RV's only! Too many tight turns and narrow passes for our rig!)
On the road to Santa Elena Canyon ,(#5)
Another day trip we took, we headed North across the park to Santa Elena Canyon,(#6) about a 70 mile trike ride from RGV up past the Chisos mountains road and then back down to the Rio Grande. A beautiful ride with many lava created features and sand erosion sculptures. At the Santa Elena trail head there was good parking and picnic area. There also was a nice open area where a stream ran into the Rio Grande which we had to cross to get to the canyon trail. The kids that were there loved this area...lots of sand, gravel and water to play in! The trail itself is a moderate climb and you hike up along side the canyon with an occasional drop down to river level. This canyon defines the Northwest border Santa Elena Canyon of the park.

We loved every sunset we saw. Each were unique. (pic #7) We had some fun hikes and enjoyed the Big Bend Park. There are so many other things to do and see, that we plan to return again in the future.

Some of our favorite things happen right at our campground. We were there in early Nov. during the Veterans Day weekend and had group of men we thought to be hunters camping near us. As we returned home to our RV late one evening, they invited us over for supper of spaghetti. (Very delicious), we found out they were old college buddies from Texas and had been camping together here on the same weekend since the late sixties. We enjoyed their company and Lynn enjoyed not having to fix supper. The next night as we returned from Santa Elena Canyon they invited us over again. This time they had also invited another couple from Alaska. They had prepared a huge Texas sized steak dinner with all the trimmings, (also delicious!) We laughed and talked about our RV lifestyle. These gentlemen were one of many exposures to what we have come to know as true TEXAS HOSPITALITY, and if they should ever read this blog, Thank You again, guys!

Another interesting feature at Rio Grande Village is the beaver pond, (#8). To a northerner, a beaver pond in Big Bend was a little strange but the beaver had build it from a small stream that fed into the Rio Grande. It was a nice quiet place to sit and enjoy a sunset.(#9)


The morning we were preparing to leave, we were sitting at the table eating breakfast, when Lynn spotted a coyote walking by the RV at the road. It appeared he was looking for his breakfast, too.

Lynn jumped up to grab the camera and as she did that, he turned abruptly and started coming directly to our campsite! We had been watching a couple of ground squirrels digging burrows just outside our window for a few days now and was sure he was coming to investigate the mounds. (#10)
Sure enough, he started stalking towards the squirrels, doing his crouching and wiggling his rear end just before he pounced. Lynn snapped the picture as he jumped and caught him in mid-air. (#11) He missed! It was very exciting! A great way to end our week at BIG BEND! We would have loved to stay longer, but they had our spot booked for the next week, so we moved on. They offered to put us somewhere else, but after we get this thing closed up to move, we might as well get on down the road to a new adventure!