North to Alaska

Even though I am 3,358 (driving) miles away from home, this city reminds me so much of Minnesota. Take all of my favorite aspects of the land of 10,000 lakes, add snowcapped mountains and a few more fishermen and you'll have Homer, Alaska. The B&B that I live at is up on a ridge above town and it looks and feels a lot like the bluffs of the Mississippi River Valley. The harbor and bay, because it isn't as vast as the open ocean reminds me of Lake Superior and Duluth. Now, I've never been the type of Minnesotan to complain about the cold weather but I just was not expecting the chill around here and I feel like such a baby. I've been cold since I got off the plane (not on the plane, I was sweating on the plane and not because of the chill in the air...because of the effects of turbulance on a 10-passanger aircraft flying over the ocean). I am told that it stops raining sometimes and that it can get into the 70s for a portion of the summer. I'll be waiting for that.

Flying here was actually more beautiful than being here. For a good part of the flight we were over the Canadian Rockies and it blew my mind. Some of the peaks reached above the clouds and the farther we got into them the more glaciers and rivers there were. I couldn't believe how rugged and unexplored they looked. From Anchorage I took a small plane to Homer. I was only in the plane for 59 minutes and I tried to breathe through it but 5 more minutes and I might have lost it. I was not afraid going into it but it felt much more like a rollercoaster than I anticipated.

My hosts picked me up from the airport and welcomed me in right away. I can't get enough of their adorable children and they quite obviously can't get enough of me. About five minutes in the car and their little girl was asking why I had to leave so soon (the end of summer).

The good news is that there aren't any ticks or mosquitos. The bad news is that there are moose and bears (black and grizzly). I am not too concerned. Actually, I would like to see a bear, at a distance. I was getting the low-down on the wildlife and was told a number of times that they really don't see bears on their property, maybe twice in the past five years. When I woke up this morning they told me last night when I was still awake getting ready for bed they saw a young moose booking it up the ridge behind the pond in their back yard. It was followed by a black bear. They debated telling me. I hadn't yet seen any moose but I was told they use the trail that runs right in front of my cabin. I woke up the morning and the first thing I did was look out the front window and sure enough

Today they took me around town getting me acquainted with the lay of the land and the way of life. Things here seem really easy going. We went down to the spit which is a 5-mile jut of land out into the Kachemak Bay to pick up some halibut that was getting processed for them. The fishing lifestyle is something so out of my rhelm of everyday living but so interesting, I've already learned so much. We also went to the beach which was at low tide so I got to walk out a ways and do some tidepooling. The weather was rainy and windy but it cleared for a moment to get a shot of the mountains across the Bay. This is also pretty much my view from on top of the ridge.

I won't start working here at the inn probably until tomorrow and I am looking forward to helping out and exploring the area on my own. They really want me to meet people and try new things and I am all for it. I just got here yesterday and have seen so much but I have the whole summer to soak it all in.