So I realized today that I never explained the title to my last post. A quaint drinking town with a fishing problem is not Soldotna. It's the slogan of the town of Homer...at a whopping population of 5,000 people. The locals like to say, "It's a town of 5,000 during the winter, but 50,000 in the summer." I think most could guess why.

We went to Homer yesterday. The town was absolutely beautiful with breathtaking views of snow-covered moutains lining the Kachemak Bay. Right now I'm in the Environmental Education center of headquarters, and unfortunately, didn't bring my camera. So I'll have to upload photos of Homer later. To the west (I think) of Homer is The Spit, which is a peninsula that juts out far into the Bay. On either side are mountains upon mountains of sea-smooth stones that I know Aunt Kathy would be absolutely beside herself with. They were great for skipping...although the surf made it hard to get in more than 3 skips. The peninsula was lined with fish n' chip places and saloons. One shop was called "Buttwhackers" -- I'll post a picture of it later. Anyway, the four of us spent about three hours there, walking along the coast to repeatedly stop whenever we wanted to capture the scenery. It was so idyllic - with families setting blankets down and having picnics with their fair-skinned curly-headed children racing after their labrador retrievers who happen to be neck-deep in hypothermic water with sticks in their mouths. Homer is definitely a place I want to go back to.

I'll have to end this for now as I'm pushed for time. I'll repost in a couple of days with more tales about Seward, Homer, and the 2-hour hike we did today.