Friday May 6^th

We arrived at the Homer Elks around 1:00 and the parking lot was full, with cars and two school buses blocking all of the RV sites.  We went in and talked to the book keeper, she said that they were here for a field trip, the teachers and kids were down on the beach at low tide exploring all of the critters on the beach.  We waited for about 30 minutes and they cleared out and we got set up.  The Elks Lodge did not open until 4:00 so we had lunch on the bus, and I decided to tackle the level leg.  From 2:00 to around 6:00 I fought the good fight.  I was crawling under the bus on a piece of cardboard over the gravel wrestling a 65lb piece of steel, gears, and electric motor.  I was able to take the old one out in about 45 minutes of course I had gravity on my side, not so much on putting in the new one.  It was difficult to twist and turn the old one to get it free and clear.  The new one just would not get clear of all of the braces, and structure that surrounded the area it needed to be placed in.  I decided that there was a small corner of sheet steel that if I could bend it or cut it off I might be able to clear it and get the leg into place.  It took forever to finally cut the small corner of the point off with a hack saw blade.  I could not use the hack saw because there was not enough clearance.

I got back underneath and started again trying to twist and turn the leg so it would go into place, no luck.  I was exhausted, I decided I needed a different tool, something I could put on the end of my drill and work more of the metal corner down.  I headed to the hardware store and could not find what I was looking for.  I decided to buy a right angle grinder and wheel and see if it would do the trick.  Back to the bus, took the grinder out of the box attached the wheel, not enough clearance to get an angle of attack on the piece of metal I needed removed; Crap.  By this time the trip to the store had given me a breather and I had regained a little strength.  I decided to crawl back underneath and try again.  Somehow someway I was able to hold my mouth just right and the dam thing went back into place where it belonged.  I bolted it up, plugged in the power, and hit the button, and it worked.

“Pia let me get cleaned up and let’s get a drink in the lodge”.

The Elks Lodge in Homer has a view across Kachemak Bay, and the Kenai Mountains.  It is a spectacular view and a very nice lodge.  The bar was full, but we sat at a booth by a window with that awesome view and enjoyed a few drinks.

We stayed a week at the Elks Lodge, and got to know a younger couple John, and Laurie who we have been doing a few things with.  We also met some other members and have enjoyed our stay.  We went kayaking and fishing on the Spit on Saturday which was a beautiful day, I caught a small halibut but lost it at the boat.

The weather deteriorated during the week it was windy, cool, and cloudy, but the forecast for the Wednesday through Sunday was very good.  They were talking about hitting 74 degrees in Anchorage on Saturday.  As we have found up here they rarely get the weather right.  Wednesday was crappy, and Thursday morning was looking pretty bad until about 11:00 and it started getting very nice.

On Tuesday we had headed down to the Spit again to look around the shops, and check things out.  We decided to head into the Salty Dawg Saloon, which is famous I guess as a very old, hangout for commercial fisherman, and tourists alike, it is affectionately referred to as the Dawg buy locals.  It is basically a log cabin with very low ceilings that are littered with signed dollar bills.  We found two seats at the bar and ordered drinks, Pia of course put a dollar up on the ceiling.  We struck up conversations with several of the locals, and there was a couple from Minnesota who were sitting with a gentleman who has a water taxi service, and also during the slow season takes people King Salmon fishing.  His prices were very reasonable and so we booked a trip for Thursday.

One of the things we did while on the Spit was check out the camping opportunities.  We have enjoyed staying at the Elks Lodge, but wanted to see if we could find a neat place to stay on the Spit.  After looking around we decided that it might be nice to stay at the fishing hole campground, it is a city campground without hook up’s but it is right on the water, and is only $15.00 per night.  It is first come first serve so we felt we would have to get in there early on Friday to get a spot.

Thursday we talked to Jim House who was set to take us fishing, but wanted to wait on high tide, so he told us to meet him at 2:00 at ramp 4.  We met him and a friend of his, Kelvi and headed out.  It was beautiful and reasonably warm when we headed out.  I caught the first fish a decent size King Salmon, Pia got the second one, and Kelvi caught a Halibut.  We have a really good time and Jim was a hoot.  I caught another King bigger than the first, Kelvi caught another Halibut.  Jim believes that the fish bight if you play 70’s and 80’s hard rock and roll very loudly, and so we did.

Jim was driving the boat and Pia, Kelvi, and I were in the stern, when the reel next to Pia started to sing.  Pia grabbed the rod, and it was a good sized King.  I took the wheel, and Jim coached Pia on fighting the fish.  She worked the fish for at least 10 minutes and we got it landed.  It was the biggest King of the day.  We fished a while longer but it was approaching 6:00 and decided to head in.  Kelvi did not get a King but I am sure she will get another chance with Jim.  They had met at the Dawg a couple of nights before and seem to be developing a relationship.

Friday morning, we moved the bus and got a spot at the fishing hole.  It was a good thing we went early, because the campground filled up for the weekend.  The weather was beautiful as predicted and people from Anchorage were taking advantage of the early spring.  There is a fish cleaning table, and a sort of dumpster for the fish carcasses three campsites away from us toward the road.  This obviously draws a good number of Seagulls, which is no surprise and they make a heck of a mess.  The benefit is that it also draws bald eagles, and we have been watching them fly around, sit on anything and everything to guard the fish carcass bin.  They chase the seagulls, and each other, sometimes there are three at a time sitting on the edge of the bin with one inside eating and popping it’s head up to look around every few seconds, it is very cool.  They have also been flying low over the water directly at the bus and then flair up right in front of us.  I am trying to get that on video, but have not been quick enough yet.  Friday afternoon we meet our friends John and Laurie at the Homer Brewery, and had fresh Oysters from the Oyster Shack sort of in the parking lot.  The Oysters were very good, and a little different tasting than the ones at home, but were reasonable in price.  After beer and Oysters, we went to a restaurant called Cups in town.  The meal was excellent and we all had a great time.  When we got back to the bus Pia and I decided to take a walk to the Dawg and see if Jim and Kelvi where there.  My right knee and my back really started hurting, I am not sure if the wrestling match with the level leg, or all of the walking on rocks and uneven surfaces was causing the problem, but I was in some pain.  Jim was not at the Dawg, and his boat was not in his slip, by this time is was close to 9:00, but seems like about 4:00 in the afternoon because of the long days.  We are getting about 17 hours of daylight now.  We headed back for the bus and went to bed, I was hoping that some rest would help my back.

We closed up the bus bays and headed to the end of the spit.  John and Laurie were there.  John was out fishing, and Laurie was done kayaking and was on the beach.  We headed out and started fishing, we are still trying to figure out how to catch Halibut from our kayaks.  We want to get some to have frozen and shipped to Lucien so we will have it when we get home.  The charters for Halibut fishing are very expensive, $375.00 per person plus tip.  We may get a chance to go with Jim again as friends depending on how busy he is.  Pia caught two Pollock, and I caught one, but they were too small and not worth cleaning.  We were out about an hour and my back started really hurting.  We headed back in and loaded up the kayaks on the jeep, we all decided to walk over to a place on the spit that John and Laurie said had great pizza.  While walking I was really hurting, we got to the place and the pizza was very good, but expensive, the place was tiny but had a great view.  We watched a bald eagle and seagull fighting over a scrap of fish on the beach, it was very cool.  We headed back to the bus and I tried to rest my back, and knee.

Sunday John was in a 5k run here on the spit, and Laurie came by the bus to wait while he ran.  We decided to have a camp day and rest.  I smoked a piece of the Salmon we caught, and Pia made some sides dishes, it was all very good.  During Laurie’s visit she mention a chiropractor in town that they go to, so Monday morning I called to see if I could get an appointment.

The chiropractor had an opening for Monday afternoon, so we hung around the bus, Pia fished in the fishing hole, and I rested.  The weather had turned and so it was cold, and rainy.  We have been watching people fish this hole since we got here on Friday, but no one had caught and fish yet.  Monday was the day; we saw 4 nice salmon caught so Pia was on it.  She fished for quite a while but to no avail.   She came back in and we headed to out for my appointment.

After the normal 50 pages of paper work you have to fill out every time you go to the doctor (there has to be a better way), I was seen by the doctor.  I have never been to a chiropractor before and was more than a little apprehensive.  My ex-wife was a physical therapist and she had a very low opinion of chiropractors, but I was desperate and did not want to go through the process of going to a regular doctor then getting a referral to an orthopedic doctor, who normally wants to do x-rays, and then surgery.  That process could take the rest of the summer, and I did not think it is necessary.  So the doc did his thing, it was a little scary, and told me a lot of things to do, almost none of which I can remember.  I felt relief from the sharp pain, but was still a little sore.  His office was right down the street from the Elks, so we headed over there for a drink.  We ran into some people we had met, and hung around for a few, before we headed back to the bus, and I went straight to bed.

It is Tuesday morning May 17^th, I am feeling a better but still a little sore, I am just going to have to give it a little time, but I think the treatment helped.  It is pretty cold this morning, and very cloudy, I think we will run a few errands and cook a pieces of halibut that someone at the cleaning table gave us.  I want to see if I can get some good video of the eagles today as well.  I am sure Pia will fish the hole again, and I am going to send Jim a text and see what they are up to the rest of the week.

Monday May 23, 2016

It was a rough night last night; the wind blew so hard I thought it was going to roll over the bus.  We have had a lot of wind on the spit.  We have decided to stay on the Homer spit through Memorial Day, if we leave on Friday I am worried about where we would find a spot to camp.  We paid through Friday, and I think it would be smart to stay put.  It should also be a hoot to hang here this weekend.

I talked to our new friend Jim and he said either Wednesday or Thursday would be a good day for us to go out and fish for some Halibut.  I hope this works out, he seemed positive about it and I think he will take us if he can.  He is going to see what Kelvi’s work schedule is and see if she can come as well.

This last week has been pretty uneventful, I have been nursing my sore back, and knee.  Pia and I took a drive to the end of Kachemak Bay; it was a beautiful drive and we saw a Moose next to the road on the way back.  The East End Road dead ends at the head of the bay.  The Kenai peninsula includes the Kenai mountains, and Seldovia there are no roads around the head of the bay.  The only way to get to that side of the peninsula is to take a boat or to fly.  There is a turnoff at the far end of East End Road that takes you to Caribou Lake, but John tells me that we would not even be able to get there in our jeep.

Wensday we went out to eat at Captain Patty’s.  We had been wanting to eat King Crab since we got here but had not done it yet.  It was so good, Pia and I split a pound and a half, next time we are going to get the three-pound dinner.  We then headed to the Down East Saloon, they have open mic night, Laurie had told us John might play, so we headed over there around 9:00.  John is a very good saxophone player, he started college as a music major, but changed his major to engineering, he told me it was easier.  There was a guy playing the ukulele, and singing he was very bad, and seemed to think the stage was his for the night.  John and the man who seems to run the open mic night sort of forced him to stop while they played “Turn The Page” by the Eagles.  John was impressive on the sax solo.  After he played and sat down another guitar player came over to our table and asked if John would play with them next.  So we stayed and they played a couple of songs.  Kelvi was at the saloon as well and we talked with her for a while, she had to head back to the boat she works on because they were bringing it into dry dock at 1:00 in the morning for some work; they have to bring it in at a high tide.

Pia fished some at the fishing hole this week, but it was windy, rainy, and cold most of the week.  The sun came out on Sunday, but the wind and cold did not let up much.  The fishing here at the hole is very slow, everyone tells us that it is just a little early, although we have seen some nice salmon caught, but not very many.  We fished yesterday and I backlashed my reel so badly I could not pick it out.  I spent 20 minutes standing in the cold wind working on it until my back started to ach, so I reeled it up and went back to the bus disgusted.  I will have to re-spool it today.  We saw one lady catch two salmon right in front of the bus.  I went down to see what she was using and talk with her, she was using a vibrix spinner, orange in color, with some artificial roe on the tribble hook.  I guess I am going to the sporting goods store again this morning.

It is a beautiful morning the sun is shining and the sky is mostly blue, still windy, and cold.  The weather is forecast to improve all week, so we should get some more chances to fish here at the hole.  Jim told me when he seals are in the hole you know the salmon are there as well.  We saw at least seven seals in the hole yesterday, so we will keep our fingers crossed and try again.  My back is feeling better, and I want to try doing more this week, I just need to be careful not to overdo it.