27 - Seward & Homer

Since it wasn't too far from Girdwood to Seward, took every roundabout way possible. Per recommendations from my hosts in Girdwood, I went to Hope, AK. A nice 40 mile excursion to an old little town. A couple hours later, I took Exit Glacier Road to see the beautiful glacier.

On the way out, I met Andy and Shane at The Salmon Bake restaurant. Andy has a long red ponytail and a bushy red beard and flies a plane. His buddy Shane struck up a conversation and they told me all the places to go and things to do in Seward. They told me we should meet up later at Yukon and they'd introduce me around. I ran into them at three different places later that night. At the Yukon and at the legendary Pit. This is only relevant because of Homer.

Seward is great.

Camping downtown via city spots is a great way to keep tourists. Most were in RV's, but there were three campgrounds dedicated for tent camping. Unfortunately, they were all full.

I parked my bike, took off my helmet and glasses, and began walking around. Soon, Robert and D.J. said hi and invited me over. Robert was from Maine, retired and spending summers in Alaska. He lived in the campground. D.J. and his girlfriend had been there for a day and had been hanging out with Robert for a couple of hours. They offered to let me set up on their sites. Two tents were allowed per site, but the rule wasn't to accommodate strangers, rather to accommodate groups.

Anyhow, I ended up with the best spot in town, with great neighbors with whom I spent two days.

 

 

 

 

Above, Robert is helping D.J. repair a flat on his bicycle.

I'd decided to spend another day in Seward after meeting some people at The Yukon who lived right around the corner from where I used to live in Arlington (D.C. area)

The next morning I'd started up Marathon Mountain when the rain set in. I'm not geared up for rain, unless I'm riding so I turned around and went to the Yukon and sat down with a beer and wi-fi.

The scenery was great, great enough to go out in the rain for this shot.

A picture of the road?

I like this picture because it's right on the water across from the Iditarod marker.

After two good days, I broke camp and headed toward Homer. Home of the legendary "The World's Deadliest Catch."

I got to Homer late afternoon (with seven + hours of daylight left,) and rode around the entire town for hours.

The Homer Spit is gorgeous and is home to great fishing and the famous Salty Dawg Saloon. While enjoying a pint, I heard a pretty southern female drawl.

"I haven't heard a girl with a Southern drawl in weeks! I'd trade this ale for a pint of sweet tea and swear I was in heaven."

Turns out, she is from Kentucky, not from from Hazard, the town where I spent my first night of the second leg of the trip, but from a town quite near to Hazard.

After finishing my pint, I rode the 500 yards to the campsite to set up. The ranger riding up and down the beach in his little pickup stopped by to collect the camping fee.

I asked him where to go on a Friday night. "The Salty Dawg & Alice's" he flatly replied. We started talking about my trip and stuff and then I told him about Seward. ... and Andy. "Andy" he exclaimed, "is my best friend!." "And Shane?" I replied. "Shane was just here last weekend to visit!"

After that, he gave me the lowdown on where to really go.

Check out my camping spot on the Homer Spit.

Wow!

Thanks to Andy & Shane, I got the local scoop on the Down East Saloon. I got there early and got to talking racing with Dicky. He had a huge bushy beard and knew all about the Kenai peninsula. After telling me about the local race tracks and inspiring me to keep up the tradition of Saturday night racing, even in Alaska, he kept talking to his friends as I listened in.

In the '70's, when he was in his 20's, he had a few consecutive years where he made between a million-two and a million-five.

Fishing was so good he was minting money.

He figured that if he was in debt a million dollars, then he must be worth a million dollars. With only 990k in debt, he walked into a buddie's place a signed on the line for a 68 Chevy truck. He gave it to his hot-rod building buddy and picked it up a couple of months later with a 500 hp small block Chevy with a 4.20 rear end. He had to take it back 20 minutes later to have the transmission replaced. What a character!

Later that evening, I met Red. Red is a retired auctioneer from Colorado. He rides Goldwings. His daughter setteled in Homer and he's been coming there every summer for years. By the end of the night, he'd introduced me to so many people. I knew 20 people by name, including the band.

Three Legged Mule was really good; bluegrass with an Alaskan twist. They had a drummer and an accordion player. The banjo plunker was from Manchester. (He wasn't Irish as someone had earlier suggested.)

I hung out with the Down East crown all night and danced until closing time. Red and his wife gave me a ride home.

In the morning, it took less than ten minutes to thumb a ride across the Spit and over to the local side of town where I'd left my bike. The girls that picked me up recommended that I ride to the top of the hill to see the fog line.

It was so cold and I had no gear, but I rode 20 minutes for a fantastic view.

Below the mountains isn't water, but rather, fog.

I rode back across the spit to meet Carmen. I'd been told she had the best coffee in town (and wi-fi.)

As I parked outside the Spit Sisters Cafe, look who I parked next to! William from B.C.

After a great breakfast and coffee, I packed up and left Homer. A few hours later, I passed this place and stopped in to look for gifts. Though I didn't find what I was looking for, the couple that owned the place was appalled that I hadn't had salmon ($30 a plate at every place I'd stopped,) and so they gave me a HUGE piece of King Salmon from their freezer.

With it thawing for dinner, I left for Girdwood to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain.

The mountain is steep; really, really steep. Most all of the ski runs are double black. The few blue runs are really token runs designated to appeal to intermediate spouses.

When I stopped for dinner twelve hours later in Wasilla, I ate like a king. The King Salmon + an obscene amount of butter + salt and pepper + heat = YUMMY!!!

They had given me two potatoes too, and I fried them first before sautéing the Salmon.

I'll keep the amount of butter used in preparing this meal confidential.

Sooooooo Goooooooood!

 

 

 

 

Next:  28  -  Talkeetna