Warning: this is a really long post. It makes up for not posting anything for the entire month after Ski for Women! February was pretty quiet for us. Last week I took a few days off and drove down to Homer to meet up with Brook who flew down from Fairbanks for a fun girl's mini-holiday. I went down the night before to spend some time with Heather & Martin Renner and their two kiddos Frida & Lukas. I spent the night with Stacey and caught up with her a little bit. When I left her cabin the next morning I got a nice view of Kachemak Bay:
Homer is very special to me. I spent my first summer in Alaska (way back in '99) in and out of Homer, living in Halibut Cove across Kachemak Bay and working on Gull Island. That summer I made friends with some amazing people that I'm so glad I still keep in touch with.
a view of the Spit
I picked Brook up that morning and we did the driving tour of Homer. That didn't take very long so we went to the Bear Creek Winery that afternoon and tasted some delicious wines: strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, shirazzberry... and the MOST amazing chocolate raspberry port ever.
Brook & the Winery cat
We went for a run on Bishop's Beach. Unfortunately, not at low tide so our knees took a bit of a beating on the cobble. We had a quiet dinner at Wasabi's. When we made reservations for 8P, we made the mistake of asking for an ocean view. Of course, the sun went down at 630P and when we got there the waitstaff poked some fun at us.
We stayed at
Two Sisters Bakery/B&B. HIGHLY recommend it. Location is great - right near Bishop's Beach. Friendly staff. Free breakfast. Although in the summer, we expect it might be a little noisy.
the following morning, I woke up to this:
Poor Brook. I couldn't get the window next to my bed open to take photos so I went over to the window where Brook was sleeping and made a racket forcing a window open that had frozen shut.
Next on the agenda was to check out the Eagle Feeding down on the Spit.
In short, this woman had been feeding the eagles since 1977 and she died this past year.
This is obviously controversial and people from all over the world come down in the winter to see this spectacle. The Homer City Council passed an ordinance banning the feeding of eagles and other birds but her 'helpers' can continue to feed the eagles until March 29 of this year. So we decided to check out the spectacle. As a biologist, you know it's wrong. As a human being, you can't help but be enthralled by the number of eagles that are there.
Eagle paparazzi:
not sure what this one was doing mid-flight
The Eagle Lady's house. I think they get something like 500lbs of fish/day?
waiting for the handouts
those talons!
after the eagle show we went for a walk down & back on the Spit ~7.5 miles.
and it was COLD!
tried to go to the Salty Dawg and another old haunt - Alice's Champagne Palace but both were closed for the winter
there's a stretch where it looks like a boat graveyard
with castle parts?
Brook playing Rapunzel:
that trailer home comes with a disco ball (hanging from the window shade)
and more castle parts?
turns out there's a story behind all these castle parts. some guy at the East end of town had this castle on his property and he was growing pot in it. An envelope of pot got intercepted and it had his mailing address on it, and the guy got busted. Some other guy in town, the guy who owns the boat graveyard we are assuming, bought all the castle parts and spread them all over his property. Along the Spit!
quick stop to take in the view at the other end before walking back
the harbor was pretty empty
That afternoon we hit the Ring of Fire meadery right so conveniently located across the street from the B&B.
I think I prefer the mead over the berry wines!
This is Brook's reaction to the Orange Blossom mead:
unfortunately she purchased the last bottle!
met up with Stacey for dinner and Rachel showed up for dessert
mead makes you do funny things like yoga in the snow
my poor attempt at tree pose on top of bee boxes
I'm not sure what pose Brook is doing but she looks better at than I do!
I haven't graduated past the warrior poses yet.
Next morning we took one last walk on Bishop's Beach before driving up to Anchorage to visit Heather. Brook brought her sling shot that she recieved as a gift from a friend.
I think my archery classes finally came in handy
Made it to Anchorage and spent some time with the Wilson-Flints.
Here are some Coal photos:
We went for a walk on the Coastal Trail. Gorgeous day. nice view of Mt. Susitna.
Everyone was out!
My girls
Yes. Heather is doing what you think she's doing.
Brook & I went for a quick ice skate on Westchester Lagoon while Heather was dealing with Coal.
Last weekend was also Fur Rondy weekend - a pre-event to the Iditarod.
We tried to see the Running of the Reindeer but there were so many people crowded at the starting line this is all we saw. Heather & I saw some antlers inbetween people but that was it.
Yes, I said Running of the Reindeer. Or Running WITH the Reindeer.
One of the most popular events in Anchorage and no one has been killed yet.
Check out this
video on the Anchorage Daily News site.
Coal making some funny faces!
my drive back to Seward was breathtaking
Trips like these remind me of how fortunate I am to live in such a spectacular place and what amazing people I have in my life.
First, FS went out to the Outdoor Lab to visit the spectacled eiders. What a handsome boy this eider is! 
They were curious. very curious.
This male is the only one without a mate. He spent a little time checking out FS before deciding FS just wasn't his type.
The females didn't really pay much attention to FS. He wasn't flashy enough for them I guess.
The rhinoceros auklets wouldn't have anything do with FS! not even for some sand lance!
Leu (Aleutian) was the only bird that would come close to FS.
But Leu was very cautious.
"I still see him down there!" Who knew 'tame' seabirds would be so freaked out by a piece of cardboard. FS might have had more success if the birds were hungry.
We educated FS on changes in seabird populations.
The fish were curious, too. Black rockfish & FS.
FS & King salmon
with canary rockfish
tripping out with the jellies
and helping Pam monitor the sea lions at Chiswells Islands
FS did have a mammal encounter. Skittle, the rehab otter pup, playing with him.
I think Skittle likes FS!!!
We hope that FS enjoyed his visit to Alaska!
