Bear Country

 As an early birthday present, for my 70th in October, two of my sisters and my son bought me a flight on Sasquatch Air to fly out and see grizzly bears. So today was the day.

I joined 20 other people and we flew in 4 planes out to search for grizzlies. The first locations were devoid of bears so we ended up at Katmai National Park. A very beautiful location. We landed on the beach, formed into two groups. After receiving instructions, do’s and don’t, we headed down the beach to the mouth of the river. Two male grizzlies were waiting for the salmon to run. Although, we could see the salmon jumping in the ocean, it was low tide and they were not coming up the river.

After a couple of hours we sat and had a bite to eat, waiting for the tide to come in.

We reformed our groups and went back to the river. One of the grizzlies spotted a salmon and charged for it, he missed. The other grizzlies decided he had enough of this poacher in his fishing spot and charged. Nose to Nose, they stared at each other, the interloper bowed his head and walked down the beach. After a few minutes the other one decided there were no fish and he wandered off.

Here are a few #iPhone12promax pictures.

Grizzly on the beach Katmai NP

Landing on the beach Katmai NP

Bear tracks by the plane

On the way to Katmai NP

On the way to Katmai NP

Seldovia, Alaska

Mount Saint Augustine Volcano

Homer Spit

I will have more pictures from my camera.

A Couple of Off Days

 Thursday I was back in the store, nothing really exciting to report.

Friday, went to the Spit to wander through the shops, went through the first section, let’s say one of us couldn’t continue to walk. As the parking was impossible down there we left and hit a few galleries, in town, had lunch and went home.

Attempted to go out again today, not much luck again. We came home watched the last part of a movie, we had started the night before.

I, also spent time preparing for tomorrow, packing supplies, snacks and cleaning my camera. should have some good pictures to share.

I did take a few picture with my #iPhone12promax as we drove around.

Riders on the beach in Anchor Point

We also went by the Farmer’s Market in Homer

Captain’s Toy Chest

 Mundane chore to do around the house today, watering, cleaning up after the dogs, feeding them. Have to take care off my sister’s house while she is away.

Then off to my favorite bakery in Homer #TwoSistersBakery and their wonderful, Chocolate Bread. The daughter of one of the sister’s whom I met last year was there and we reconnected. It has been just over a year since I was last there, I sure did miss that bread, okay I missed the chocolate. If you every get to Homer you have to try it. Get there early, they are open at 10am to 3pm Wednesday-Saturday, there is always a line. twosistersbakery.net 

This is from last year, ate it too fast this morning.

Took my bread and sat at Bishop’s Beach, beautiful sunny day, Then off to my sister’s store, The Captain’s Toy Chest, to cover for her.

Had pretty good day at the store, some nice conversations with people from both Alaska and many out of state travelers. Will be back there tomorrow.

Sister Leaves and the Siblings will Play

 Took my sister and her friend to the Homer Airport this morning. BYE BYE.

House now ours for the next week. My other, sister and I, went to a few of the places that I went to last time I was her to look for wildlife and the beautiful scenery.

Went to the Spit to see the baby seagulls and spotted an otter swimming around the harbor entrance. The seagull fledglings we saw were behind a fence, I couldn’t get a very good picture, but I will be back.

Drove out on Olsen Mountain Road to the end, fireweeds for miles. We were fortunate, the sun came out for a bit.

After, we ran some errands. It seems that she has only one key to one of the cars at home and she brought it with her. Had to mail it back.

Went to the grocery store, good luck finding anything, grab what is on the shelves and then decide what to make. Might have to go hunting and foraging for food.

Came home and mowed the yard, ate and now just relaxing.

This a picture of the Spit, Homer Airport and Beluga Lake from Skyline Road.

First Day back in Homer

 Must have been very tired last night. Finally went to bed at midnight and slept until 6. New Mexico would be 2am to 8am. I hardly ever sleep past 5am regardless of the time I go to bed. I guess all that traveling caught up with me.

Dragged myself out of bed into a hot shower and that woke me up a bit. Still feeling a bit tired.

My sister leaves tomorrow, so I will be babysitting the dogs and working at the store for a few days.

We ran some errands to prepare for her departure.

We were hoping for a few rays of sun to be able to veins the Fireweeds, unfortunately the clouds were not being very cooperative. We did walk through, Eveline State Recreation Site, and viewed the Fireweeds. We will attempt to return when the sun is shining.

Here are a few images I captures with my iPhone12ProMax.

Just arose from a from a two hour nap, past out for the afternoon after our walk. Now everyone else is asleep. So, I,  will sit in the sunny, okay partly sunny, window to warm up.

Had a nice dinner of Alaskan salmon and a salad. going after some details with my sister before she leaves. Then time for bed, still light out.

Made it to Homer Alaska

 Left San Francisco with all our goodies for my sister in Homer. flight was a bit delayed but we made our connection with no problem. 

Unfortunately, they had cancelled the late flight to Homer and we had to fly to Kenai. This is about an hour and a half drive from Homer. Being that it stays light forever up here it was a nice ride.

We did get to see a number of moose and eagles on the way.

Here are a couple or shots on final approach to Anchorage.

This is my sister’s dogs happy to see their “Uncle Steven”

My Favorite Bakery

 Went up to Burlingame today and had breakfast at Copenhagen Bakery. 

No pictures of the food, too busy eating. The weather was perfect, sunny with a hint of the cooling fog on the bay. 

We then went to my favorite chocolate shop, Preston’s Candy and Ice Cream, bought s few of my favorites and some to take to Alaska for my sister. 

Ran a few errands for items that may be impossible to find in Alaska. 

Came back to my sister’s house and went swimming.

Tomorrow we fly to Alaska.

San Jose

 Made it to San Jose and was picked up by a friend and taken to my sister’s house in Los Altos.

A few delays along the way, we arrived about an hour later than scheduled.

Here are a few shots from our flight.

Clouds after take off

Clouds

Hoover Dam Las Vegas

Very low water level

Rio Grande River going through Albuquerque 

Albuquerque Airport

I40 I25 Cloverleaf Albuquerque

Thought we were coming up on some cooling fog as we came closer to our destination. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the Santa Rita fire.

Starting a new Trip

 Sitting at the Albuquerque Sunport waiting for a flight to take me on the first leg of my trip. today I am off to the Bay Area for a couple of days. 

I will be going to my favorite bakery, Copenhagen, in Burlingame. Then a stop at my favorite chocolate shop, Preston’s, also in Burlingame.

Looking forward to at least one good Chinese meal.

On, Sunday, I will begin the second leg of the trip.

I will keep you updated and have some pictures coming.

Recap since the last post

 The Moose moves off into the woods on Monday, we were able to see them for a bit and then they were gone. I believe mom got tired of the dogs barking, we kept them in the house and they were going crazy. We let the out for a while, while keeping a close eye on them. At one point they ran to the side and we were unable to stop them, mama charged the fence, fortunately, the fence held.

On June 7th, we took a ride up to Cooper Landing to look for some bears. Though we did see some beautiful scenery, we did not see any bears. Here are a few views of the Kenai River at Cooper Landing.

We headed back to Kenai to go to the Home Depot to purchase flooring, cabinets, sinks, and other items that are going into the cabin. On the way back we stopped into a diner on the side of the road and had a very good meal.

Lisa had to work the store, so I set out to take pictures and pick up a few items to take back with me.

We had decided to take a hike out to the beach on the Diamond Creek Trail. We drove out to the trailhead and started off behind a group of hikers who seemed to know their way. Big Mistake! 

After following them to a dead end we set off on our own. We were hopelessly lost, following game trials rather than hiking trails. Lisa pulled out her phone and we followed it back to the car, except she wasn't reading it right and we were actually head away from the car. We discovered that when I pulled out my phone and tracked us on Google Earth. 

The next day I decided to follow the map and was able to reach the beach.

Looks like I forgot to post this one, oops.