Day 43 Ninilchik

Beautiful sunny day in Ninilchik.  A great day for digging clams.
                                                     This is your basic clam digging uniform.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, off to claming we go.

Phil and Dee (left), the campground owners, provided the equipment and instruction.

Let the digging begin.

Lon did his part.

Heidi came back to report on the progress.

And they dug.

And dug.

Looks like they are wearing down.

Stop to wash the bounty.

The Hunter-Gatherers return.

 The bounty. The Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula) is an exceptionally meaty shellfish which ranges from California to Alaska. It is abundant on surf-pounded ocean beaches, but also occurs in sheltered areas along the coast. Razor clams found in Alaska may grow to eleven inches in length and live to be 15 years old, due to colder water temperatures and slower growth rates. You need an Alaska fishing license to harvest clams.

First wash the hunter-gatherers.

Then wash the clams again and a short dip in boiling water.

Then comes the shucking of the shells.

Then the gutting

and cleaning instructions.

When the woman's work was done, they rested and drank beer.

Pam made Clam chowder and Lon made Fried Clams.

And Heidi supervised and wondered why it took so long?

After dinner, Phil and Dee over for the camp fire social gathering.

They explained that this is a "Sun Dog".

Look it up.

They also ask us to stay another day, "on Phil". Pretty nice offer, we will have to consider!

Day 42 - Ninilchik

We got up and got moving so we could buy some Halibut and King Crab Legs from the local fish monger.  But on the way we went past the greenhouse.  Have we told you about the flowers?  

Having accomplished our mission we loaded up and moved an hour down the road to the RV park we found yesterday.  The park itself is not much to look at but the view.....

                                                                       We set up camp

                                                     and were awe inspired by Mt. Redoubt

                                       there was a stream where we saw the Salmon running

                                  a small village behind our rigs on the other side of the stream

 an abandoned restuarant that Pam and Gail thought they could make a go of

                 but Jerry and Lon thought Mt. Redoubt was a little too close given it's action in 1989

                                               A marina at the end and at the end of the season

                                             The owners scheduled a little entertainment for us

                                   tearing down the old motel to make way for 3 more RV sights

Jerry and Lon were bummed they wouldn't let them "play" with the big Tonka Toy.

Pam wanted steak for dinner so Lon did the grilling, Pam and Gail the rest of the cooking and Jerry supervised which is what you do when you can't do nothing else

Then we settled in to watch the sunset over the volcano, Mount Redoubt, or Redoubt Volcano, an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in the Chigmit Mountains (a subrange of the Aleutians), the mountain is just west of Cook Inlet, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough about 180 km (110 mi) southwest of Anchorage. Mount Redoubt towers 9,000 feet (2,700 m) above the surrounding valleys to the north, south, and southeast in little over 5 miles (8 km); it is also the third highest within the range, with nearby Mount Torbert, at 11,413 feet, being the highest and Mount Spurrat 11,070 feet being the second highest.

Active for millennia, Mount Redoubt has erupted five times since 1900: in 1902, 1922, 1966, 1989 and 2009. The eruption in 1989 spewed volcanic ash to a height of 45,000 ft (14,000 m) and caught KLM Flight 867, a Boeing 747 aircraft, in its plume (the flight landed safely at Anchorage). The ash blanketed an area of about 7,700 sq mi (20,000 km²).

     We made a fire (we not including Jerry who again supervised)

                                          Our hosts came down and joined us for a glass of vino

                                After several glasses we watched the moon come up over the village

                                                              Tomorrow, clamming!!

Day 41 Road trip to Homer

Today started with coffee, CNN, Fox News,Weather, a call to Sleazy & Breezy. and MOOSE!  Gail saw them out the window and went for the camera. I got my coat and went out to make friends. Heidi growled.

There were 2 calves, but I only saw this one before Pam chased them off.

The lady across the street came out to take pictures. But she was too late. Pam had already chased them off.

You might be able to tell, they are from Oklahoma too. They are from Kansas, OK (80mi east of Tulsa). They have been at this park for 2 months, fishing. She said they go stripper fishing at Lake Texoma at least once every year.

A little later, Lon got up and we headed for Homer (as far south as you can go in Alaska by road).

Along the way we stopped for the scenery.

This valcano is Mt Redoubt, I think.

In front of it is the Cook Inlet, maybe.

This might be Mt. ILiamna, another volcano.

This explains it all.

The village of Ninilchik.   click on pic

They actually do catch fish here.

Here is the fishing fleet. They have a fish processing and canning operation here.

A Russian Orthadox Church.

Made it to Homer after 18 stops and 132 pictures.

What a good looking group of tourist! Nice dog too!

That thing out in the water there is known as "The Homer Spit". That is where IT is happening in Homer.

The most famous structure in Homer and most photographed.

The Salty Daug Saloon.

We couldn't hold Lon back.

BUT Pam got in first. Reminds me of the No-Name Pub in the Keys.

                                                                                 ??????

If ever in Homer, Captain Pattie's is a great place to eat!

This is a collection of who knows what, but it was interesting.

Tomorrow we head a few miles south. Going back to that little Ninilchik village and just relax for couple of down days. The days are getting shorter, as we actually have some darkness at night. We heard it snowed in Denali a couple of days ago. Good thing we are half way threw our Alaska adventure. I'm thinkin' it might be getting close to time to get out of here!