Today we got up pretty early and got ready to fish. It was cold and rainy, so I have to admit I was not all that excited about the idea. We threw on some of Matt's fishing gear (since we only had what we'd worn to the bar the night before) and jumped in his truck, which was towing what I'm going to call an ocean speedboat. We were with Matt and two hitch-hikers he'd picked up a few days before, Scott and Sarah. They were really nice.
We went to Two Sisters for sticky buns, but they were out, so we had to settle for other not-so-amazing-but-yummy-just-the-same food items and coffee. We jumped back in the truck and headed to the docks. The four of us "tourists" bought our one day fishing licenses again, and we hopped on the boat.
Matt likes to go fast, as we found out when the ENTIRE boat was out of the water multiple times as we ramped a wave. It was a little horrifying in my mind, as I am not a fan of water in the first place these days, but it was fun nonetheless. We would ramp a wave, fly, and crash down into the water again with a huge jolt that could easily give a person whiplash.
Our first spot for fishing didn't yield any halibut, but we caught a few Irish Lords. I'm rather proud to say that mine was the only one big enough to keep. :-) After that, we headed far out to sea, hitting harder waves and flying even more. It was raining and cold, and we were going quite fast, but we all survived. When we finally got to where the "real halibut" hang out, we started catching them as soon as our weights hit the ocean floor, which was between 150-250 feet deep in that spot. The halibut were easy to catch, but they were exhausting to pull up from the depths. I did better this time - I caught six and let a few of them go. It was good.
We finally headed back with our halibut (I'm not allowed to say how many) and then to dinner. He said we were going to a place called Wasabi's. There was a bit of panic going on in my mind as I remembered that Ray said it was really expensive. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded when we got there and Matt told the waiter to bring us whatever he wanted. Everyone there knew Matt by name, and our waiter just started bringing things. We had delicious mojitos, tons of sushi, several different appetizers, split a steak entree with potatos, and peanut butter pie for dessert.
After dinner, Jess and I lost ALL our remaining energy and ended up sleeping foot to head on Matt's couch under the same blanket while Matt fileted the fish and Sarah and Scott cleaned the boat. I guess we're landlovers after all, but at least we have good lungs, and we ended up with PLENTY of fish to send back to Leadville!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Spit Shops, Salty Dog, Duggen's 7-6-10
Today was very interesting. We hit the shops on the spit for quite a while, buying souveniers and gifts. After that, we hit a shower and then went to the Salty Dog on the spit for a drink. This proved to be an eventful time.
The Salty Dog is THE place to go on the spit for tourists, but apparently some local fishermen hang out there too. The entire place is covered in dollar bills with interesting sayings or names on them. There are so many dollars covering everything that it is almost imposing and forces a bit of claustrophobia to set in.
Anyway, we wandered into the room with the pool table, mostly I think to get away from the huge crowd in the main room, and happened upon a few guys playing a friendly game of pool. As soon as I stepped into the room, a really drunk guy (so drunk I was surprised he was still standing) came to me and said he was going to kick the other guy's ass (in pool). I basically told him to go for it. Anyway, the other guy started talking to us as well. His name was Matt, and after talking to us for a bit, he asked if we'd like to tour a couple of fishing boats with a small group of people, and if we'd like to go halibut fishing with him the next day. We ended up agreeing to this.
Touring the boats was rather amazing. They were rather large fishing boats called the Seaside Valley and the Grizzly. They were pretty in a fishing boat sort of way. Anyway, we got to sit in the captain's chairs and to see how all the fishing works when out at sea. It was pretty cool.
We ended up going to Duggen's after that and throwing some darts with Matt, who then took us to his house after the bar closed to hide from a drunk guy who'd been trying to get us to kiss him repeatedly. It was an interesting night, and we ended up crashing at his house until morning. Oh, and there were a great many dead animals in his house, mostly furs in every form you can imagine... I am not very keen on furs at all, so that part didn't sit well with me, or with Jess I believe.
The Salty Dog is THE place to go on the spit for tourists, but apparently some local fishermen hang out there too. The entire place is covered in dollar bills with interesting sayings or names on them. There are so many dollars covering everything that it is almost imposing and forces a bit of claustrophobia to set in.
Anyway, we wandered into the room with the pool table, mostly I think to get away from the huge crowd in the main room, and happened upon a few guys playing a friendly game of pool. As soon as I stepped into the room, a really drunk guy (so drunk I was surprised he was still standing) came to me and said he was going to kick the other guy's ass (in pool). I basically told him to go for it. Anyway, the other guy started talking to us as well. His name was Matt, and after talking to us for a bit, he asked if we'd like to tour a couple of fishing boats with a small group of people, and if we'd like to go halibut fishing with him the next day. We ended up agreeing to this.
Touring the boats was rather amazing. They were rather large fishing boats called the Seaside Valley and the Grizzly. They were pretty in a fishing boat sort of way. Anyway, we got to sit in the captain's chairs and to see how all the fishing works when out at sea. It was pretty cool.
We ended up going to Duggen's after that and throwing some darts with Matt, who then took us to his house after the bar closed to hide from a drunk guy who'd been trying to get us to kiss him repeatedly. It was an interesting night, and we ended up crashing at his house until morning. Oh, and there were a great many dead animals in his house, mostly furs in every form you can imagine... I am not very keen on furs at all, so that part didn't sit well with me, or with Jess I believe.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Jess arrives! Nap, Diamond Beach, Sarah Palin 8-5-10
Today was great! I got up around 3am to pick up Jess in Kenai. On the way to the airport, I saw a bunch of moose, and coming back from the airport, we saw even more, including some babies. They were beautiful.
We took a little walk around the beach and the spit when we got to Homer, and finally decided to go back to the cabin for a nap before further adventuring.
When we woke up from our very long, satisfying naps, we went back to the spit and ate lunch at Starvin' Marvin (fantastic pizza and cheese bread). We walked around the spit a bit more, hit a couple stores, and ran into none other than Sarah Palin outside one of the stores we had found. She had a small mob around her, but I managed to get a couple pictures just to prove that we really did see her. I'm hoping we don't lose IQ points by proximity. :-)
Because the sun decided to make an appearance, we then hiked down to Diamond Beach with Eddy. It was a beautiful hike and the weather was beautiful most of the time. By the time we'd hiked back up to the car, it had clouded over, but we really appreciated seeing Homer with some sun today!
We haven't decided what to do this evening, but I believe we're getting beers somewhere and probably having a "Pirates of the Caribbean" marathon after that. I'm so glad Jess is here, but I can't believe it's almost time to head home. Where has summer gone?!
We took a little walk around the beach and the spit when we got to Homer, and finally decided to go back to the cabin for a nap before further adventuring.
When we woke up from our very long, satisfying naps, we went back to the spit and ate lunch at Starvin' Marvin (fantastic pizza and cheese bread). We walked around the spit a bit more, hit a couple stores, and ran into none other than Sarah Palin outside one of the stores we had found. She had a small mob around her, but I managed to get a couple pictures just to prove that we really did see her. I'm hoping we don't lose IQ points by proximity. :-)
Because the sun decided to make an appearance, we then hiked down to Diamond Beach with Eddy. It was a beautiful hike and the weather was beautiful most of the time. By the time we'd hiked back up to the car, it had clouded over, but we really appreciated seeing Homer with some sun today!
We haven't decided what to do this evening, but I believe we're getting beers somewhere and probably having a "Pirates of the Caribbean" marathon after that. I'm so glad Jess is here, but I can't believe it's almost time to head home. Where has summer gone?!
Shower, movies 8-4-10
Today was not very exciting, but I'm really happy that Jess arrives in Anchorage tonight, and is taking a plane to Kenai where I will pick her up tomorrow morning at 4:45am. I seriously can't even remember what all I did today, so I'm not going to write about it. Wow...
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Two Sisters, Dinner, True Blood 8-3-10
Today wasn't very extraordinary either. We got up late... too late to set up the stand and pop. I ended up leaving for water and food, since we really didn't have either in the house.
I ended up at Two Sisters Bakery/coffee shop, which I've come to love. I had an amazing "sticky bun" and a caramel latte while I played on the internet. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a couple hours in the afternoon.
After that, I met Ray for dinner at a really yummy thai place that I will miss when I leave. He went on a date, and I went home to watch more of "True Blood," my latest TV series addiction.
I ended up at Two Sisters Bakery/coffee shop, which I've come to love. I had an amazing "sticky bun" and a caramel latte while I played on the internet. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a couple hours in the afternoon.
After that, I met Ray for dinner at a really yummy thai place that I will miss when I leave. He went on a date, and I went home to watch more of "True Blood," my latest TV series addiction.
Errands, Back to Homer, movies, cookies 8-2-10
Today was not very exciting. We pretty much made sure everything that needed to go to Homer was in Ray's truck and did a few errands around Soldotna and Kenai. We then drove back to Homer and watched movies most of the evening due to our exhaustion. We also baked a pizza, which was really good. We ended up watching "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" and "The Green Mile."
2nd Day air show, Bye to Mike, driving back 8-1-10
I can't believe it's August! Anyway, today was the second and final day of the air show. It's really been cool seeing some of the plane formations and the crazy stuff they can do with aircraft! Today was much more busy than yesterday in terms of business. We were busy pretty much all day. I ended up popping for hours in our tent along with Mike, cranking out as much kettle corn as we could. It was hot and exhausting, but we got through it.
It took us a while to clean up the stands due to traffic, and the overall mess that kettle corn makes. Once we got out of there, Mike, Ray and I separated from everyone else in the suburban to get Mike to the airport. We got him a seat, then had some really good pizza and beer for dinner. After dropping Mike at the airport for good this time, Ray and I went back to Soldotna to spend the night.
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