Homer

First A Few Words About Bear Creek Weir

To get from Sewerd to our AirBnB (in Seward) we drove north on the Seward Highway then turned left onto Bear Creek Road and drove down a ways, then there was the AirBnB. But but before that we would always pass the Bear Creek Weir. Initially we didn’t know what a weir was, but this is from wikipedia: “A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. There are many weir designs, but commonly water flows freely over the top of the weir crest before cascading down to a lower level. There is no single definition as to what constitutes a weir.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weir)

The funny thing is that each time we drove by there were groups of people looking at it–sometimes large groups. Tour vans would stop by with people packed it. Arlene and I figured that this thing must be super cool and finally walked down to see it the other day. We took an usie in front of the Weir which was last Tuesday (https://traveljournal.cakewood.org/2025/07/10/a-few-quiet-days/). What we saw was a stream with a small wall built into it; it almost looked like a dam. At the base were a bunch of salmon (maybe 15) swimming against the swift current and occasionally trying to jump up. Each one failed. That was the “side on” view. The “head on” view was the same except the fish were hidden beneath the water.

That was it. We spent about 2 minutes and then walked back to the AirBnB. I hope the people on the tours weren’t disappointed.

The Drive

We went to Summit Sips in Seward for the last time. It was certainly the best coffee in Seward but, gotta say, Seward has an extraordinary amount of good coffee for a town of only 2700.

After coffee the focus of the drive was going through Arlene’s 2nd quintile of REM songs; she needed to select 18 of the 37 to move up to the 1st quintile. Good times. As we were arriving in Soldotna, we decided to find more coffee, Arlene calls it “cheat” coffee. The place was a little drive-thru shack call Allen Sisters. It was fine. Alaska has lots of drive-thru coffee shacks.

After Soldotna we turned south an occasionally saw views of the volcanic mountains on the other side of Cook Inlet. Of course, we had to take our own picture in front of them.

Homer Spit

The spit is the center of tourist activity in Homer. We walked for a while, stopped in some shops and choose a place for Saturday morning coffee. We walked past the Salty Dog Saloon, maybe tomorrow we’ll get a picture. Arlene and I split an order of fish-n-chips and found that it was enough food for both of us for lunch.

The New AirBnB

It’s a little guest house near the main house and has a view of the glaciers across the bay.

Kayaking

This morning we went out to the Homer Spit at 9am for a guided kayak tour around Yukon Island. I thought that there were 6 spots in the tour, but Arlene and I were the only people there. We signed release forms and began the boat ride to the island and kayaks that lasted 25 minutes.

Arlene and I were in a double and we were forced to use spray skirts. Unlike so much of the paddling we do at home, the water was flat and uniform. Our tour guide commented that we were the fastest paddlers he had this year; we were paddling really easy and kept stopping to wait for him. He paddled with his arms, not his core. Arlene and I have been in a double together maybe 5 times. We know that we are supposed to stayed synced.

But because we were the only ones there and we were fast enough we also went around Hesketh Island.

We stopped for a snack back on Yukon Island where there was, apparently, a nest of a Peregrin Falcon. But we didn’t see it. Many of the rocks were geologically interesting since some had been formed long ago in the south pacific and slow migrated north.

There were also a cool rock wall with sedimentary rock vertically adjacent to metamorphic rock.

(Most of the pictures from the trip are Arlene’s. Mine were all screwed up because of water on the water-proof case containing my phone.)