Homer, Alaska

People often assume that because we live and travel full time in our 5th wheel, we are on a perpetual vacation. We hear things such as “Wow, it must be nice to be on vacation all the time!”, or “How great to leave all your responsibilities behind!” This is a natural response to hearing about our life style. After all, when most people hit the road in an RV, they are on vacation for a few days, a couple of weeks, or maybe even a couple of months. And when you are on vacation, you do suspend your responsibilities for a while. But when you live full time on the road, your responsibilities travel right along with you. You still have to pay the bills, do the laundry, grocery shop, clean the house, and maintain your RV and automobile. In fact, some of these things become even more difficult while you are on the road – which brings us to Homer, and how we limped in to our RV Park with something going terribly wrong with our truck. By the time we got here, there were clouds of black to gray smoke billowing out of our exhaust pipe and an ominous ticking sound coming from under the hood. Turns out, the nearest Ford dealer was 85 miles back the way we came. Well, thank goodness for road service – we had the truck towed to the Ford dealer in Soldotna the next day, where it still remains. The good news is, the truck can be fixed and apparently there will be no permanent damage.

But what can I say? Homer is not a bad place to be stuck for a few days. Once it stopped raining, I would even elevate its status to quite spectacular! And, the good news is, we are able to access most everything by foot or on our bicycles. Homer is quaint and artsy, nestled among rolling hills on the shore of Kachemak Bay, and offers breathtaking views of glaciers and the Kenai Mountains. This seaside community has 5400 residents and another 8000 beyond the city limits. A unique attraction is the Homer Spit, a long, narrow finger of land (actual a gravel bar) jutting 4.5 miles into Kachemak Bay. The Spit is home to Homer Harbor, restaurants, artisans, and gift shops (very touristy). Much of the coastline as well as the Homer Spit sank dramatically during the Good Friday Earthquake in March of 1964. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road". This isn’t the end of the road for us, however – next stop, Seward, Alaska!