No worries. All is well. Our trip didn’t come to an abrupt, tragic end. But we did reach “The End of the Road” when we drove as far as you can go on “the Spit” in Homer. Homer (population: 6,203) had all the charm that I felt Kenai lacked. Yup, it’s a tourist town – especially the Spit, a 4.5 mile sandbar that stretches out from town into Kachemak Bay. The Spit is where the tourists hang out. There are RV parks, hotels, shops, restaurants, fish processors and the Salty Dog Saloon – famous for the dollar bills that patrons sign and tack all over the wall. We liked Homer a lot, and really enjoyed the three days we spent hanging around the Spit. But first, let’s back up just a bit.
On the morning of July 18th, we headed west on the Sterling Highway from Cooper Landing to Deep Creek State Recreation Area in Ninilchik. That state-run campground would be our base camp while exploring Homer, approximately 45 minutes farther down the highway. We had visited Deep Creek earlier in the week, and had identified it as our #1 campground choice in the area (also known as Plan A). We planned to arrive shortly after the 12 noon checkout, and kept our fingers crossed that we’d get a waterfront site with a gorgeous view of Cook Inlet and Mt. Redoubt, a volcano that’s still somewhat active. Most state campgrounds in Alaska don’t offer reservations; otherwise, you can bet we would have had one. We did luck out with a waterfront site. Better yet, it was at the end of a row with no neighbors on our dinette (driver’s) side which is where most of our windows are. On our curb side was a family of six, and they were great neighbors. Out the big back window was a lovely view of Cook Inlet and the mountains beyond. I couldn’t have picked a better site if I had reserved it months in advance. However . . .
