The drive to Homer was some of the prettiest scenery I have seen yet, on this trip of awesome scenery.

Some people came up to talk to us while we were eating. They were from New Ulm, Minnesota, halfway between our home towns of Mankato and Sleepy Eye. Small world!

We found out that Fireweed blooms for the bottom of the bud cluster upwards. When the top bud opens, summer is over and snow is 6 weeks away. They are almost to the top now. Yikes!!

Homer is the “City of Peonies”. Most of them were done blooming but we found one beautiful white peony, a little past its peak.

We finally reached our campsite at Ocean Shores RV Park. We are about 100 yards from the water’s edge. Fantastic!

After driving for 6 hours, we just wanted to relax so spent our late afternoon and evening “at home”. We taught Rebecca how to play Pegs & Jokers. For some reason, Dave kicked both of our butts!!!!

On our first full day in Homer, we saw a lot. We started at the Visitor’s Center where we got a lot of info on things to do. We got a bit lost due to a detour, trying to find the Islands and Ocean Discovery Center so we drove the Skyline Drive. I can never get enough of the Fireweed which is even more abundant here. There was a brief stop in a “fen”, which is like a bog but has flowing water rather than stagnant water. The information boards explained the fen and its inhabitants but we did not see any of those inhabitants. We continued along to the overlook and looked down on Homer and the Spit.

We finally got to the Islands Center which was quite interesting. Apparently if did not make a huge impression on me except the people were really friendly and informative. I can’t think of anything to say about it!

It was lunch time so we drove out to the spit and found a local restaurant, The Mermaid. Rebecca and I ordered non-seafood but Dave had a seafood chowder.

Later, we just walked around the shops on the spit and wound up the The Salty Dawg. you just can’t come to Homer without going to the Dawg. This is in one of the original buildings from Old Homer.

Before leaving the spit, we walked along the beach which has a lot of very smooth, wave washed rocks.

Before going back to the campground, we stopped at ate Homer American Legion, post number 16. Post are closed in Alaska but Rebecca was able to take us in as guests. It was wonderful sitting at the bar looking over the bay. It was also fun chatting with the bartender who was born and raised in Homer.

We also stopped at a market and bought some salmon. Dave planned to try his hand at grilling the salmon. I was leery because I’m not much of a fish eater, but it was delicious!