Over a week and several other days off trips later…here is the rest of my Homer blog (which I actually finished writing days ago but then failed to get on-line again to upload.)  Since then I have spent another couple of days in Anchorage where I interviewed at two design firms, did a hike, and had quite a bit of fun out on the town, then had this Tuesday day off where I hiked a Glacier and visited Seward, and currently I’m sitting at an awesome loungy bistro in Girdwood where I spent today, since I had split days off this week earlier than usual.  Only 3 days left of waiting tables, next Monday off again and then another 3 days of cleaning the lodge property for winter.  Then I will really be on the move- in my “new” Cutlass Sierra which replaced my van due to the van refusing to run- it would start up over and over but would not remain idling nor respond to acceleration!  I was surprised it had gotten me to Anchorage and back seeing as two days later I couldn’t get it out of the parking lot!  So I am now driving a car that I feel much more familiar with since the first car I ever had in the US was exactly that model!  Smooth, boat-like ride, no issues that I can ascertain yet and even a radio, although the guy of course forgot the faceplate when he brought it up, so I can’t actually use it at this point.  The driver’s side door cannot be opened by the key, and they delivered it totally empty of gas, so much so that when I insisted that they fill it up before leaving it with me, they ran out on their way to the nearest gas station, which is 20 miles away…duh!!  Anyways, I’m in the throws of considering all of my near future options and really struggling with whether to stay or go.  In the meantime I’ll try to continue supplying all the news- later!

My second day in Homer- two Friday’s ago- I awoke to a gorgeously clear day, packed up my bed, and headed straight for the Two Sister’s Bakery, where I brushed my teeth and washed my face in their restroom and then snagged a fresh apple blueberry Danish.  I was enjoying my breakfast and watching the action in what seemed to be an enormous kitchen in proportion to the seating area when an Indian woman at the table next to me noticed my Smith sweatshirt and asked if I had lived in Northampton.  It turns out that she had driven a younger cousin to Smith for her orientation some years ago, being the only family the student had in the US, and was tickled to meet another alumnae so far from campus!  After eating, I couldn’t resist another long walk/run/sit on the beach, heading south this time and marveling at the huge glacier and steep volcanic peaks on the other side, and only turned back when two Dobermans ran down the bluff from a private home.  The family, which was lounging in their front yard overlooking the bay, didn’t notice that their dogs had headed to the beach, attracted by my quick pace, until I yelled twice frantically “Can you call your dogs?”  That was all I needed to end my walk!

As I headed back up to Pioneer Street to do some window shopping and maybe visit the museum which is purported to have quite an impressive collection of local art, native artifacts and wildlife displays, an imposing modern building caught my eye.  It was the Alaska Oceans & Islands Visitor’s Center, situated overlooking the Beluga Slough, with a nature trail heading back down to the beach.  A combination of dark stone façade and tall glass-enclosed atriums in front and back, I was drawn to see what was inside.  There was a theater room with a film about researchers studying bird migrations in the Aleutian Islands, and lots of general information in interactive display form about the geology and natural life of the state…a fun space to spend some time learning about my environment (and kind of making me want to hop into a skiff and visit all of the thousands of little islands!)  I was curious about who had designed the building, and found it was RIM Architecture & Design, a company I’d come across before in my design magazines with offices in Hawaii, California and Guam in addition to Anchorage- all coastal areas- hmm, I thought, there could be some potential here?! 

By the time I got up to town again, I was hungry.  I ran through the eatery entries in my guidebook and settled on the Cosmic Café, a casual, healthy and happening place on the main drag with views to the bay from their large front deck.  I ordered a salmon burger with soup and a mango smoothie and sat facing the water.  Everything was fresh and delicious and as I watched people clear tables and sweep the raised wood floor, I imagined owning a café such as this, and think that Dennis would approve of using it as a model- you could even see into the kitchen somewhat (actually, I’ve seen many open kitchen layouts here.)  After my leisurely lunch I walked down the street, stopping into several art/jewelry/gift stores and peeking through the windows of various other restaurants and bars.  In one incense/crystals/holistic type of store, I inquired about massage, which was advertised in the window, and was given the name of a former employee who now worked out of another location.  My shoulders and neck had become increasingly tight and knotted over the last few weeks and I’d had it in mind to find someone to work on me again, but no one answered the phone.  At the end of the street, I found the museum and ducked into the small, original Homer homestead house, but ultimately I wasn’t in the mood to browse through their extensive official collection.  At the same time, I heard some very loud thunder and decided it might be best to head back to the van, which was now at least 6-8 blocks away.  I crossed over and walked back on the other side of the street, noticing that there weren’t many people out walking around, even though Homer is a very popular place for visitors- was the season really over already??

The minute I got back on the road, rain started to come down and I decided it was a good time to just cruise around a little bit and scope out a different place to stay that night.  I drove back out East End street to Seaside Farms, passing the easy-to-miss turnoff several times and having trouble finding good places to turn around before making my way down the narrow driveway, past small cabins to the main house where the hostel and farming/camping area were located.  When I walked into the house, I caught a strong scent of raspberries and saw several buckets lying in a corner with a Self-Pick sign indicating where the vines were and how to weigh your bucket and pay for the berries.  I had to ask a couple of young people lounging in the living room where to find the proprietor, and they located Mossy, the woman who has run the farm for years, mostly growing raspberries and keeping horses and chickens since growing vegetables was too much work for one person.  She showed me a room full of bunk beds for rent (and a couple of private rooms for just $5 more) and going with my theory that paying for a place to sleep allows you to meet people to hang out with, I took it.  OK, I also really needed a shower!  Sure enough, I ended up chatting with a guy from Tucson AZ who is in outside sales for a security systems company but also a member of WOOF, an organization that connects people interested in working on organic farms worldwide.  He was trying out the program for the first time, staying for free room and board in exchange for a few hours of help around the property each day.  There was another girl from the German part of Switzerland who had a similar arrangement, helping Mossy keep the place clean in exchange for the place to stay.  I filed both of those ideas away, realizing that there are many ways of keeping travel expenses to a minimum!  I took a hot, brown shower (well water I was told) and after soliciting some company for going out later on, went around the corner to a very upscale restaurant called Wasabi for…what was it…oh yes, sushi!  I sat at the sushi bar and tried some fresh Alaskan salmon and a buttery white fish whose name I can’t remember.  I was soon joined by a very friendly Russian fisherman and his two cousins who had been born in Anchor Point but work out of Homer.  He had an accent that I didn’t place as Russian but I suppose was some sort of local second-generation variation of one, and told me that halibut was where the fishing was at, not the short-lived salmon season that you get on the Sound- apparently you can fish for halibut almost year-round on Kachemak Bay.  He offered to take me out on his boat (but of course!) but I bowed out, thinking that going out on the water with a drunken Russian might not be the smartest move I’ve ever made…

Instead, I drove back to Seaside Farms where I picked up Greg and a woman from Vermont who were up for checking out some live music.  Unfortunately, we had some bad luck with the venues, starting out with the Alibi again, which was hosting a pretty bad “funk” band that night.  During each song they played, one of which was a very depressing and boring pirate dirge, the bar lost a few customers- we lasted through about the third or fourth and then decided to try out the Irish pub down the street.  They didn’t offer live music, so we then drove out to Down East, where they had quite a good bluegrass group, but after just one song or two they went on break and the woman from Vermont, who had to drive to Anchorage the next morning to catch her flight home, decided she was pretty tired after all and wanted to get to bed.  So we all threw in the towel and drove back to the hostel, where I had a great night’s sleep.  I made a quick stop again at the Two Sister’s Bakery to grab some breakfast for the road and headed straight back to Summit Lake which took about 3 hours.  More current blogging coming soon hopefully…so much more has happened!!