July 13, 2011 - Day 5 of vacation - Cruise to Seldovia

On Thursday morning, we got up a little early so Blaine and Jill could take the girls down to the spit during low tide to look for starfish and other sea creatures.  When they returnedd, they ate breakfast and we headed back down for an 11:00 AM cruise to Seldovia.  The cruise was to include a tour of Kachemak Bay.

ST is ready for a boat ride.

Since we were the first people on the boat (at least that headed up on the top deck, we grabbed a nice seat that would let us be outside and yet protect us from the cool wind.  

The seagulls were lining the roof tops waiting for the boats to return with fish.

Finally with a boat full of people, we headed out of Homer towards Seldovia.

 It was kind of a long tour taking us by lots of big rocks used as bird rookeries.  Bird, more birds and even more bird poop was everywhere on the rocks.

From this position the opening looked kind of like a heart.

MS got a little cold so we went inside.  She spent some time playing with her Mel kitty and No Name musk ox.  Here she is getting them to hug each other.

ST seems to like boys so she climbed up onto this bench to check out the boys behind her.

A little island in Kachemak Bay

We ate lunch on the boat as it was lunch time and would give us more time to explore Seldovia.

Elephant Rock and... 

with it's trunk raised.

We saw lots of otters in the water but none of them up very close to the boat.

Jules alone outside on the top deck - everyone else had gone in because of the cold.

Approaching Seldovia - a little coastal town where there isn't a lot but every Memorial weekend they have a wood carving competition with chain saws so around town there are a number of neat carvings.

A young eagle greeted us at the docks.

We disembarked the boat and looked around a bit in the water where we saw a few jelly fish then headed up the ramp  to the tiny town of Seldovia.

A well kept garden near the water front.

The 3 granddaughters and I each took a ride n the big carved Salmon.  MS always strikes her own pose.

The whole family.  It was a little cool and damp.

We walked to the little area where it appears they have the competition.

This one was my favorite.

A Russian Orthodox Church on the hill.

We stopped in the little grocery store for a soda.  No one had fountain drinks there.  Pop was a little high-priced but what are you going to do.  Mainly in the store, it looked like they had gone to Costco and brought a bunch of stuff back to sell.

Another crab pot jail so we "locked" up the girls.  Then it was on to walk the old boardwalk that had survived the big earthquake of 1964.

Every house needs a beluga whale head sticking out of it.

After walking around town, it was time to head back to the boat for the trip back.  It was a shorter trip back and we all sat inside the boat for that trip.  JW napped a little and ST really sacked out on a bench.

When she woke up, she had a brand new hair do.

We got back into Homer about a quarter after 5.  JW and I took the older 2 girls and headed to the grocery store to pick up a little bit of food.  The rest of them did a little shopping and we all met back at the house to eat leftovers.

Then we relaxed a bit and before we knew it, it was time for bed once again.  Friday we would start the journey north.  For tonight, JM was sleeping with Aunt Val so MS was feeling a little lonely.  I told her I would sleep with her thinking I would go downstairs, lay with her until she went to sleep then head back to my own bed.  But things didn't quite work out that way.