Really back to the real world... (of little Kids)

Tomorrow, I will be going back to the classroom with kids coming in!  If you have never been in a classroom with 20 or so kindergarten children on their first day of school... it is an experience.  I never know what to expect.  Some years, I have a few cryers (moms and children!)  But mostly the kids are really excited to be there and eager to learn and please the teacher (me). 
My main goal on the first day, is to get the children on the correct mode home ie... car, bus, walk or after school care at the school.  This can be a challenge since most of my kids don't know how they will get home and many don't speak English! 
We have a plan in place and hopefully it will work...
I always love getting the first day under my belt... it is all down hill from there!
Wish me Luck!!

Back to the "real world"

We came back to Arkansas in the middle of a heat wave... 100+ temperatures!! This is a shock after the 50's and 60's we got used to in Alaska!

We are also back to work... I am getting things ready for another year of teaching.  I spent this last week getting my room ready with out the air conditioner working:(  I did take a fan up there and that helped a little.  Next week starts the official teacher's start of the school with meetings etc...

I enjoy looking back on the vacation by printing some of the pictures of the trip.  We had a fantastic time and everything worked out well for us.  The flights were even on time without any delays!

Until next time... stay cool!

The rest of the trip----

We will spend the last night of our trip with friends in the City of Kenai.  As we drive back up the Cook inlet coast line, we take our time and stop to look at some of the interesting sights along the way.

The first stop is just a few miles out side of Homer.  It is the Norman Lowell art gallery.  Norman Lowell and his wife homesteaded Alaska in 1958 and he has been a resident artist since then.  His art depicts different landscapes of Alaska, particularly right around the area of Homer and Anchor Point.   The gallery was large and inviting.  It showed not only his art, but other artifacts of Alaska.  We enjoyed this very much.  Although he was not at the gallery, his wife was, and I enjoyed visiting with her about their life in Alaska. 

After visiting the gallery, we walked back to their original homestead.  They built a larger, nicer home on the same grounds which they live in now.

After visiting the gallery, we drove the few miles to Anchor Point, Alaska.  This is the Western most town in the US that can be reached by the highway system. 

Another interesting thing about this area, is the "tractor beach."  At lower tides, the fishing boats cannot reach the shore, so tractors with the boat trailers attached, go out into the water, the boats "drive" right on to the trailer and the tractors bring them to shore.  Never seen anything like it.  I was amazed to see how far the tractors go out into the water and how fast the boats approach the trailer.

On north we drive.  We take a cut through road to  Kenai which is off the main highway… We are driving along when Don spots a moose on the side of the road.  We turn around and go down the road where the cow moose is… She is pretty close to the road.  I took pictures from the car since we were so close to her.

We get to our friend's house and visit a while and relax.. They grill us some fresh salmon that they had caught on Monday.. This is Thursday night.  It was very good.  Better than we had in any restaurant.  After dinner we played a card game, then is if on cue… a cow moose and her twins came into to view.  They are really big animals.  We enjoyed watching her and the twins before going to bed.

After a good breakfast, we were on the road again… headed to Anchorage to get on the plane for our trip home.  We were not getting on the plane until 11:25 pm Alaska time.

First stop was in Kenai watching the locals dip net for salmon at the mouth of the Kenai river.  (only residents of Alaska can use these dip nets and it seems everyone has one.) 

We also drove a little around old Kenai…

After leaving Kenai, we  stopped on down the road to see some salmon swim up a stream on the way to where they will lay eggs and spend the rest of their lives.

The sockeye are easy to spot because they are bright red with green heads.

On up towards Anchorage we saw some pink salmon but they are harder to see because they are silver color and blend in the water.  I did not get a picture of these.

By this time we realize that although we have had a good time, we are ready to come back to Arkansas.

We get on the plane at 11:25 and fly the 6 hours to Chicago then have a layover there.  We finally get home to Bentonville at 1:30 in the afternoon.  By this time, we had been up 27 hours straight, only dozing a little on the overnight flight.  We got home and started laundry and cleaning up etc… staying up till about 8:00pm before hitting the bed and sleeping about 13 hours straight.  We feel much better today and are enjoying reliving our wonderful vacation.

Our last day in Homer

We decided that today would be our lay-over day.  We would sleep a little late and start packing for the plane.  After doing some packing, we left the room around 11:00 am…. We first did a little shopping in a nice little shop that carries Alaskan products.  I got a few things in there.  Then we went to the wild life center -- very nice look at the ecology of the bay and other islands.  It shows what they do to keep the balance of the eco system out here.

We then took a walk out to the beach and looked around….

Next, to the Bear Creek Winery… for wine tasting… and of course buying a couple of bottles of wine… nice wine.. But sadly can't buy it in Arkansas.

Late lunch/early dinner was at the Sourdough Express… probably the best food in Homer that we had…. Interesting story also… the guy that owns it traveled on the Alaskan highway selling bread along the way… he arrived in Homer with 43 dollars…. And now have a very nice place to eat.

We ended the day at the hotel, walking down on the beach a couple of times,… one time we found some shells to bring home. 

All in all and very nice day…  The sun is shinning and it is warm (for Alaska) and very nice…..

Next we go to Kenai to visit some friends for the night.



An Eagle out on the rock.




Beach at low tide.



Mostly Homer beach pictures will be shown today...

Horseback ride...

A last minute idea by Don was that we go on a horse back ride… this was a wonderful idea.  The ride starts about 20 miles out side of Homer… we rode down steep switch backs down to the inlet… we rode along the beach for a while, crossing two creeks… that was interesting… we got off the horses and had lunch while the horses got to graze.  The stopping place was beside a river and was very pretty.. Mark, our leader was quite the cowboy… interesting and funny and we enjoyed interacting with him.  There were nine of us on the trip.  One of the best things we did on the whole trip.  Although, I am   sore   from a day on horseback.

Don and I on our rides....



The horses enjoy lunch also...




Our group at our lunch break.  A beautiful spot by the river.



Here we are at our lunch.  I didn't take any pictures of the trip down and back up the hill because I was too busy holding on!!!

Sedovia

Sedovia is an old town across the bay.  The only way to get there is by boat or plane.  There are cars there, but they were brought there by boat as there are not roads in or out.  It does have a few full time residents living there.

Our boat trip to Sedovia was interesting… it was a little cloudy and cool… (but pretty normal for Alaska we are told..)  By the afternoon and the trip back, the sun had come out and it warmed up.

On the way to Sedovia we toured the shore line across the bay.  We saw a lot of birds and some otters… the otters are really cute laying out there in the water.

Sedovia is an interesting little town.. At one time it was bigger than Homer because the waterway does not freeze in winter.   However after the 60's earthquake and a road was built to homer, Sedovia's population dwindled… Now they relay on tourists for income…. Fishing trips, a few hotels, and restaurants , and a couple of gift shops…. We enjoyed our 3 hour stop there and that was about enough time to tour the town.  We did see one  of the boardwalks that was left standing after the earthquake… In Sedovia, everything is told as "before" the earthquake, or "after" the earthquake.

On the way back to Homer it was warm enough that we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the sun…



This is the boat the rode on to Sedovia..... very nice ride.

 

The birds on the rock island are all flying away trying to get away from a Bald Eagle trying to get some "lunch"



 

The Eagle flying around looking for something to eat..

 

Birds that live on this rock island





One of the Puffins that live on the rock island...




One of the cute otters that we saw on the trip to Saldovia...  Their fur is so thick, that they can live in the cold waters of Alaska.




Elephant rock with it's trunk down....




Elephant rock with it's trunk up.



 Pictures of the Seldivia boaboardwalk as it might have  looked befor the earthquake... these are the only boardwalks left in town after the earthquake.

This is one of the Russian Orthidox churches in Alaska.  This one in Seldovia.  The Russian influence in all over the area.  Infact, there are some small Russian settlements around Homer.  We would see the women around with brightly colored satin skirts and if married, they wore head covering.

This was an interesting book store and coffee shop in Seldovia.  On nice days, the locals come here to hang out.



A look back at Seldovia from the boat.

 


A view from the boat of the inlet on the way back to Homer.  Such a beautiful afternoon on the water.