Wow … our best day ever!

Days 36 & 37 – June 30 & July 1, 2015

Our dilemma started at the junction that offers the choice between going to Seward or Homer.Seward had much to offer including possibly connecting with Wendell. Homer also offers plenty including an all day natural history tour (which we had reservations for) … both good choices … both tantalizing and beckoning to us.        So … we read the travel brochures and the Milepost and selected Homer. And unfortunately we did miss Bijou and his friends by 78 miles; we ended up with our best days ever!

     The center of this picture reveals (in the water) a land spit that sticks out into the bay about four miles ... Homer Spit. That is our goal.  We camped right on the water! The next pictures actually are the view from our Coyote at our campsite on the Spit. Also what Raffi sees from inside the RV.

   

The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies

The Center hires marine biology students from around the world to research and share the fascinating world of the marine coastal waters. It isn’t widely publicized, but we found a paragraph that mentioned it and called. They have all-day (and part-day) natural history tours leaving from Homer Spit. So we signed on for the all-day. 
      
At 7:30 a.m. we sailed from Cook Inlet to Paradise Bay. The tide was at its lowest – negative 2.5 – so he ran into the beach of the island, literally, where the Coastal Studies Center is and we jumped off from the bow onto the wet sand. The dock was unavailable at that time of day. There we met Ashley, a marine biologist from Kentucky. We had Ashley to ourselves as our special guide for the entire day.

     As the tide was unusually low we spent the next few hours exploring an area usually 20 feet underwater. YES, the tide drops and rises 20 to 28 feet every day. The picture with Dan and Ashley by Otter Rock is low tide at 9:00 a.m. … the next two 
pictures with Otter Rock sticking out of the water is the SAME SPOT at high tide at 3:00 p.m. (view from the island with Otter Rock in distance and then a view from the boat on the other side as we left the island.)

  

Our New Marine Friends

After lunch we hiked into the island … a rain forest experience in Alaska… to a small lake.

All in all … in all … it was a marvelous day! Ashley and her friend Tahia (from Australia) were wellsprings of information and education and hospitality that never ended!