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| A view from Homer, AK |
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| The AirBnB cabin |
for my two nights in Seward I think I hit the jackpot. The cabin I got from AirBnB was north of Seward, in the sticks, but there were other cabins nearby so not
too far out. There were so many trees between my place and the others that I could pretend I was off in the wilds.
Brand spanking new, and equipped with kitchenette, full shower bathroom and the totally softest, fluffiest towels with which I have ever dried my tushe. I lolled around on the queen-size bed and well, heaven. I wrote up such a great review of the cabin that my host wrote me back that if I ever return she'll give me a discount.
I was truly reluctant to leave, but it was time to head back to Anchorage so I can fly home tomorrow. On a whim, I drove from Seward to Homer, so I could revisit the Homer Spit, which I last visited in 1997. Wow... has that place grown! When I was there previously there were only a few buildings along the spit and the beach was chock full of Bald Eagles - dozens of them. This time there were no eagles and dozens and dozens of buildings. I was sad that I couldn't remember the name of the shop where in 1997 I had the best fresh cod fish & chips I've ever eaten. I tried a different fish & chips place but it didn't - no surprise - match my jaded memory.
I took some time to visit the Islands and Oceans Visitor Center north of the spit.
The stone grey building looked like an outbuilding of Azkaban.
Metal icons line the walkway to the front door
Metal sea kelp flanked the doors. That's me in the window glass on the right.
Once inside I hit the Information area to ask if Attu, Alaska was in the range covered by the Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, and it does include Attu. Being a pain-in-the-rear, I bored the poor volunteer with the abridged version of my year 2000 birding adventures on Attu. I takes my audiences where I can get them.
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| Lights, cameras and action all around |
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| Handy globe for exploring & viewing the range of the Wildlife Refuge |
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| Diorama of an oceanic wild bird rookery |
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| An artistic masterpiece - a Horned Puffin Mask |
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| Beautiful Inuit seal-skin boots |
A benched area near the refuge had large & artistic metal sculptures of shorebirds and such.
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| Metalic Alaskan Shorebirds |
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| Gigantic Alaskan Lupine flowers |
My lunch of fish & chips had, and my tour of the Refuge visitor center completed and I was off north to Anchorage. This morning I took one last venture over to one of my favorite Anchorage stops - Ooomingmak. That is the Inuit word for Muskoxen, which you know by now is a favorite critter of mine. A favorite for its weave-able and warm undercoat as well as for its awesome presence. Alloted myself a couple of keepsakes to tide me over until my next trek to Anchorage.
