Alaska Report from Les & Janet

From Les and Janet who spent the past winter in Homer, AK instead of beautiful south Texas:

In our heads, that Neal Sedaka song "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" runs constantly. We have been enjoying what Alaskans call "The Break Up."

Spring is here - maybe even summer soon.

 Snow is gone, the harbor now has more boats than eagles,

RVers are making their way into town and crowding this little hamlet of less than 5,000.

A black bear came into our yard yesterday and visited for a brief time. Right at this moment we have three moose lounging in the middle of the fiddle ferns and eating the nasty pushkey.

 And hundreds of eagles have made their way back to Homer where they set up house in huge nests - the largest ever recorded at 2,000 pounds. What a bachelor pad!

We've seen gray whales return from Mexico to their home in the Bearing Sea and enjoyed fun little sea otters flip on their backs eating the razor clams that we also like and dug during minus tides all last year and then enjoyed with gusto in chowder all winter. Janet has been tide pooling for "sea lettuce" and dog mushing.

It's a balmy 34 degrees when we wake up and gets up to the 50s. For us, it will be SUMMER when it hits 60 with 18 hours of daylight. Time for the flip flops to come out of hiding.

Yep, it's The Break Up.

 

We are no longer a cheechako - a newbie. We survived a winter in Alaska. The ice cleats are stuffed away, our vehicle no longer wears studded tires, Janet no longer has to crawl out of one side of the car when the lock on the other side is frozen solid - really S-O-L-I-D. Les has learned that to truly experience Alaska

you gotta grow a beard and ponytail.

 He says he looks like Gene Hackman's love child.

Visualize that for a moment.

The cats survived as well. They loved the Toyo heater, running around the 500 square foot "mansion" we've rented and watching the window for eagles that fly by. Alaska buzzards, they're called. We just call them awesome.

 

Let summer begin! It's time for biking and fishing.

Gee, we could do that in Texas!

 Hope to see all the Sandpiper improvements

 when we return this fall.