8/2/2008

We made the drive down the Sterling Highway to Homer today.  The Sterling highway which takes you along the northern coast of the Kenai Peninsula is very different from the Seward highway which takes you through the middle of Peninsula down to the southern coast where Seward is.

The Seward highway takes you through huge mountains, streams, and lakes.  It is a beautiful drive, but it is very rural.

The Sterling highway winds through several towns that are along the coast.  The Sterling highway is still rural by most standards, but there is a lot more activity along the Sterling highway than the Seward highway.  The Sterling highway sort of reminds us of the roads that run through the mountain towns of up-state PA.  There are several places where the Sterling highway runs right next to either the Cooper River, or the Kenai River.  The views of the rivers are just breathtaking.

We stopped in Soldotna (a little more than halfway out to Homer) for lunch.  There is a little restaurant in Soldotna called "Jersey Subs".  Jersey Subs is owned and operated by a guy from New Jersey.  He serves Hoagies and Cheese Steaks.  He makes his own bread.  This is the only place that we have found so far that has good bread for hoagies.  His hoagies are out of this world and would rank right up there with the best hoagies in the Philly area.  His cheese steaks are pretty good ... by far the best we have found in Alaska so far, but not that good compared to a real cheese steak from back home.

OK ... finally in Homer.  We had reservations at Alaska Adventure Cabins in Homer.  The cabin we had was high up on the bluffs overlooking the Homer Spit, Kachemak Bay, and Cook Inlet.  The views were just incredible.  We could actually look across the bay and see glaciers on mountains on the other side of the bay.

We took a ride down to the Homer Spit and checked out the beaches and shops all along the spit.  Homer is sort of a little artsy type of community with many shops and galleries.  There is a stark contrast though, because it is also a huge fishing port.  So, as you are walking along the boardwalk looking through these great little souvenir shops and art galleries, you will stumble across a group of fisherman gutting their 100 pound halibut right on the boardwalk.

8/3/2008

Just relaxed a bit in the morning and then we took a drive down to the Pratt museum in Homer and then back to the Spit for more shopping and walking.

8/4/2008

Wrapped up our stay in Homer today and headed back to Anchorage.  Everything about Homer was enjoyable ... the drive ... the views ... the town and Spit, and the ability to just kick back and relax.

8/6/2008

We saw our first bear actually in our yard today.  I was sitting at my desk on a conference call when I saw this huge black bear run along the side of the house and then down the ravine.  Its funny ... you know they are around all the time, but it just steps up the excitement a little when you see them right in your own yard.

It was a huge day for the Bentley Alaska region today!  BP placed a 1.7 million dollar order for software and services with us today.  We have been working on this opportunity ever since I got up here in January.

Went down to the Double Musky restaurant today in Girdwood to celebrate.  The Double Musky is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the country.  The food was really good, but our server was terrible.  It was apparent that he was not interested in serving a family with young children.

We were driving along Seward Highway on the way back to our house, we saw a pod of Beluga whales in the water.  We pulled over into a parking lot next to the water and got out and watched for about 20 minutes.  There must have been between 30 to 40 whales swimming around in the water not more than 25 yards off shore.  It was really incredible.  There were so many that there were constantly whales coming out of the water and breathing.  You could hear them exhale and then suck in more air.  It almost sounded like a machine because there was always at least one whale out of the water breathing.  The answer is, "No", I did not have my camera with me.

8/7/2008

Rhonda began shopping for school clothes and supplies today.  School starts on August 19th!

8/8/2008

We were supposed to close on our house today, however, the sale of our house was contingent upon the sale of our buyer's house.  Well ... our buyer's buyer did not apply for his mortgage by the deadline and was therefore, not approved for the mortgage in time to close today.  So ... we are now scheduled to close on our house on August 15th.

It was an incredibly beautiful day today in Anchorage (we have had our share of cloudy and rainy days).  We went down to a park along the water and walked around.  We let the kids do some rock climbing and wading through the frigid waters flowing down the mountain from the melting snow.  Had a great time.

8/17/2008

Let's talk about the level of anxiety when living around large carnivorous wildlife.  Level one of anxiety is achieved when you realize that there are carnivorous wildlife in your neighborhood.  Level two comes when you actually see them in your neighborhood.  Level three comes when you see them in your yard.  Level four comes when you realize that they are using your yard as their toilet!  See picture ...

8/18/2008

Back to school tomorrow!  Rhonda and I had a lunch time meeting with Andrew's teacher so that we could explain his FM transmitter to her.  We have a device that the teacher wears which transmits her voice directly to a receiver on his hearing aids.  We also stopped by to see Danny's teacher.  Looks like both of them will have a good year.  Their teachers seem really great!

8/20/2008

Fall is in the air.  Woke up to temps in the mid-40s.  Also noticed that some of the trees are starting to turn colors.  Back in PA, you hear everyone talking about summer unofficially starting on Memorial Day and unofficially ending on Labor day, but the reality is that you can enjoy summer activities well before Memorial Day and well after Labor day.  That is not the case here in Alaska.  Summer really does start on June 21st here.  And it really ends on Labor day!

8/22/2008

I traveled to Charlotte, NC yesterday for business and today I am fortunate enough to be able to participate in the Richard Petty Driving Experience (http://www.1800bepetty.com/home.aspx). Some of us who were attending the meeting in Charlotte chose to go out to Lowes Motor Speedway and to take a ride in a real race-ready stock car.  We rode as a passenger for three laps around the track at speeds up to 170 MPH.  Incredible!

8/30/2008

We went to the Alaska State Fair.  It was a pretty neat experience, but really expensive.  We were able to see the famous vegetables whose growers compete for prizes.  The vegetables in southern Alaska grow to huge sizes because of the relatively mild summer temps and the long growing days.

8/31/2008

We were invited to spend a night at a friends cabin out in Soldotna (about 2.5 hours from where we live).  On our way out to Soldotna, we spotted a black bear along the river that runs next to the road.  We stopped and walked down to the river and watched him eat (salmon) for a few minutes.  He was on the other side of the river from where we were standing.

Once we got there, we went down to the river and did  a little fishing ... we mostly watched.  Then back to the cabin for a real camping experience.  The kids rode a small motorized dirt bike, did some archery, used slingshots, and started a campfire.  We even went for a ride on a boat that belongs to our friend's friends.  That's gotta be worth a few merit badges.

We actually slept in a friend's motor home.  They have a Bounder that is almost identical to our old one.  Memories ....