Mom is co-pilot!

Sun sparkled from every corner of Kachemak Bay, its brilliant aqua blue surface stunning my mom and I as we drove into Homer. From its intense color life exploded: sea otters floated holding their new fuzzy babies to their chests, puffins torpedoed through the air, and kittiwakes swooped and called. What an magnificent place we live in! Earth never ceases to amaze me with her abundant beauty.

My mom came to visit me last week, and after she helped me dig a garden and plant we drove down to Homer, made our way across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia, and enjoyed a few days in this incredible part of the world.

On our way to Homer we stopped by the seaside town of Ninilchck. where we pulled of the Sterling highway to see the beach. We wound down through the tiny village of Ninilchick where wooden houses squated along a grassy "u" of land embraced by a bend in the river. An abandoned bright turquoise boat shell advertised for boats.

On a clear day you can see right across to the ever-snowy Alaska Range, home to a number of volcanoes. Today, as the gray sky dripped, it was just the sea ahead of us, heavy and gray.

As we drove the length of the village to the beach we realized we were looking out upon about 20 white-headed eagles gripping the dark sand along the mouth of the river. The looked skeptically our way, some pulling their wings just slightly away from their body as if ready to soar should we come any nearer. One soaking fellow dipped his head into the river over and over. Several others soared above the bluff behind the village chasing and picking at each other.

Looking down a noticed a kaleidoscope of seaweed covered stretches of the beach: peach, scarlet, bronze, scum-green, and brown. Some smooth, some frilled, it added texture to the pebbled beach.

We chanced the local seasonal restaurant and ordered the local specialty:Alaskan Razor Clams, fried with a side of fries. Those clams sank like, well, fried clams in our bellies, and we left feeling like bloated pieces of detritus. That was the last of the fried food we'd eat for awhile!

We stayed at a super cute B&B in homer and ate an excellent dinner at the Mermaid Cafe. The next day we caught a ferry to Seldovia, and enjoyed seeing the sea life on our trip over. We found a lovely hike through the temperate rain forest to a pebbled beach.

The next day we took my very first fishing charter, what a thrill! This wonderful guy, Fritz who runs Alaskan Grace charter, took us out to fish for halibut.

The boat ride out to the Gulf of Alaska was incredible, and then he put some chunks of octopus on some fishing lines for us, attached to a weight about the size of my fist. We lowered the lines, and as I set in to wait, as it always the case when you fish, I turned to look at the captain to see what I should be doing with my line while I waited, and he said, "If they're not biting immediately we'll have to move!" I thought I was hearing things, when sure enough my line started to jounce. About five minutes of arm ache later (I was sure I was reeling in at least a 70 pounder) I had my first halibut!

Mom followed soon after an in literally 15 minutes we both had our limit of 2 halibut each. Wow. I've never experienced fishing like that before!

As mom's visit drew to close I felt so lucky to have been able to spend such a lovely time with someone I love in an awe-inspiring place. Right now teaching in Alaska feels like the best job ever, because I have 3 months to explore this breathtaking place with the people I most love!