Sun beams poke out from the cloud cover and shine down onto Kachemak Bay as the waves crash onto the rocky beach right outside the window of our table at Captain Patties Seafood Restaurant on the Spit in Homer, Alaska.
My mom and step-dad took my hubby and I out for all-you-can-eat prawns, and we were joined by our good friend Chris Palmer, who took these amazing photos with his awesome Canon Mark II (I suffer from camera envy).
Captain Patties
I think they can safely make this claim
This is good! Yum
All-you-can-eat prawns
Or you can have them grilled
That's one big prawn
Chicken Alfredo - My mom said eating this made her euphoric. It was so good she felt like she was high. That's pretty good food!
With the wooden fisherman and halibut
Our good friend Chris with my hubby Greg
Thanks for a great time Mom, Fred and Chris! We’ll miss you when we leave.
After a lot of questioning, pondering, praying and considering – weighing pros and cons, likes and dislikes, passions, interests and values – we were able to prioritize what was important to us about life and decide how we wanted to spend the next several years…
It includes plans for sailing the South Pacific, road-tripping through Europe and other such adventures.
But it all begins here. In Alaska.
It won’t end. I don’t think it could.
However, a monumental milestone we plan to reach in a couple of years will be El Fin del Mundo, The End of the World – Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
A Two Continent Tour – With Five Kids?
So much to explore
We considered moving to Hawaii…or maybe Colombia, Thailand?
All those places would be cool to live.
But we’ve discovered something about ourselves.
We don’t like just living. We love exploring, discovering.
We love the thrill of arriving in a new place, unearthing all that it has to offer, learning from it, creating new friendships, trying new foods, immersing ourselves in the culture – and then doing it all over again.
And again, and again, and again.
It’s the exhilaration of exploration, the intoxication of discovery, the pleasure of pioneering.
To travel slowly with inspiration as our guide – free from the confines of restraints on time and location.
Live deep. Live deliberately.
To ‘live deliberately, live deeply and really suck the marrow out of life’. That’s what we want.
So we contemplated doing the ‘RV thing’ – wandering North America in our own mobile home.
There’s a lot to see.
But we really want to explore South America.
We’re fond of the people, the culture, the food. We want our kids to solidify the language.
Flying there is an option. But how do we explore the continent like we want?
Why not drive there?
Our first road trip from Utah to Costa Rica with four children gave us enough confidence to know we can do it, and enough experience to know how stinkin’ fun it will be!
How You Know It’s ‘Your’ Adventure
The seed was planted, the idea sprouted, and with it grew our excitement.
This is our adventure!
Yes, why not experience the Monarch migration in Mexico, explore Mayan and Aztec ruins, investigate volcanoes in Guatemala, pick up surfing in El Salvador, examine wildlife in Costa Rica?
All other ideas, plans and designs slowly fade from our mind, until all that exists is this one all-consuming conjecture.
Teach English in Thailand? Yeah, that would be awesome.
But what about Machu Picchu? What about the Panama Canal?
The more we thought, the more we planned, the more destinations we added, the more we KNEW that this was our adventure.
It was no longer a matter of IF we would do this trip, but only WHEN.
Giving myself some ‘girl’ time, I went ‘out on the town’ with my mom.
We visited many of the shops in Homer, AK that I drive by everyday, but never stop at because I can’t imagine hauling my gaggle of children into places with so many breakable things.
We stopped first at a favorite restaurant, Cosmic Kitchen. Their specialty is Mexican, but they were named because Homer is a "cosmic hamlet by the sea.'
The wall decor next to our table in Cosmic
Next shopping at Blackbeary Bog
All sorts of treasures and useful things
japanese fishing bubbles
At first my mom thought this was made out of beads, but then I noticed it was broken glass bangles like the kind we got in India
Ahhhh....peace. I've found it finally.
I didn't ask to be a princess, I was just born one
Next Alaska Wildberry Kitchen, Jewelry, Gifts & Museum
Who?
Wear it with pride
Be one with the moose.
Eskimo pants made from seal skin
An eskimo baby diaper (mokuk) and story of how it was used
An eskimo seal gut raincoat - very handy
So true
Hmmm...words to live by
Now off to the art galleries. Fireweed is a very beautiful wildflower that grows in Alaska in the summer.
Giddy with excitement, our four little children bound down the gangplank to the boat dock. Daddy and I are not far behind, and feeling a little giddy ourselves.
We walk the dock until we find the slip that holds the boat that will take us across Kachemak Bay to Peterson Bay where we’ll be spending two nights with dear friends who kindly invited us.
Excited?
A good reminder...
Are you excited????
Leaving the Homer Boat Dock
Can you taste that salty sea air?
Passing Gull Island, which Parker has re-named 'Stinky Island'
We dock and disembark...
Then re-embark on the boat that will take us to shore
All ashore that's going ashore
A perfect night - the view from our cabin
The view at 2:00 am, after our midnight boat ride to look at the bioluminescence
The 'homestead' cabin of our hosts
Alluring Peterson Bay in the morning
An early morning low-tide walk - the receded tide left all sorts of treasures to discover
Hanging on till the ocean comes back
Look what I found mom!
What's that?
World schooling at it's best!
Clusters of sea stars
Look what I found mom
Treasures of the sea
I've never seen so many arms on a sea star
Catch me if you can!
Look what I found mom
A baby eel that was buried in the sand
This is all under water during high tide.
Like glass...
Loving this sunshine!! The (first?) we've had all summer...
A baby eagle watches for it's mother to bring some food
Love...
Aaliyah is captivated by her new friend
Life in the Alaska Frontier
Leaving Peterson Bay for a jaunt over to Halibut Cove
Beautiful Halibut Cove
Halibut Cove's only restaurant, The Saltry
Leaving Halibut Cove - the seas start to get a little rough, so we have a bumpy ride back to Peterson
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I read your blog and almost cried. I am going to start traveling this summer and recently I have had a lot of fears come up about all the 'what ifs' - money, my age, etc. I was feeling particularly vulnerable this morning when the link from your web site came across my e-mail. When I watched your video and read a few sections in your blog I am convinced that this was a sign, you are a Godsend, and I am really excited. Thank you,thank you, thank you. Keep up your amazing work and life.
The desire of my heart is to be doing what you are doing. So I guess you could say I am living vicariously through you.
I love your appreciation and genuine interest in other cultures. I am always looking forward to reading your next post.
[I read] because you're an EXPERT in the area I'm most interested in. Living the dream.
I read to see it is possible. However, my husband is still convinced we can't do it, that you must be special... So I continue to read and follow, hoping for something to click for our family to also travel the world.
I enjoy reading your blog because you share the spirit of adventure that not too many people are brave enough to follow... I like to see how resilient you and your family are during the lows that would send most people packing home. My family and I get out a lot and explore but like to live vicariously through your experiences. Thanks and we will keep following along.
