Homer, Alaska

Diary:

Rain rain rain! We have begun to detect a pattern here and are putting together a theory about the weather in Alaska in August.

We slept in, then ventured forth to explore the town after lunch.

We checked the Visitor's center and the Pratt Museum, which was pretty interesting and had a pretty thorough section on the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. I had never realized the extent of the diaster, but now, having traveled through Prince William Sound and seen its great beauty and some of its (remaining) wildlife, the magnitude of the accident was really brought home. The devestating effects of the oil, which were actually eclipsed by the cleaning attempts, are still measurable today - we now could guess why we saw so little marine life in Prince William Sound.

Back at home Claudia generously offered us a huge fillet of local silver salmon - yum! We sauteed it in butter and lemon and ate with Keiko's delicious mango salsa... and with a bottle of crisp Jacob's Creek chardonay we watched "A Bug's Life" and thus ended another perfect day.