Homer, Alaska

We absolutely loved the two weeks we spent in Alaska, we even tried to extend our vacation a couple of times. This was our second trip to Alaska so we had a long list of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to see and thankfully we were able to do it all and more! Thanks to Cody's parents and brother and his family for letting us take over their house and for being our tour guides, we had a blast!

This was the first fish of the trip. We headed down to Land's End and caught a huge cod, which we promptly ate for dinner :)

The next day we drove to Ninilchick to clam with Jay, Brit, and their son Michael. He was a big help to the clams- he kept trying to throw them back after we had dug them out of the sand. Isn't he just adorable in his little waders?! 

So last year we clammed with a regular shovel and ended up with a lot of broken clam pieces. This year we were able to use the 'clam gun' which helped to solve the broken clam problem. When digging for clams, the first thing you do is look for small dimples in the sand. A dimple= A clam is nearby. We would spot the dimples and Cody would push the clam gun on top of the dimple and use the suction of the gun to bring the clam up out of the sand. I would then search through the sand until I found the clam. 

Here are the clams we dug in one day. We decided to clean the clams by the local fishing hole and several people stopped by to take our pictures and ask us questions about the clams. We felt like the local experts :)

Next we fished on the Kenai. Here is Cody's biggest fish of the day. 

Here I am with our fish.

The limit this day was 3 each. Cody, his parents, and I were able to catch our limit in about an hour. Pretty good day of fishing!

Cody, me, Michael, and Brit on the boat on our way to find a spot to Halibut fish. 

We used huge weights and hooks with bait on the end to fish for our halibut. We would let our line go to the bottom of the water and wait for a halibut to take the bait. We would then lift our poles up and reel as the weight of the fish pulled the pole down. It was a lot of work to reel those nasty looking fish in- good thing they are delicious!

Here is the biggest halibut I caught- estimated to be 30-35 pounds. 

Here is Gram and Cody with Cody's halibut- estimated to be 35-40 pounds. 

After the boys filleted the halibut, we spread the carcasses on the rocks and eagles came to feast on the fish. 

Peterson Bay

Homer Alaska- "A quaint drinking town with a fishing problem"

"Save a Seal, Club a Salmon" Alaska Motto

Yes, this is a real street

View of the Glacier- Brad, Cody's dad calls it the ever changing painting- it's true!

Cody's parents, Cody, and I at the Homer Lookout

Cody's mom and I wearing twin hats

Our breakfast, complete with Halibut cookie

We flew in and out of Anchorage and then drove south 4.5 hours to get to Homer. On our way back we stopped by the Anchorage temple. 

Cody and his family at the Anchorage Temple. 

Our food for the next two years. We may be poor, but we'll be eating like kings :)