Category Archive:Moose Nuggets

Well, we all know that I have a tendency to collect moose – right? From the beginning of our trip to Homer where a real live 1000+ pounder caused some damage to the car – to the Goofy Moose we found as we left Homer. What? I didn’t tell you about the Goofy Moose?

aha – perfect finale to our anniversary trip tale, I’m thinking.

When we stopped for breakfast – at the Caribou (thanks, Gal) – we spotted several goofy caricatures carved from wood placed around the restaurant. I grabbed one of the business cards as it had a website address on it and I figured – well, you know what I figured – I would contact the “Bear Man” at a later date to see about getting one of the said Goofy Moose.

I didn’t have to wait long – as we left the Spit area after our boat jaunt I spotted the critters sitting alongside the road. Made a u-ie and went back to take a closer look – oh, so cute! Oh, so necessary for my collection! Oh, the things he let us see that I didn’t get a picture of – because they are only for “special” minded folks. Yes, I know that many of you out there have the mindset to stand for it – but, well, I just blushed and carried on – no pics.

😳

Anyway . . .  I did take a shot of the “moose-squito” for you all.

   schnort!

 and here is your faithful PurpleMoose grinning just like the Goofy Moose.

Darn! I thought I had taken a shot of my little guy – but I don’t find it here. And, he is in my office at work, so can’t get a shot for you today. Maybe later this week. And, I am only going to post these smaller photos because I understand that people have tried to take shots of the sculptures in order to make their own – I don’t want to be a cause of such a thing. Go on over and visit his site and get your own.

as per usual – I am living up to my motto – I live in Alaska – I make my own fun. Woot!

Hey there – we have finally moved up to day two of our little anniversary jaunt. Are we having fun yet? Well, I know WE were, but how about you?

We beat the alarm up – it’s a bad habit I have, I know. 😉

After showers and coffee and cleaning up after ourselves it was time to try to find someplace (other than mcds) to have breakfast. We were facing 4.5 hours on a boat before lunch and hubby moose is diabetic – he NEEDS to eat. (Moosie, on the other hand, could stand to miss a few meals – heh).

Nothing was open at the crack of dawn – so we resigned ourselves to making the turn to go to mcdland, when I caught an open sign out of the corner of my eye – we turned in a driveway and headed back to a little cafe near the bowling alley. We were only the second customers of the morning – poor Sally (restaurant owner, cook and waitress) had been up for quite a long time but, even though she was exhausted, she was a great source of fun. And, the breakfast was good, too.

Headed on down the Spit to the berth of our ride – the Rainbow Connection was not quite ready for boarding, so we spent some time walking along the docks and taking pictures of the boats.

Here’s a favorite from that group of pics:

 

The air was crispy cool – very Alaska-ish. Perfect for we Alaskans, although some of the tourists were complaining a wee bit. Awwwww. We were invited to board and set out on calm, glassy seas. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

We made our way up Kachemak Bay – peeking into coves and bays, looking for birds (shorebird festival and all that) Along the way we were treated to a variety of other wildlife, some of which hubby and I had not been privy to before.

I got some great shots – although not of the wildlife, due to the restrictions on my little camera. I saw some really nice camera equipment hung around the necks of those birders, though. Pardon my drool, please. One of these days – maybe before our Hawaii trip, Lessa – I hope to upgrade equipment AND take a course or two in how to get even better pictures. We will see.

For now I will give you the rundown of our critter count. Remember, this is where we stood after day one:

Day 1 Critter Count:

Moose = 1

Caribou = 3

Eagles = many, many, many eagles

Tourists = 2 (to talk to, probably many more among us)

Campy Satirists = 1

Campy Satirist’s Sidekick = 1

People we knew = 6

Day 2 Critter Count:

Eagles and more eagles

Arctic Terns and other gulls (glaucous winged gulls and the like), Kittiwakes, loons, birds, birds, birds – but only one puffin was spotted!

Harbor seals

Harbor porpoises (very shy, but so fun to see)

Sea otters,

and, as a special surprise . . . a small humpback whale! You can see pictures here.

Around Gull Island we saw thousands of gulls! No lie, THOUSANDS!

We were beyond stoked at that. There were crazy little cabins way up the Bay – the only way to them was by boat – I’m thinking they are rentals and accessed by water taxis.

So, our critter count is mounting. More later, perhaps

So – got to Homer okay after the little run-in with the moose of the living, breathing variety. Stopped at the top of the hill to take a gander (not a critter, sillies, that would be a look) from the overlook there.

Augustine Volcano, as is its wont, was hiding from view. But we saw several eagles winging about. Visited with a couple of tourists and gave them our phone numbers for while they are in Alaska. (you just never know when someone might need assistance – and it goes both ways)

Drove around through town – I am a big one for scoping out ahead of time the places we need to be in the near future. We stopped at the Homer Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Center to pick up our tickets and got some good information. Drove down to the pub where we would see some two-legged wildlife later that evening – then down to the “Spit” to find the dock where we would board our boat tour Saturday morning.

Grabbed something for lunch and then went to check into our hotel. We had a feeling we needed to rest up a bit before the evening’s festivities.

 

Ah, yes . . . Mr. White Keys – now that is SOME critter! As you can see the show is done in the dark – there is a slide show going most of the time while he is singing or playing harmonica – with glittering flamingoes and palm trees and tinsel covered speakers and keyboard. He is insanely funny – the satire probably would mean little to someone who is not from Alaska, however. There is NO politician safe – nor printer, nor license plate maker, nor . . . well you get the picture.

During one of the slide shows I gasped and leaned over to ask hubby moose if I had done the typography on the shown letterhead with the word Peninsula spelled without that pesky second letter “n”. I always did have trouble with spelling that word (gee, moosie, what IS on your brain?) and have to watch myself very carefully in any written communication while at work. (sigh!) To top it off we actually DID do the printing for the school in question – Lessa’s and Ladybug’s alma mater, in fact. I have NO clue if we sent it out without that “n” or not. And, as we have closed the shop it is much too late to go back and check. hahaha.

Wanna see him in the light? (more…)