Kodiak Bears

I had my picture taken inside the Baranov museum with Kodiak bears. The other bear was in the lobby of a bank. Even though we went to the end of roads and saw thousands of salmon return to the creeks from the ocean, we did not see any Kodiak bears. We may have seen a black bear if we stayed home since our son, Raymond saw one as he was shingling the roof of his apartment last week.

Miller Point

Since Kodiak Island is in a rain forest, misty rain and fog with streams of water falling from cliffs are prevalent on most days. The spruce trees in Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park drip with dark green moss. Miller Point has WWII fortifications, bunkers, a generator house and a small museum. Teresita and I are pictured here. We saw several black birds with bright orange feet swimming below us in the bay but could not see the orange beak that would identify them as puffins.

We saw an eagle perched above the area where small pontoon planes were landing and taking off. Along the road to Chiniak Point, sea otters and seals were swimming far below us.

City of Kodiak

Terry and Raymond are walking to the Russian Orthodox Church, which is a reminder of the Russians influence in the town of Kodiak. The inside of the church held many members even though it is small because the people stand for the entire church service.

The Baranov House Museum, which is almost 200 years old, is the oldest Russian building in Alaska. The industry in Kodiak is fishing. We had lunch at the Chowder House which served me delicious halibut. We slept in the Russian Heritage Motel where we had a great suite with two bedrooms and a kitchen area with a refrigerator and microwave.

Kodiak Island Trip

Even though Kodiak Island looks like it isn’t too far from Anchorage on the map, everything in Alaska is far away. We drove six hours to Homer and boarded a ferryboat for another ten hours to arrive in Kodiak.

Different moose were grazing along the road on both the trip to and from Homer. While in Homer, we drove the End Road with a view of mountains and glaciers above the town of Homer and the Homer Spit.

I felt like a bird as we rode the narrow road between seven to eight feet tall fireweed on both sides of the road. We spent the night in a campground before we boarded the Tustumena, a ferryboat under the Alaskan Marine Highway system. A few whale spouts were seen far out in the ocean.

Wild life and the Building Project

Last week, Terry and Raymond bought supplies and loaded them into the building. Sheet rock is being loaded inside in the picture with the backhoe. This week, they are finishing work on the plumbing and electric before they can put in the sheet rock.

I don’t know what the wild life thinks about the building but I know that they have been checking it out. Teresita was looking out the window of their home around 7:30 one morning when she saw this mother moose and her baby in their yard. She ran and got the camera and took this picture. The moose pruned the mountain ash tree for her breakfast. A black bear likes Fridays to visit our area since it is garbage pick up day. Terry photographed bear tracks 30 feet from our RV. The building is 22 feet from the steps that lead to the lake so the loon must have seen the building progress but all I’ve seen him do is continue to fish. The huge dragonflies float on iridescent wings and eat insects. They do a good job because we rarely see an insect.