Vacation Ponderings

Things I learned while on vacation with my husband.

Lesson #1: Men don’t do well sitting in the passenger seat, mentally twiddling their thumbs, while the woman drives around small towns in a 27’ motorhome following GPS directions that start with “Make a U-turn at the next signal” [and go back the way you came, you idiot!].

In spite of a few minor moments lacking in total trust and harmony, we did successfully maneuver through the back roads of Soldotna and eventually found ourselves parked at the lovely “Cusack’s On the Kenai“ lodge.

This spectacular lodge, on the bank of the majestic Kenai River, is actually a Harvest Host location, where we, as HH members, were able to stay overnight (in our RV) for free. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ They earn a 5-Star rating for views, level lot with 30-amp electric hook-up and hospitality.

Lesson #2: Day two of a six-day vacation. How do you tactfully tell your husband that there will be no more TV on this trip because he fell asleep with it on – using up ALL of our Verizon Hotspot usage for the month? Sigh.

Lesson #3: Day three of vacation. Quick, decisive problem-solving is key! Husband; “What do you mean – I can’t start the generator at 5:00am to make coffee – and toast to go with my eggs? I always get up at 5!”

I spoke to the campground host and managed to get us moved from an awesome ocean-front (but dry) campsite to a more crowded site a row further from the beach, but with electric hook-ups. No generator needed. 👍🏼

We still had access to the beach – and some stellar views of Kachemac Bay once we got there.

Lesson #4: Men need to be entertained when deprived of TV. Walking the dog on the beach in Homer, AK, is not considered entertainment.

I sent him off to the harbor to watch fishing boats coming and going (and before you ask; no, I couldn’t talk him into a half-day halibut charter. I tried!)

We walked the quarter-mile to the tiny shopping and dining mecca on the spit, where we perused quaint shops, sampled homemade, artisan gelato (the caramel with sea salt was remarkable), and lunched on fresh halibut at Captain Patty’s restaurant, mainly because the place Jer had wanted to stop was closed.

A chilly ocean breeze came up in the afternoon, so we mostly stayed in the RV, entertaining ourselves by watching newly arrived tent-campers assemble tents in a rising wind. Wheee!

I pulled out DVDs for evening entertainment, and even got Jerry interested in helping me assemble another of my tiny, wooden owl puzzles while watching “Second-Hand Lions”.

The wind really picked up during the evening, so a quick potty walk in the campground replaced our planned beach walk on our last night on the Spit.

Lesson #5: Don’t set your cell phone to “Do not disturb” mode (my normal setting between 9pm-8am) when camping at sea level, barely above the high tide mark.

I still don’t understand why NO ONE came and knocked on our door after an 8.2 earthquake along the Aleutian chain triggered a Red Flag Tsunami evacuation order for the entire Homer Spit and other sea-level communities!

We never heard the siren that night, and (since it’s sort of funny in hindsight), we realized the next morning that what we thought was the wind “really picking up” just after we went to bed was actually the 8.2 earthquake.

By the Grace of God, the tsunami ended up being less then a foot tall, and happened at low tide. With Cook Inlet’s 30’ tides, the wave probably wouldn’t have even reached the high tide mark. STILL …. yikes.

We finished out our adventure the following day with a lovely drive up the peninsula, lunch-time watching eagles play at Deep Creek in Ninilchik, and a peaceful, quiet night spent at Cooper Creek South Campground in Coopers Landing – well above sea level 😉.

Capping off our week was dinner at Two Brothers Roadhouse, walking distance from the campground. YUMMY melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs and delicious #5 Boxcar Porter.

All in all, my favorite sweatshirt sums up our summer 2021 vacation …