Alaska: My 5 senses on overload

Day ONE

 I saw amazingly blue water, an otter and a puffin.

 I heard seagulls, an unexpected sound.

 I smelt sea air, also unexpected.

 I tasted fresh berries with yogurt and granola.

 I felt excitement of the unknown.

Day TWO

 I saw…words cannot capture the sensory overload I experienced today. So many things unfolded from waking up to see a family of sea otters outside of my cabin on the cove, to a big delicious breakfast, to a morning hike with my husband, Ron. The hike was made especially memorable when we encountered a black bear on the trail. Then yoga on the sun deck with a mountain view and a nap before catching a boat to cross the bay to Alaska Ultimate Safari to catch a helicopter to a glacier and a black sand beach! We landed on the glacier, toasted champagne, and on another glacier we threw snowballs.  On the black sand beach we saw brown bear tracks intertwined with eagle talon tracks, hundreds of salmon trapped in a tide-pool and fresh black bear tracks.

 I heard an eagle cry out, salmon splashing around in shallow water and a glacier crack (it sounded like a gunshot).

 I smelled fresh cut grass because the trail on our hike has recently been cleared.

  I tasted fresh red salmon, halibut and shrimp in a delicious seafood fettuccine.

 I touched black sand and let it run through my hands several times, it was so smooth and I wanted to lay down to make a sand-angel.  I also felt glacier ice.

 I felt incredibly lucky!

Day THREE

I saw a bald eagle come out onto the water to catch a herring tossed out by one of the people who work at the lodge.

 I heard stories from the families at dinner about their lives.

 I smelt clean after a long day!

 I tasted dust kicked up from the heels of those on the hike with me.

 I touched the moss growing on a rock that looked like little stars.

 I felt my back seize/pop/snap while kayaking and don’t know if it as from paddling or just sitting…think mostly just from sitting as I didn’t paddle much.

Day FOUR

 I saw some bear cubs with their mama getting bath, a brown bear clamming, a couple of volcanoes and a salmon that a bear had taken a bite of and left it’s teeth marks in it.

 I heard the rushing of water in a river.

 I smelled bear scat.

 I tasted blueberries from a bush that was growing on a hill of ash left from a volcano that erupted in 2006.

 I touched pumice, granite and lava rock on Augustine volcano.  It last erupted in 2006 and we hiked up about a mile towards it but didn’t have water or other provisions to go much further.

 I felt overly blessed.

Day FIVE

I saw white birds dive bombing into the water and then fighting and swirling around each other looking like they were trying to go after a fish.

 I heard that the tide was extremely low and the boat at the lodge got stuck in the mid.

 I smelt marijuana as a guy lit up in a public area where we were sitting, waiting for our ride back across the bay to the cabins where we were staying.

 I tasted a chocolate cookie.

 I touched several smooth, flat, gray rocks on a walk along the beach in Homer, Alaska.

 I felt some sea sickness on the way to Homer for a fishing excursion which we decided not to go on.

Day SIX

I saw two baby bald eagles in their nest right next to Beluga Bay (where we got on the helicopter).  And we saw 5 ft swells on the bay.

I heard stories from Clem, a 97 yr old man who is a legend in the Homer area.  He talked about his wife, his kids and about the history of Alaska.

“The nurses asked me to leave so they could bathe my wife., I told them, She’s my woman, I’ll bathe her myself”

— Clem

I smelt fresh brewed coffee in a coffee shop in Halibut Bay on an island.

I tasted wood fired pizza at the Granite Ridge Brewery, which we lucked out because the pizza peeps were only there for the weekend we were there. I also tasted freshly prepared Parmesan crusted cod and flounder from a kiosk on the Homer Spit.

I touched mussels, seaweed, and seashells with my hiking boots during a hike along the shore of Hideaway Cove in Halibut Bay.

I felt privileged to meet Clem who is a legend in the area, the original homesteader of the land. It was a bit sad we couldn’t spend more time with him.