Sunday 8/5
This morning we awoke and began loading the Cheap Jeep for the Kodiak Island Adventure. We have decided to take Das Bot (but not the motor) so we can explore some out of the way coves looking for the elusive Kodiak Bears. Including the boat along with all of our camping gear has made things VERY tight.
Late in the afternoon we leave the Beehive and head for Homer. The ferry leaves at 10PM, so we’ll do some birding as we wait for the boat. We also stop and buy Rocky III. Rocky II has morphed into our bear-proof food container, so Rocky III will be our other companion. It will be important to keep them separate.
Again we see lots of new birds including the new Semi-Palmated Plover. We’ve now seen 40 new birds on this trip! The birding is daunting because it’s still cloudy and cold. So far the weather has more or less exactly matched Ichabod’s 10-day forecast. We’re hoping his accuracy holds for the Kodiak trip because he has predicted great weather starting tomorrow. At 8PM we purchase our ferry tickets. When the ticket guy sees that we’re from Santa Cruz, he’s the second guy in a week (the other was at the Social Security office in Anchorage) to say, “Go Banana Slugs”. Kind of amazing.
We’re among the first to drive aboard the ferry. It’s important because that gives us a prime opportunity to find a place to sleep. There were no cabins available for this 13-hour, overnight trip, so we’re eager to find the best possible spot on the floor. We fortunately discover the movie theater (which is not operating) and settle down on our air mattress for the long journey. It’s been a very long day, but we’re very excited about landing in Kodiak tomorrow.
