Life on the Kenai

 This is the cannery in Kenai being disassembled. We were told new owners bought it this year.    







These are two of the glaciers you see as you enter Homer
                                                                                                                                

 The Harding Ice Field is named after President Warrin Harding, it is one of four remaining in the US.

 

 We still like to  take the roads less traveled, This one led down to cook inlet.

 

 Arn't baby moose cute?
?

 

 

 Beach combing at Homer Spit

 

 Male Parmagon with a chick, He was very elusive but the mother stood on a dirt pile and watched her 6 chicks.

Life on the Kenai
The motorhome checked out ok, we had thought we had a charging problem but everything was working, we’ve just been using the batteries hard. We headed south to Soldotna-Kenai area where we stayed in the lot of the Fred Meyers Store in Soldotna. They supply water to fill our fresh water tank, a sewer dump to empty our black and grey holding tanks, big garbage dumpsters, and port-a- potties. They are real friendly to RVers, and there are about 30 in the lot. It is fishing season on the Kenai and many of the people there were fishing for salmon in the Kenai river. We drove to Kenai, and went to the visitors center where they have a museum and show movies about the area, we watched fishermen on the river, the native people can use dip nets where the river empties into the inlet. Last time we were here we watched whole families helping with the task. The women cleaned the fish and young girls handled large nets. They now have permanent tribal buildings at the river. There was no action this year, while we were there. We stopped at two fish markets and the price of halibut is running about 22-26 dollars per pound. We were told to eat at the restaurant at the cannery but it was permanently closed and the cannery building is being torn down. We have noticed many homes for sale most everywhere we go, and less tourists than last time. The economy has to be affecting tourism. We drove several scenic roads in the area, no wild life bonuses.

life on the Kenai - Seldovia

 Bird Island
 A Lone Puffin
 Sea Otter

 A raft of Sea Otters

 Seldovia, Many towns here have a lot of Russian influence.

What a beautiful place to walk


 Jelly Fish in Seldovia Harbor
 A Motorhome in Homer built on a burned out frame.
 Homer Harbor

We drove to Homer and booked 3 nights at the Elks club, there are 5 RVs here, they furnish electric for $25 per night. Quite a few Elks Clubs have RV parking for members; it’s a good money maker for clubs with a desirable location. We priced RV parks on the spit with services and they ran from $39-$60. The lot overlooks Kachemak Bay and eagles have been occupying the roof tops and poles nearby. We also watched a family of parmagon, (Alaskas state bird), in the lot next door. The Male is colored much like a pheasant with a white ring around his neck, while the female changes colors to blend with her environment. The lady in the house next to us feeds the Sand Hill Cranes and they are here all day. We drove skyline drive, east end road and north fork loop all with different views of the glaciers, coming down from the Harding Icefield, volcanos, one of them was active in 2009, and lots of mountains coming down into the water. We also got a real good look at a mother moose and her calf, just grazing on the trees at the end of a dirt road.

Homer is built against the mountainside with a four mile spit stretching into the bay. On the spit one can find fishing charters, fish packing, places to eat and lots of tchotchkes to spend your money on, also new since last time is a resort called Lands End at the end of the spit. Beach combing didn’t yield much except wet feet, but it was fun looking for tide pools and beach glass. We booked a tour of the bay with a stop at Seldovia a quiet little place assessable by boat or air. It is attached to the peninsula but the only land to reach it by is rugged with no roads. Before 1950, when the road was extended to Homer, it was a busy fishing village. After the 1964 earthquake the land sunk up to 6 feet there and some of the structures were brought across the bay to Homer. We found it charming. We found sea glass on the beach but we only had 3 hours there and that included lunch, which was halibut, and picture taking (see photos to follow). On the way around the bay we stopped at Bird Island, to view the seabird rookery. We saw Puffins, Kittiwakes, gulls, and more, but the thing that excited me most was the Sea Otters. They were just floating in the water. We passed several on the way then we went by a raft, which is what they call a group of them. They were wrapped up in kelp, it helps them stay together. (SOOO CUTE). We also saw 3 Orca Whales, there are Beluga Whales here but they eluded us.
Another place we enjoyed visiting is Anchor River, about 22 miles north of Homer. There are wonderful views of the volcanos there and you can watch tractors putting the boats in the water, also it is the most westerly point accessible by road on the North American Continent. We’ve been to the most eastern point in Newfoundland, and southern point in Key West, so I guess you could say we’ve made a semi-circle, I don’t expect to make the northern most point.
Saturday was a beautiful warm, by comparison, and sunny day and we considered a half day fishing trip for halibut. We spoke with a fishing charter boat captain who just came in and he said there were 6 foot waves out there and he cut his morning trip short. I never would have guessed it because it was the best weather we’ve seen for a while. We were told this has been the coldest July on record here. He and his deck hand were cleaning the fish his clients had caught, they were small, but he said in seas like that he just wanted them to get their 2 fish limit and get back in. He pointed out to us that the flag was blowing hard to the east and that was not good for small boat fishing.
Sunday afternoon we headed north on the Sterling Highway to Soldotna again. We took a trip to Nikiski where there are oil rigs in Cook inlet and a refinery close by. There are good views of the volcanos across the Cook Inlet.