Wednesday July 14,2010

Sadly today we had to leave Homer. I could get to like that place. We stopped at the Wildlife Refuge Visitors center on the way out of Homer. They had some neat displays on the wildlife and on the fighting in WWII in the Aleutian Islands. We watched a couple of short films about Alaskan birds and wildlife.
We stopped at Anchor Point, Alaska looking for a sign Deatra wanted a picture of. We went into the small combination visitors center/chamber of commerce and asked about the sign. The told us where to find it and told us how to get to the overlook for the point where we could see Bald Eagles feeding. Sure enough when we got there we saw about 6 Eagles on the beach eating fish along with a bunch of sea gulls. We went down the hill to the beach trying to get closer to the Eagles but they won't let you anywhere near them.
We went on up the Peninsula to a little village named Ninilchik. This little village was settled around 1900 by Orthodox Russians. Many of the residents are related to those settlers. We visited an old church and grave yard which is still used today. It sets high on a hill overlooking the village and the Bay. Across the bay you can see Mt. Redoubt volcano. Claming is hugh in this town. As we rode through everyone we saw was cleaning the clams they had dug on low tide this morning. It was wild.
Finally we drove into the town of Kenai which is a fair sized town. It is big enough to have a Wally World, Lowe's, Fred Mayer, and Home Depot. That may not sound like much to you but up here that is big, especially on this peninsula. I went to the visitors center to get their secrets. I found out where the wildlife viewing hot spots are, about the old Kenai walking tour, and the location of the Captain Cook State Park. The State Park is 25 miles out of town so we came out here since it was getting late. This is a nice camp ground. No water of electricity but nice campsites set in the woods adjacent to the river. They have 55 sites here each costs $12 a night. We could have stayed free at Fred Meyer, Wal-mart, or Home Depot with a few dozen other travelers but I had rather be alone in the woods. The sad thing for me is no senior discount. I get 50% off at Federal Campgrounds with my Senior Pass. Getting old is not all bad.
Tomorrow we will explore Kenai and look for more wildlife. I hope to get to see the locals dip netting salmon. They have a huge net, 50 or 60 inches in diameter, with a long handle, and they stand in the river and net the salmon as they come by. I've been seeing the nets and everyone tells me here it the place to see it. Then we will go on to Seward. Next week we plan to go over to Valdez. So much to see, so little time. This is the trip of a lifetime!