Kenai Peninsula - Soldotna and Homer

This is Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. It parallels State Route 1, which connects Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula and the Seward/Whittier/Valdez area down south. It is one of the most scenic drives anywhere. We used this road to go to the Sterling Highway and down to Soldotna.

Looking south down the Turnagain Arm. The rocks are to prevent erosion of the railroad bed and the highway. This is the view from the scenic railroad that goes from Seward and Whittier to Fairbanks.

More Rt. 1 shots.

This is near the turnoff from Rt. 1 onto the Sterling Highway. We have been there twice before in 2005 and 2006 and never saw this much snow on the mountains. It has been a very cool summer in AK this year.

OK, it's a bad shot. It was taken from the car as we rolled down the highway. We had stopped for pictures and time was getting away.

Sally's photo of the stream.

Ramp leading down from the Welcome center to the Kenai River.

After we arrived in Soldotna, we went from the campus to the Kenai River in downtown. The state and city have done a wonderful job making the river accessible to everyone, including those with physical challenges.

But, if you really want to fish, you get into the water. No one explained to me why it was better to standing in freezing water instead of sitting on a deck just five feet higher. But, this is Alaska!

I was a bit amazed after seeing how swift the water was running and knowing how cold it was that people were still wading out into it. You really gotta know where the rocks are.

Some were fishing and some were catching. Look at the size of that dip net.

The locals call this "combat fishing." It gets worse when there is a run of salmon.

This is in the nature preserve. The swampy areas are very beautiful and screne.

Just a block outside Soldotna was a nature center. We went there in hopes of seeing some wildlife; maybe even some bears. We walked about half a mile to this lake. We saw tons of wildlife--all big Alaska skeeters.

Sally wasn't dressed like this because of the cold or the drizzle. It was to keep those big skeeters from eating her alive. We passed a couple with a baby in a stroller. They had some bug spray and loaned us some for our face. That took care of the problem.

I don't know what eats this, but they will have a feast this fall.

Our friends, Dale and Lois, promised us a 5-star dining experience at the town of Kenai's best restaurant. It was to include steak and potatos. This is it. The Burger-Bus.

We are smiling, but it was before the meal. Actually, it was one of the best hambergers I've had in some time and the French-fried onion rings were great. I knew it would be good because if they get a bad report from the health department, they just drive over to the next town and open up again. When you only change the grease once a year, it does take on a nice flavor.

This is a Russian Orthodox church in Ninilchik. There was one in nearly every town. They do outnumber the Baptist churches here.

Another view. The design is unique on every church.

We left Soldotna and traveled down the Sterling Highway to Homer. This is a view from the hill overlooking the Cook Inlet across to the Lake Clark National Park.

These are our wonderful hosts, Lois and Dale Solberg. I think they enjoyed the time as much as we did. It was a wonderful, relaxing time of just sightseeing.

This is the "spit" leading out into the water from Homer. In the middle of the end of the spit there is a blue oil storage tank. Our hotel, The Land's End Resort, was just beyond this looking out over the Cook Inlet. It was a wonderful place to spend an evening and morning. Dale went for an early more walk along the water.

This is a veiw of Homer and the "spit." The white flowers in the forground or very hazardous. Contact with the skin can cause an intense buring and rash. We took our hosts' word for it.

The town of Homer is a very busy one. All the ship and barge traffic going to and from Anchorage goes into the inlet here. It was nearly destroyed in the big earthquake in the 1960's but has been rebuilt.

This is a view off the Sterling Highway looking across the inlet.

These are not live, but you almost have to touch them to believe otherwise. It is in the Welcome Center just outside the city of Homer. There were dozens of nice exhibits and a very informative video.

In Alaska, you don't just sit out garbage cans and chain them to a post. You convert old WWII Sherman tanks into trash cans. And, then if you are lucky the bears won't turn it over and destroy it getting at a bag of chips someone discarded. It is a felony to feed a bear human food. But, don't worry about being arrested. They just send out a bucket to pick up your uneaten parts when the bears finish.

Another shot of the Lake Clark Park near Homer.

These scenes just go on for miles and miles. We stopped several times to relax and enjoy the view. We only had two sunny days in Alaska and this was one of them.

This is the view from the balcony at the Land's End Resort. Kids were wading in the water, but no one was swimming in it.

I got up early and walked out on the deck at the hotel. Some kids yelled "whale" and I got one photo of this humpback before he/she disappeared.

Alaska is a land of boats and planes. The Sterling highway is the western most paved road in North America. You are not at land's end, as that is accessible only by boat or plane. The Kenai-Soldotna-Homer area is perhaps the mildest of any place in the winters. The temperatures don't plummit nor do they get excessive amounts of snow. But, it is Alaska.

This was the "beach" at the front of our resort. Across the inlet is Lake Clark Park.

In Homer, dozens or hundreds of small boats head out to sea on fishing charters every morning in the summer.

In the relative calm of the Cook Inlet, this boat was getting pretty rocked. I can't imagine being out on the ocean if a little storm came in.

This is the Kenai River and a small people ferry for taking people across to the fishing area. The fishing area included a long ramp for physically challenged people.

This is the Exit Glacier. It was small by Alaska standards, but one of the easiest to get near which is an awesome experience.

Sally standing in front of the Exit Glacier. She was about 50 to 75 feet from the ice. It was very cold near the ice field.

Lois helped us by taking some photos of Sally and me on the trip. She is a good photographer.

We don't look happy, but we were thrilled to be this close to a glacier. It was about 55 degrees at the car, but it was closer to freezing here next to the glacier.

Dale and Lois enjoyed seeing this glacier. I think it might have been the first time they saw this one. I do think Dale wished he had some legs in those pants. Being from MN and AK, he is pretty hardy in cold weather.

The ice formations were beautiful. This is not something that just happened with some snow last winter. This glacier is probably hundreds of years old. The ice at the bottom may have fallen here long before the Russians came to Alaska.

At this point I am about 30 feet from the glacier. There was a very deep ditch between me and the edge of the glacier.

This is the run off as the glacier melted. This stream was probably 1/4 mile wide.

Sally was wondering if I could cross by myself. The water was only a foot deep, but very cold.

Reportly the most photographed sight in Alaska--Moose Doo.