Sharp's Travels

Gay was up and out early. He watched the tide going out from the top of the bluff.

Many of our group had left by the time I got up at 8am. There are 9 couples that have stayed an extra day here.

We went to the post office to drop off some mail and then stopped in to eat at Victoria’s. It was a restaurant in one of the historic buildings in Old Town Kenai. They had homemade soups and desserts. We had a bowl of soup, corn bread and pasta salad.

We headed out of town to find this quilt shop out in the boonies. You go back ½ mile on a dirt road---we went right by it and on up the road. We spotted it when we turned around and came back. Two other couples from our group were already there. It was just a beautiful shop.

We continued on out the Kenai Spur Highway all the way to the end of the road. We stopped at the overlook of Cook Inlet and looked down on the beach and spotted one of our group walking along the beach. We joined them for a while and then headed back towards town. We hadn’t gone but ½ mile when we saw a moose and her two calves along side of the road, eating leaves from the trees. I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture.

Back in town we stopped at another quilt shop and I picked up material for the backing for my quilt. Now all I need is a machine!

At 6 pm we had pot luck with all the couples left in the park. They did hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and everyone brought a dish to pass. There was a nice variety of food again tonight.

Roger and Jen showed us pictures of their bear viewing trip. We are all excited now, we take the same trip on Thursday so stay tuned for BEAR PICTURES.

For pictures of the day see album: Kenai 7-29-08

The sun is shining, what a beautiful day. We went to the office and paid to stay an extra day. We jumped in the truck and went to look up a welder to do more welding on the trailer hitch. We got an appointment set up for Wednesday morning at 9am.

We found the post office and picked up our mail that was sent here and then stopped in to the Visitors Center and picked up information on the area. The gal there recommended the Brown Bus for lunch. We ordered fish and chips and took it back to the 5th wheel to eat.

I prepared my grape salad for the pot luck tonight and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies to give as thank you gifts to Spike, Roger, Johnny & Paulette.

We took the little path that wound down the bank onto the beach. We watched the dip netters pull in their catch in the big nets, then hit them over the head with a bat and throw it into their stash. Each Alaskan could get 25 fish for himself and 10 for each member of their household. Non-Alaskan’s were not allowed to dip net.

We walked back up to the campground and decided to do the walking tour of Old Kenai. We’d hardly begin when we caught a glimpse of an eagle being chased by the seagulls. He’d taken a fish head from them. The eagle landed in a tree by us and we got pictures of him sitting in the tree as well as when he stared to fly away. It’s our closest viewing of an eagle. This one had a wing span of 5 or 6 feet. We continued our tour and Gay had to stop every so often to get pictures of the supply planes flying overhead. It seems like one took off every 15 minutes.

By 5:30pm we went back to the 5th wheel to pick up our salad and head for our good bye pot luck.
Spike told us what to expect of the roads on the way home. He had a wonderful program all lined up. Many laughs were had by all. A few of us are staying an extra day here, but most pull out in the morning.

For pictures of the day see album: Kenai 7-28-08

If you check out our pictures today you will see a few from last night there also. We headed down the Homer Spit for supper and spotted where they were weighing and hanging someone’s catch of the day. We didn’t have the camera along so had to go back to the 5fh wheel to get it. We thought that sight deserved a picture or two. The big one was a halibut—150 lbs., the pot bellied ones were cod and the orange were yellow eyed Rockfish.

The local people of Homer Spit bury large Spruce trees upside down in the sand with the gnarled roots upward for eagles to land on. I got a picture of one of those but no eagles, darn!

Now for today, we met for our prayer meeting at 9:30 am and then headed out about 10am. It was foggy and misty so we didn’t stop for any pictures along the way. We had a moose run across the road in front of us shortly before we arrived in Kenai.

Kenai is located in the heart of the Kenai Peninsula. It has miles of sandy beaches, two mountain ranges and 4 active volcanoes. Kenai is the largest and oldest city on the peninsular.

We pulled into Beluga Lookout RV Park in Kenai around 1pm. We are up on the bluff overlooking Cook Inlet and the Kenai River. We looked down over the bluff and could see lots of people dip netting. We talked with a couple here in the park that were putting their nets together and heading for the river. Large nets are attached to long poles that are dragged through the water, hoping salmon swim in.

At 2pm we took a walking tour to an Old Russian Orthodox church. We were given the history of the church and then toured the Old Russian Cemetery. On our way back from the cemetery, Gay stopped at the fish cleaning station and got a few shots of people cleaning their salmon.

We are having a King Crab feast tonight at 6pm. We headed into town to pick up our King Crabs at Safe-Way. Spike had them all cooked and put aside for us to purchase. He was going to supply all the fixings, potato salad, coleslaw, rolls, pie and wine, cider or coffee, tea and hot chocolate. We all had a great time and everything was delicious.

As we were finishing we noticed the sun was beginning to shine. Maybe tomorrow will be another sunny day.

For pictures of the day see album: Homer to Kenai 7-27-08

Our mighty fishermen left at 5:45 this morning. The boat pulled out at 6 am. We got a call when they arrived back in port so we went down to see how they made out. I guess they all caught their limit. It was a cold, misty morning. Not a good day to be out on the water.

The shops down on the Spits are all up on stilts. We browsed through them and then took a ride up town to check things out. We took a ride back up on the hill as you come into town to check out the view again. If the weather clears tomorrow, Gay will drive up there again before we hook up to take a few more pictures.

All was quiet in camp much of the day due to the rainy weather.

For pictures of the day see album: Homer 7-26-08

We left this morning at 9:30am heading for Homer. The mountains had a dusting of fresh snow last night. It’s a sign summer is coming to an end.

We passed by the town of Soldotna and you could see combat fishing going on down on the Kenai River. The fishermen stood in a line all along the river at about 10 to 12 feet apart. The salmon are running and everyone is out fishing.

The Alaskan Peninsula was spectacular as we traveled on down towards Homer. There were cow parsnips (they look a lot like Queen Anne’s Lace, but can make you itch for days if you touch them), and purple lupine along the roadside.

We saw a moose with her 2 calves grazing along the highway. Cars were stopping blocking traffic, trying to take pictures. I managed, somehow, to get a picture as we drove by.

At mile 79 we stopped at a place that did wood carving with a chain saw. Everything was so life like. He also had a small cabin he’d done with bear heads in the ends of the logs. There were a lot of artistic designs in the entrance of the cabin.

We had lunch at a little trailer there selling brisket, bologna, pork, sausage or rib sandwiches or dinners. We bought a 3 meat dinner and had enough left over for another meal. It was delicious.

We passed by a couple of Russian Villages and Russian Orthodox Churches. The churches are very ornate on the outside. We hope to visit one of the towns on our way home.

We arrived in Homer about 5pm. We got set up and I fixed supper.

We took a walk along the beautiful Kachemak Bay. There were mountains on all sides of us.

Homer is famous for its Halibut Fishing Charters. A number of our group is going out tomorrow morning to try their luck.

We checked out the Homer Fishing Hole. People were standing all around it trying to catch something. The fish kept jumping right out of the water.

It is a nice, calm sunny evening. Tomorrow promises to have more of the same kind of weather.

For pictures of the day see album: Seward to Homer 7-25-08