On the Road to Seward July 11th about

The last night at Homer we were again treated to a beautiful sunset.

We observed the lovely Alpenglow on the hills across the bay around sunset--which means around 11:30 pm at this time of year!

On that mountain is the overlook of Homer Spit, where we took pictures a few days ago.









We hit the road early the next morning--well, early for us.  We backtracked, but the weather was better than the day we came.

The Iliamna Volcano is across the bay.

Here is a closer look at it with a long zoom.










There was another part of the town of Kenai (Old town Kenai)  that we had heard about, so we decided to stay in nearby Soldotna another night.   We dry camped at Fred Myers once again, but in a quieter end of the parking lot.  Once again there were a lot of RV's there, even very early in the afternoon.  We drove to the Kenai Visitor Center, as there was an old village that we somehow missed on our first stay here.  It also so involved a long walk, so off we went. 

The early Russian presence is still seen here in these two old Orthodox churches.

This is the older one, St Nicholas Memorial Church.

Nearby, this is the oldest house we found.  Not sure if it was occupied or not.  





Most houses on the Kenai Old Town Walking Tour were not that impressive, very well kept but not worth the "film".  




Then we came to Erick Hansen Scout Park, with a panoramic view of the mouth of the Kenai River.  This is what we saw..

 Dip Netting for Salmon is something you can do only if you are an Alaskan resident for at least a year.  They use big nets with a rim three or four feet across and on a pole 25 to 30 feet long.  Fishers wade in the water up to chest deep and net the fish as they swim into the river.  As you can see it is quite popular. The salmon run was just beginning.

The way I understand it, Alaskans are allowed to catch a lot more salmon than we (the fishermen of Oregon) are.  If you are classified as a rural subsistence resident by living away from the cities you are allotted even more.

Back at our RV home again, and after cooking dinner My Dear Bride and I relaxed before bedtime with some good reads.





The next day again we are heading across the Sterling Highway to the Seward Highway which will take us to--guess where, yes, to Seward!  Near the junction is Tern Lake.  The signs all say critters are there, but not at midday today.  Did see a few birds.

Artic Tern at Tern Lake

About six miles out of Seward, we camped at Bear Creek RV Park.

Big RV caravans are catching up to us so we take what we can get.  A caravan is a group of RV's led by someone who does all the reservations, tours, etc.  20 to 30 RV's fill up an RV park in a hurry.

However, don't get me wrong, this was a pretty good park.  After we settled in, we took a short drive in the Honda to explore Seward.

Cruise ship and Seward Harbor fishing boats.

Hanging glaciers across Resurrection Bay seen thru a forest of fishing boat masts.

Catch of the day from one of the charter fishing boats.  They were watching close so I could not "borrow" one.   :-(    

                          

Here I was making friends with a sea Otter.  My Dear Bride would love a bench like this down by the creek, but we don't have Sea Otters down there.  (okay, but a Duck bench would do nicely!)

 Here is a Monument called "Trail Blazers"  To commemorate those who blazed, or marked the trail for the first Iditarod Race in 1908.

 

Of course, there were flowers.  These were in front of the SeaLife Center.

Looking out of the restaurant window where we had a fish dinner, here is a great photo by My Dear Bride titled (by me), "Flowers and Boats". 

A beautifully sculpted stone near the entrance to the Alaska SeaLife Center

This is a fabulous place called the Alaskan SeaLife Center, where we spent hours.

They had a aviary with a a large variety of ducks and other water birds. Here we got to see them up close and personal.  Want to see a few?  OK, Just for you...

King Eider Duck, unbelievable natural colors

Horned Puffin

Herring Gulls

 Female Harlequin Duck

Redhead Duck

Horned Puffin

Common Murre

Don't know this one!!!!

Tufted Puffin

King Eider

There were quite a few other birds, only some of which you could go out and see where you are.  These I absolutely don't see in Oregon.    

Birds were not the only thing in the SeaLife Center.  They had several pools and you could see above and under the water.  Like I said we spent several hours there and took rolls and rolls of film.  Wait a minute, that's not right--you know what I mean.  

There were seals, of course, and sea lions and  .  .

This is one of the very few pictures we got of the fish, but look at the reflection of that young lad looking in and you get the idea of how we all felt with the display.

After perusing the SeaLife Center we went to see the rest of the town.  They are proud of their town and it shows.

Love that shingle design

 These decorations were a couple of those we saw on homes.  

How about this new library!  Sided with bright ceramic tiles, and overlooking a newly installed landscape.

Pauline did enjoy the garden as she always does.

This is a bear bench we saw down near the docks.

Another Coast Guard cutter.  Bet they keep busy up here, summer and winter.

This is the panorama across the Resurrection Bay.  On top of that is the Godwin Glacier which you can't see, but it is there.  One of the many around here.

Tomorrow we are going to take a cruise through the Resurrection Bay and into the Gulf of Alaska in the Kenai Fjords National Park.  Once again to we'll watch for wildlife and glaciers.  See you then.