Soldotna and Kenai

July 5, 2013 Friday…  

Today we went over to Soldotna and found a GREAT rock shop!  Lots of wonderful rocks that Mr Tom has found and polished.  VERY nice work.. He also had several horns and antlers that he has carved into 'UULU' knife handles,  and has made into pendants, pocket knife handles, etc. Very nice, too… We spent about 2 hours in his shop!  I bought several of the polished rocks for necklaces and earrings, and he gave me a break on the whole works over what they would have totaled up….  Great way to spend a chunk of the day!  The stories he can tell!  

And he had a wonderful garden out front of the shop with the most BEAUTIFUL Columbine I have ever SEEN! Ours at home are about the size of a silver dollar, HIS were about the size of my FIST!  Beautiful colors, too!

His wife is also very talented and has a shop next door to his out on the highway as well as one in town in a mall.  She makes wonderful jewelry, including the cutest little origami bird earrings, about the size of my thumbnail. Very tedious work.. I didn't think to take a pic of those……

When we left that shop, we went over to a chainsaw carver's shop - FAB pieces and prices to be expected - did not buy there….  if we had a million dollars, I would have been VERY tempted! LOL!

Just a few of his pieces.

Some in progress.

My VERY FAVE!

                                          

This one is a unique plant stand:

One ready for delivery:

This one reminds me of Disney:

 More entertainment!

 How the heck did THAT get in there!  Sure looks like it needs more chiseling off.....  VERY glad you did not see me getting on and then OFF that dang thing!

This guy has SUCH a sense of humor!!!!!!!  

All that is left of THIS guy is a FOOT!!! He got et by da bar......

He should have whittled a bit more off of THIS one!

About half done with this one.

Pretty darn AMAZING, wouldn't you agree???

One more day here for us in the Kenai/Soldotna area, more tomorrow.

Another day in the North Country!

   Yesterday, the 4th, we didn't get up till late - slept 11 hours, we were exhausted from the long day on the ferry and drive to our campground here near Kenai.  We had an early lunch and went over to Kenai River mouth at Cook Inlet and walked the surf edge - I was surprised at what a wave surge there was! 

 Saw a whole bunch of teenagers having a BALL running in and out of that surf and it was COLD!  Only 50 degrees, and the water could not have been much warmer than 40 degrees…. They were having so much fun - and here we were all bundled up! LOL!

  I found some great rocks - some heart shaped ones and some just plain PURDY ones!  Then back in the truck and we went exploring - been up here in the wild North Country and STILL had not seen Moose, caribou, bears, Deer - till TODAY!  We actually saw 3 moose! (meece??) A mom and her baby, and then in another area - a female alone.

  They did not seem bothered by the truck or us taking pictures - probably used to it…

Finally found out what these beautiful lavender/blue flowers are - Lupines!!  they are ALL over up here, along roadsides, in yards, fields!  Wonderful! 

  Finally finished up the day by going to Pizza Hut for dinner - and a WONDERFUL Alaskan Amber ale (or beer?), anyway it was Smooth, creamy and gutsy - just the way I like it! Busy, Fun day!  

On the way back into our park, we saw this goofy Llama "posing'' for his photo ops!  He is one of the animals that are in our park for folks to see...  

Here is our site at the Diamond M park

Valdez to Whittier

July 3:  Well, after making my last post last night, I got to bed at 1:00 A.M. and we were up this morning at 4:45 to be at the Ferry by 6:00.  Got there in plenty of time - we were 3rd to load! Ferry was pricey - $571.00 for the 2 of us, the truck and camper (51 feet total), but time spent was kind of time saved - and promised to be an interesting trip!

Loading in:

 Ferry was pretty amazing and plenty of room to sit and see out the BIG windows, but because of the rain all day it was very chilly.. nice bathrooms and a nice lunch room - with several casserole and sandwich choices and cold drinks, coffee and hot chocolate.  (we brought our own sandwiches and Hot Chocolate liberally laced with BAILEY'S!! - for ME) lol! 

The sun was out there,  but far away!   

Unfortunately, with the rain and fog the beautiful mountains that I KNOW were out there, were almost totally obscured…. sad… We did, however, see a few Glaciers and Icebergs… When the Glaciers begin to thaw, and 'flow' toward the water, the process of breaking off of the icebergs is called "Calving"… This was a NEW term to me, never heard that used, but the resulting icebergs were a sight to see!  The color is MAGNIFICENT!  I have heard the term "Ice Blue" but now it has MUCH more meaning!  This was Columbia Glacier with in the Columbia Bay, and the results:

 

I just KNOW there is a MOUNTAIN around that corner…….

First sight of Whittier:

Off the Ferry by 1:00 P.M..

Through the tunnel at Whittier, about 3 miles or so long.

Two pix of Glaciers after we left Whittier 

And we ran into a Couple of Japanese guys and they were taking pix of each other, so I offered to take one of them together, so they were SO tickled that I would offer and then they offered to take mine - in the broken english, one of them said that the other was a photographer, and here is the pic he took! You can barely see the glacier behind me, which was the POINT!  LOL!  I was pretty punchy by then, with only a bit over 3 hours of sleep!!!  

MOUNTAINS on the way to Kenai Peninsula!!! FINALLY!  

 And a Cardinal pulled by a GMC(??), did not get a chance to stop and chat - it looked to be a rear kitchen like ours.

Copper River on the way to Kenai Peninsula 

We are staying at the Diamond M Ranch Resort - quiet, trees in our area, FHU, wifi and 3 PBS TV stations.  Most expensive we have paid for a campsite since we left home - at $55.00 per night! Not sure why they call it a resort - there are a few horses, lamas and pigs in a pen… but it IS close to the towns of Kenai, Soldotna,  for great exploring! We will be here till Sunday and then head on down to Homer. Den is hoping to go out on a Halibut Fishing trip!! Will post more as time allows!  Off to explore Soldotna tomorrow!! Wood carving shop and a gift shop, and who knows WHAT else?

(BTW: Fuel is $4.54 here in this area)  Drove 162 miles today.

July 2 -

One last post before we pull out tomorrow morning for the Ferry to take us across the bay to Whittier…  Hoping we will find a spot on the parking lot to get ready for the Midnight fireworks!  Just hoping I can stay awake for it!!!! lol!

The last time our bird will be clean till 'who knows when'!!  Den got her all shined up for her boat ride!

Took a ride around Valdez Bay waterfront yesterday afternoon, and saw hundreds of fishing boats! This is just a small portion of them!

Valdez Bay with a fishing boat heading out for a great catch! Loved the look of this island out there…..

A trio of fishing boats heading out, with the mountain in camouflage of fog..  

One last shot of the mountain behind our campground…

It has rained here every day since we got here in Valdez, so did not get to see all of the mountains in all of their glory here - everyone says it was 80 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky the whole week before we got here…… whining! 

 Cooked breakfast for honey this morning - sausage gravy and biscuits, then stuffed the crock pot with beef, carrots, corn, maters, barley and seasoning and a can of V-8 and let her rip… Great dinner with some of the fresh baked sourdough bread that is famous up here - YUM!  I have my hot chocolate ready to heat and take on the ferry tomorrow, I am all SET!!!!!!

Not sure what to expect from now on - we will be up at 4:45 in the morning, to be loaded onto the ferry at 6:00 A.M. and should arrive in Whittier early afternoon… According to the news here tonight, there are fires in Denali now and  up at Chena Hot Springs… not sure what that will mean for wildlife watching or even the possibility of going up to Fairbanks!  More places to visit before we start heading that direction tho….  

Will post when I can!

Valdez

We slept VERY well last night, even though the campground is actually a gravel lot, next to the only road in or out… 

Honey's first job this morning, was to do the laundry - been almost 3 weeks, so while he was gone (laundry is in the office building), I vacced and cleaned, washed out the canister of the Dyson, as all the DIRT from Top of the World highway is STILL coming up! Minor leak in the slide with bench in (which is also my BIG pantry), so when Den got back, he went up top, cleaned out the area of the failed caulk, and put new in. 

 Then we put a fan inside bench area and dried the dampness.  About 3 in the afternoon, the Camp Host came around to everyone and told us about the last minute Fish Fry!  Fresh Caught Salmon!  So I went through the pantry, and ended up making a Mac and Cheese casserole with seasoned bread crumbs to take - and the Salmon was FABULOUS!!!!  Tender, no bones, flavorful, without being "fishy" tasting… met some more nice folks!  Forgot to take a pic of the casserole and in 10 minutes it was GONE!!!!!!  LOL!

Took a few pix of snow capped mts that ring the city of Valdez, but still a bit cloaked with low clouds. 

 Great Cable here, so we rested with TV in eve..

This morning, we went exploring - went over to the location of the FIRST Valdez.  In 1964, a 9.2 Earthquake hit the harbor town of Valdez, destroying it. That same Earthquake impacted Anchorage, Whittier and Seward as well (we are going to all three of those cities/towns when we leave Valdez on the Ferry Wednesday morning..)  According to reports, Thirty people died in Valdez and the town was so damaged that it was not thought to be safe to stay in that location and rebuild, so the Whole Town was given 2 years to relocate to the new location. Fifty two buildings were actually MOVED to the new location.  

Old Valdez location:

Valdez is also ''famous'' for the Massive Oils Spill that happened in 1989. 

On our Exploring trip, we also went to the Fishery, where Salmon can usually be seen swimming upstream… Being Sunday - I guess they were SLEEPING, as were the Bears!  LOL!  That area is very popular, as a Mother bear and her 4 cubs have been coming there for the last 2 years.  We are going back to check it out again before we leave. 

Here is one of the waterfalls pouring into the River there from Solomon Lake.

Sea gulls nesting on the bridge beam.

And there were 2 Eagles hanging out and watching for anything that moved..

Looking across the lake over to Mt. Shasta (I THINK!) Low Tide

 Then we went back into a Valley to see the Valdez Glacier - Could not get too close to it, as there was a VERY fast moving river between us and the trek up to the glacier - Buthopefully my pix will show the Glacier.

Hoping to see more of these beautiful mountains before we leave on Wednesday Morning, but socked in with fog again today .....

Honey DID manage to wash the rig yesterday, as it was FILTHY from all of the red dirt/mud that we have been going through for the last week - hoping the roads on the Whittier/Seward side will be better.. Hoping to go to Homer and will for SURE be going to Anchorage in the coming week.. So STAY TUNED!!!!  

Will try to post again tomorrow - but a big caravan came into the park today, so we are now at the town library posting... wifi at our park is JAMMED!  LOL!