The Kenai area of AK

Before heading to Cooper Landing we made a trip to Hope AK. It is about 87 miles by road from Anchorage, but as the bird flies it is only 12 miles. It was discovered in 1

896 .A very small town, but very cute. We took a walking tour, our guide Gold Rush Peck, who was featured on the travel channel. A Very interesting fellow. He told us the history of the town, named all the flowers we passed and plugged the panning for gold that you could do there. He owned the panning at one time. There were many original log buildings that were moved here after the earthquake to preserve them. Their library is great for such a small town. They have a beautiful art gallery, we met one of the resident artists. The town has a Wagon trail Run over the 4^th of July. It is a 5K FUN run, plus a pancake breakfast, a bazaar and a cake walk that is held in the social hall that was built in 1902. This is a nice day trip.

Next day we ‘re off to the Kenai Princess Lodge and RV park at Cooper Landing. This will be our home for about 10 days. Cyril and Dawn will be staying at the lodge. The lodge is beautiful, we can use everything at the lodge, e.g.,spa, restaurant, and bar.

On Friday we went to Seward to pick the kids up. They cruised the inside passage so they had a lot to tell us about. We did some sightseeing while we were in Seward. There were many gift shops ,fishing charters and restaurants. It is a very busy place. On the 4^th they also have a Mountain Marathon. Many people participate. It is said to be the second oldest footrace in America. We visited the Sea Life Center, a great hands on place (not just for kids. We also hiked the trail to Exit Glacier, it is a 1.5 mile nature trail. The Glacier is 3 miles long, and descends 2500 feet from the Hardening ice field. Then back to the lodge to get settled in

Saturday we headed to Homer, a very busy town. We had to stop at the Salty Dog Saloon and have a photo taken. We drove thru all the RV parks on the Spit. Actually they weren’t all that crowed like we thought they would be. We walked thru the shop’s, had lunch, and checked everything out before we left. Found a great place that had 24 flavors of soft ice cream. We will go back to Homer for a few days after the kids leave.

Sunday the first fishing charter day, fishing for Halibit. Cyril caught a 56 lb fish and Bob caught 2 , 1 was 20 lbs, the other about 30 lbs. Dawn and Linda just relaxed, had lunch at the lodge and sat in the sun.

Monday was a family time day. We hiked two trails here at the Lodge, had lunch on the beautiful deck overlooking the river. Even Blazer went on the hike(boy was he a happy camper). After lunch we spent time in the spa and just enjoyed their company.

Tuesday was another fishing day, this time for King Salmon. Forgot to mention they had to drive about 3 hrs to get to place where the charter was. They were both very long days.\, especially the second day, it was 12 hrs. of fishing. Cyril caught the biggest fish of the day a 26 lb. King Salmon on the Kenai River. Guess what is for dinner. There isn’t even room for ice cubes in either of our freezers. This is what they were looking forward to, so they were happy.

Wednesday it is time to say good-bye. We left for Anchorage, had lunch and dropped them off at the airport. Their flight left at 5 pm and they’d get home about 6 am , a long 12 hour flight. They were anxious to get home, 2 weeks is a long time to be away . Thank goodness the weather was so perfect. The temperatures broke record highs. Dawn was so afraid of the cold Alaska weather.

One more thing , then I’ll stop for now. In the RV park there is a women who used to own and train dogs for the Iditarod, now she trains puppies and does a presentation at the lodge on the life and training of the huskies. When we first got here she had 6 puppies about 8-10 weeks old, this past Sunday they were switched out and now she has 8-4 week old puppies and their mama to. They are so cute. And by the way we now have a new grand puppy. Her name is Sadie, she is 7 mo. old and is a lab boxer mix and is black in Color. Her mom and dad are our middle son and daughter-in-law Mark and Tracey. We really are a dog loving family.

That is it for now. We do get a little winded sometimes. Take care enjoy your summer. See photo's below, or in list on the right in the archives.