Cantwell, AK towards home/Anchorage to Homer, AK Part 2 (7/3/2017)

Monday, July 3, 2017 (continued)
From Kenai, we backtracked along the Kenai Spur Highway to head south once again on Sterling Highway/AK-1.

Carving of Les Anderson and his world record king
salmon at 97.25 pounds, at the Soldotna Visitor Center;
the record still holds since 1985

Steps down to the Classic Fishwalk behind the Soldotna Visitor Center

The fishwalk is a fishing platform;
Daddy takes the baby fishing...

The fishwalk includes a fish cleaning station

July is supposed to be the dipnetting month in Alaska, which means the salmon are running, but we haven't hit any place at the right moment for salmon runs.

The one-room Slikok Valley School (1958)
at the Soldotna Homestead Museum

Majesty of the Kenai (2015, by Atlas Bronze Casting) with Kent
at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center (2015)

Elwell Lodge Guest Cabin (1940s) and the meat cache;
this was typical of many cabins in the bush built for hunting
and fishing trips, but fully stocked and open to anyone passing
through and needing a refuge/a place to stay; of course,
food had to be kept in the cache beyond the reach of bears

Crooked Creek Weir, where we were hoping to see salmon...

In the video, you can see the tail of a fish on the right side of the fishladder, but then he falls down through the water cascade, and I don't think that is the direction he wanted to go.

We have seen a couple moose in the verge, and three bald eagles.
Another detour, west on Orthodox Road to the village of Ninilchik.

The American Legion Cemetery and the Leo Steik Veterans Memorial Wall

The grave of Lars D Hansen, Jr (5/17/1979-5/7/2000) (KSS)

Next door is the Russian cemetery of the
Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church

Picket fenced grave sites

Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Church
(1900-1901, designed by by Alexi Andreev Oskolkoff)

The church with a backdrop of mountains, the tallest being
Mt Iliamna (3,053 m/10,016'), still considered an active volcano

Below the church is the village of Ninilchik, half abandoned

Another abandoned cabin

Ninilchik, also half occupied (KSS)

Ninilchik Gift Shop (KSS)

The presence of Russia is evident in Alaska. Ninilchik is unique. Initially the Russian-American Company did not allow its employees to reside permanently in Alaska. However, many had married Native women and had children, and they petitioned to stay. In 1835, the Company established special settlements for these "pensioners," such as Ninilchik. After Alaska was sold to the USA, these people remained, still conforming to the standards of the Russian Orthodox Church and maintaining their culture and language.
Back on Sterling Highway/AK-1.

Beatrice the Bee, an old Airstream trailer at the Bee Hive RV Park
(a Roadside America attraction) (KSS)

Another detour, east on North Fork Road to Nikolaevsk, AK.

House with unique architecture

Entrance to the Russian Orthodox Church;
no photos were allowed on the property

Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church of St Nicholas (1968)

Nikolaevsk was settled in 1967-1968 by the "Russian Old Believers," a sect that broke away from Russian Orthodoxy in the 1650s and fled Russia in 1917. They went first to Brazil, then Oregon, and eventually settled here in Alaska.

Inland on the Kenai Peninsula, you are apt to run across
so-called hillbilly homes; Kent called the people "chillbillies"
(not knowing the term was already invented!)

We returned to Sterling Highway/AK-1 on a winding hilly road

There's Mt Iliamna again

Someone's yard

Another detour off Sterling Highway/AK-1, this time west on Anchor River (Beach) Road.

The most westerly highway point in North America
(a Roadside America attraction) (KSS)

...with a view across Cook Inlet

...of Mt Iliamna

An eagle soars onto the beach (KSS)

This guy dumped something to which the gulls flocked,
while the eagles nearby sniffed in disdain

Back on the Sterling Highway.
During the day, we received a text saying that due to a computer glitch, there was no room for us at the Raven House Alaska in Anchor Point, AK, despite a confirmed reservation. The owners had us put up in a hotel in Homer, calling it an upgrade.

Panorama from Homer Hill of Kachemak Bay, but not Homer Spit

Below us on Homer Hill, Kent spotted a "bear" (KSS)

The view of Homer Spit (that skinny peninsula) is seen from the highway

Homer was named for Homer Pennock, a gold mining company promoter, who arrived on the Spit in 1896. Gold mining was not profitable, but coal was discovered and coal mining continued until World War II. Now Homer is the "Halibut Fishing Capital of the World."

Our room at the Kings Landing Hotel in Homer was
certainly no upgrade, but at least we had a bed (or two) for the night

We did have a classier dinner at Fat Olive's.