July 5, 2016 Road trip to Kenai, Alaska and July 06, 2016 Day inside due to the rain

Tuesday, July 5, 2016 Road trip to Kenai, Alaska

We took our time getting ready to leave today.  Jim and Terry are staying a couple of days more here in Homer as they want to see the bears and are flying out on a bear viewing trip so we are heading on to Kenai and then we are going to meet up again in Seward.  We came into Homer in the rain and we are going out the same way.  It is suppose to rain today and tomorrow.  We are staying at Beluga Lookout RV resort which is where the Kenai River opens into Cooks Inlet.  Mike is going to try and get some salmon fishing in also.  It will be nice to add salmon to the halibut and cod.   It is nice to look out of our window and see the tides come in and out.  The clouds are so thick that we are unable to see the mountains.  We got a break in the rain so Mike and I took advantage of it and walked the beach for about an hour.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIM MATHEWS!!!!!

Wednesday, July 06, 2016 Day inside due to the rain

The rain didn’t stop all night and it continued most of the day and evening.  Mike and I stayed in and worked on the blog to get things posted seeing that we have pretty good service.  The rain stopped around lunch so Mike and I went down to Veronica’s Coffee House to have lunch again this place was fantastic.  They have a guitar hanging on the wall and 2 different people came up and decided to play a song for everyone.  It is a pretty neat place and the food is delicious.  We made it back to the RV before the next wave of rain came in.  Mike was doing some research and found us a tour that we can see bears and fish on the same trip so we are going to do that tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR NEPHEW, JOHN!!!

Our road to Kenai

Beluga Lookout RV Park

                                                              VIEWS FROM OUR SITE

Mount Redoubt (active volcano)

More of the mountains across Cook Inlet

Our Site

Bridge to the beach

             OUR MEALS AND THE GUITAR AT VERONICA'S COFFEE HOUSE

July 3, 2016 Halibut Fishing in Cook’s Inlet and July 4, 2016 Happy Fourth of July and Pratt Museum

Sunday, July 3, 2016  Halibut Fishing in Cook’s Inlet

Today was the day that the boys took a charter boat out to see if they could catch a couple of halibut.  The girls entertained themselves with the making of holder for notepads, pens, glasses and cell phones using material and making a quilted box.  The boys finally came in about 7 pm.  Jim didn’t have a very good day with the waters being so rough but he managed to still catch a halibut and 3 cod enough for 10 meals.  Mike caught 2 halibut and 2 cod getting 17 meals out of it.  Not a bad day at all.  

Happy Birthday, Scott.

Monday, July 4, 2016 Happy Fourth of July and Pratt Museum

We didn’t have much planned for today but heard that the Pratt Museum was a great place to visit.  It had a good variety of things to see.  We saw a Historic cabin, history about how Kachemak Bay was molded, and quilt displays.  They also have cameras showing birds on a remote island and viewing  of bears catching salmon.   We also saw a few tanks that showed the marine life around the bay.  I was taking a picture of an urchin when in swoops an octopus right in my face. Thank goodness there was a piece of glass between us.  It caught me completely off guard.  I guess he wanted his picture taken too!

GIRLS CAPTURED THIS PICTURE ON THE WAY TO A QUILT SHOP.  HE IS HUGE!!!!

EAGLE WITH HIS SALMON

JIM WAITING FOR HIS FISH BITE

MIKE AND JIM WITH THEIR CATCH OF THE DAY

THINGS IN THE PRATT MUSEUM

THIS GUY SWOOPED DOWN FROM THE TOP TO HAVE HIS PICTURE TAKEN  SCARED ME!!

A CABIN AT THE MUSEUM

July 1, 2016 Saying Goodbye to an old friend and trip to Homer, AK and July 2, 2016 Visit with Atz Kilcher and a visit to the homestead

Friday, July 1, 2016 Saying Goodbye to an old friend and trip to Homer, AK

Today was a very sad day in the Montgomery household.  Fred our 24 year old cockatiel died today of kidney failure.  He is going to be truly missed.  I am going to miss the good morning kisses, his whistling going down the road, his pretty bird and puppy, puppy ,puppy chatter.   He was just a small little guy with a big personality.  Losing a pet is never easy but he is in a good place. 

We left our campground and headed further south to Homer.  It rained all of the way and we arrived around noon.  We are staying at Heritage RV Park which is on the spit that goes out into Kachemak Bay.  Nothing fancy but they have nice facilities. The mountains and the ice fields are just beautiful that surround us. 

We took a short ride down the spit and then to the Visitors Center to get any kind of information about Homer.  Homer is home to about 5,000 people and has the title of the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.  We will see how true this is when Mike takes his charter boat out on Sunday. Homer really started to grow around 1915.

After dinner we walked the beach and saw an eagle trying to eat what was left over from someone filleting a salmon.  The remains of the fish were too much for him to carry so we just watched as the sea gulls tried their best to get it away from him.  Finally the head broke away from the body and the eagle flew away with it and left the rest for the seagulls.

Tomorrow we are meeting Atz Kilcher (from Alaska, the Last Frontier) for coffee.  How it started is Mike and I wanted him to remarry us but he stopped performing this ceremony when he started to get busy with the TV show so upon his suggestion we are going to have coffee with him.  How exciting!!

Saturday, July 2, 2016 Visit with Atz Kilcher and a visit to the homestead

We arrived at the local coffee shop just before 8 am and within a few minutes Atz rode up on his bicycle (getting in his morning exercise).  We had a great 1 ½ hour conversation with him.  He was very personable. He talked about family and the homestead.

After we said our goodbyes we drove to the homestead.  We were met by Atz’s niece and his sister, Stellavera.  She went into much detail about life on the homestead when she was little.  Not only is there 2 boys but there is 6 girls also.  Her father, Yule and her mother, Ruth were both visionaries.  Yule came over in 1936 and Ruth came in 1941.  So they both are a very important part in the history of Homer as it is today.  Seven of the children still live on the homestead to raise their family.  We all learned a lot from the Kilchers.  We saw a lot of love for the land that was instilled in them by their parents. Yule picked a beautiful piece of property.

Our 24 year old cockatiel, Fred

Goodbye old friend

Coming into Homer

Our sites on the spit

Our view from our campground

Another view

An eagle just watching

Seafarer's Memorial dedicated to fisherman that died at sea

A gorgeous shot of the Harding Icefield

Eagle trying to fly away with the whole salmon

Pat, Mike, Atz Kilcher, Terry and Jim Huot

The Kilcher Homestead

Barn on the homestead

View from the Homestead

June 29, 2016 Visit to Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and RV washing and June 30, 2016 A trip to the City of Kenai

Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Visit to Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and RV washing

We headed out this morning to visit the Wildlife Refuge in Soldotna. We met a ranger there who was from the same town in New Hampshire as Jim and Terry so they visited awhile. We then headed out on some of the trails through the refuge. We first stopped at the lake viewing area and across the lake we watched 10+ eagles in their morning activities of perching, flying and fishing. What a wonderful sight. We then headed up the forest loop trail to see if we could see a moose. That didn’t work out too well because we got overwhelmed by mosquitoes. Everyone but Mike had sprayed themselves good with insect repellant but the mosquitoes were not bothered by it at all. So after ¼ mile into the 2.2 mile loop we gave up and headed out of the woods and back to the car. If we had continued we would probably need a blood transfusion that is how many mosquitoes there were flying around us. 

We headed home for lunch and then Pat and Terry went to visit some quilt shops while Mike and Jim washed the RV’s. It isn’t often that campgrounds allow you to wash the rigs so we try and take advantage of it when we can.

Thursday, June 30, 2016 A trip to the City of Kenai

Since there was not much to do around here we decided to head down the road a few more miles and visit Kenai. This small town is at the mouth of the Kenai River and is pretty busy during the summer. Fishermen come from all over to try their luck with the salmon here. Mike and Jim are going to try their luck later this week in Homer for Halibut and Salmon so today is just to watch and visit.

Our first stop was to the Visitor and Cultural Center.  This was a surprise upon walking in they have the largest display of eagles in The U.S. as well as the largest display of wild birds.  Michael was a wealth of information and history.  We walked through the Cultural part which had a lot of interesting displays.

After leaving the center we headed down the road to see the Old Russian Orthodox Churches.  It was like walking back in time.  As we were heading back to the car we started to walk by this small cafe called Veronica’s Coffee House.  We were just going in to get a coffee but then hunger took over and we ended up getting lunch.  Lunch was very good.  Mike and I are coming back to Kenai for a few days so Mike can get some fishing in so we will stop at this cafe again.

We made our way to the beach below and Terry and I walked the sandy beach looking for our special rocks. We thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely day in Kenai.

                    WOOD CARVING AT THE VISITORS CENTER IN SOLDOTNA

WILDLIFE REFUGE IN SOLDOTNA

TRUMPETER SWAN

2 EAGLES TANGLED IN FLIGHT

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

CHAPEL OF ST NICHOLAS

VERONICA'S COFFEE HOUSE

PINE SISKIN

MOUNTAIN RANGE IN BACKGROUND

THIS IS THE BEACH WE WALKED

June 27, 2016 A day for laundry and an early Anniversary Dinner and June 28, 2016 On the road to Sterling, AK and we are officially recognizing 25 years of wedded bliss.

Monday, June 27, 2016 A day for laundry and an early Anniversary Dinner

Today we caught up on our laundry and relaxed. And since our next stop does not have a large variety of restaurants we decided to go out tonight and celebrate our 25^th wedding anniversary. Terry and Jim treated us to a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse, one of Pat’s favorite places to eat.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 On the road to Sterling, AK and we are officially recognizing 25 years of wedded bliss.

We awoke this morning to a beautiful day and wished each other a Happy 25^th Anniversary. It is amazing to look back and see all the things we have done together in the last 25 years. And the journey is just getting started.  We normally do not buy each other gifts for special occasions but for this one we did.  I received a beautiful necklace and Mike got a Gnome carved out of Caribou and the feather is out of mammoth.  Look at the detail in the gnomes face.

We left Anchorage and headed toward Sterling around 9:30am and the road along Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arm was very beautiful. The road follows the water’s edge for about 40 miles before it turns down the Kenai Peninsula. We followed the Kenai River and stopped at Real Alaskan Cabins and RV Park around 12:30. This is a rustic campground but they do have full hookups and 50 amp so we are pretty satisfied.

After we got set up we ventured into Soldotna which is the next city over and about 10 miles away. It is bigger than Sterling and has a nice visitor’s center where we stopped to get more information about the area and things to do.

Mike's Anniversary Present

Pat's Anniversary Present


VIEWS COMING INTO KENAI PENINSULA

STORM IS BREWING AHEAD OF US

KENAI RIVER

OUR CAMPSITES