June 27 - Seward to Kenai

Did it rain or did it RAIN last night??? Good grief!

I actually had to put my earplugs in it was so loud. Granted, even the smallest drop of rain sounds like thrown pebbles on our tent roof but the deluges that came in waves last night were thunderous. Neither of us slept very well. In addition to the rain, there were people coming and going and up through the night talking so it was a busy spot!

Gratefully, we woke up to heavy, threatening skies but it was dry. My LEAST favorite thing when we travel like this is packing up camp in the rain. Everything gets wet and it's hard to suit up in your gear and get things organized then your shelter (the tent) is put away. There is no refuge. This morning, we had this blessed window of dry and we were able to pack everything up and get on our way without being dumped on. We hit the local bakery for some quick breakfast and then were off. 

Back up and out of the valley, back through Moose Pass, we swung west and drove through Cooper Landing. It's on the river and there are a collection of really awesome little resorts with camping, small log cabins etc., all catering to the fishing crowd. We wished we had stayed here last night. It's a really pretty area and the river is gorgeous - a milky glacial blue colour. The road twists and turns to follow the river and suddenly, we came around one corner and, without a word of a lie, there must have been hundreds of people fishing along the banks of the river. Up here they call it "Combat Fishing" - people are 10 feet apart and it's hard to imagine how they can fish without getting all of their lines tangled up. I've never seen anything like it in all my life. The sockeye salmon are open right now and people are CRAZY about fishing in this area. We thought about stopping to take a photo but the pullouts were so clogged up, there wasn't even room for us to squeeze in for a few minutes. 

We made our way through Sterling and into Soldotna with the idea we'd camp there for the night. We drove along the highway that runs through one side of town but it just wasn't very appealing. We decided to carry on down the road to Kenai City. There, we found a nice Farmer's Market on the lawn of the Visitor's Center where we had lunch - a really great reindeer hotdog. I have to admit, there was a small pang of guilt at the idea of eating one of Santa's own but it tasted great and we agreed to never tell the small grandkids!

We wandered through their nice visitor's center and small museum and then we decided to drive through the Old Town just down the block.

Veronica's - a very cool coffee house in Kenai City

I love how someone thought to plant the box in front of this saggy old shack...

Among other heritage buildings is a very old Russian Orthodox church we'd heard a lot about. 

We started out on this trek and came across a gorgeous campsite right on the bluff looking over Cook Inlet. What a find! We had no idea it was here! A beautiful spot to spend the evening. 

Our view of Cook Inlet from our campsite.

Trail leading down to the beach.