AK P 21

JOURNAL #17

29 JULY 2007 TO HOMER

I got up early to try to upload the web page for Anchorage before we departed for Homer. Imagine my surprise and dismay to find that somehow the web file had been erased in my attempt to upload it last night! If I can get time and a connection some place later, I will attempt to download my web pages and restore the web file. If not, I’ll have to wait till I get home to finish up this journal. (And that is what has happened!

The day was clear and warm when we pulled out of the parking lot on this Sunday morning bound for Homer a little over 200 miles away. Little did we realize that this leg of our journey would be any different from others of the past few days. However, we had become used to the rural areas of Alaska and now we were in a more densely populated one — and it was Sunday! The Kenai Peninsula is a great “playground” for all Alaska, and especially for those living in Anchorage. The roads were filled with all kinds of RV’s, motorboats, motorcycles and cars with bicycles mounted on top. It seemed if all of Anchorage was on the move — either to or from the Kenai Peninsula!

The weather only complemented the wonderful views along the scenic highway along Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. Water on the right and mountains on the left. The mountains across the arm were capped with ice and snow making a great picture. Once we reached the end of the Arm, we turned to cross over the peninsula and were soon on the flatter portion of the road. The roads to this point had been very good, but here became a bit rough and narrow. Soon we reached the junction of the Seward Highway and the Sterling Highway and took the latter toward Soldotna and Homer. At Soldotna, we overtook some of the cars ahead of us as they stopped for lunch. One place was filled up, so we pressed on to the next likely place for lunch. We had no idea how many places of business we might find to serve us. We shouldn’t have worried as Soldotna is a rather large town. We found a likely looking café and saw that the Kerrs had arrived before did. After a leisurely lunch and a visit with Lloyd and Ruby, we were away for Homer at the southern end of the peninsula.

Just before arriving there, we found a viewing point overlooking the town and the surrounding water. It was a breathtaking view and there were many tourist there enjoying the sight. I talked with a group of motorcyclists who had ridden up from the “lower 48.” We exchanged tales of our tours. Then it was down a long grade into Homer and out on the spit where our hotel was aptly called “Land’s End.” This hotel was well appointed and was one of the nicer ones we were in on the tour. Approaching the hotel, we spotted Pat Richarson’s office. We had a meeting scheduled with her that evening as she was going to review our schedule for the next two days with us to make certain that we didn’t miss anything.

That evening we had a nice dinner in the hotel dining room. We went to bed looking out over the water with a range of snow and ice capped mountains on the far shore. The sound of the breakers could be heard in our bedrooms.