July 15 – 23: Soldotna, Ninilchik, Homer
July 15 – 17: Soldotna: A major supply center for the region, thus a good stop for us as we headed to the Kenai Peninsula. Most importantly, Ann was able to get her hair cut. Normally done every 5 weeks, it had been 8 weeks since the last one, and desperation had set in. Also, based on a recommendation for good bread from another LTV’er, we stopped in at Lucy’s, a small boutique market. Well – yes, it was expensive, but SO worth it. We even went back a second time to get an “inventory” loaf before leaving. We stayed at Klondike RV just outside of town.
July 17 – 19: En route to Homer, we had wanted to stay in State parks for a couple of nights. Preferably along the coast.
First, we stopped Deep Creek State Recreational Area (Ninilchik), a no services campground, with a million pot holes getting to the RV area. But once past the day use area, we found an RV site right on the beach, facing the water. Could just see the volcanic mountains across Cook Inlet. These state campgrounds are consistently $20 per night. Hard to beat the value!
We had Homer reservations for the 19th, and intended to stay the previous night, the 18th, at Anchor Point, about 1/2 way from Deep Creek to Homer. We found a spot at Halibut Campground there, but it was hidden in the trees, with not a sight of the water, and we had been spoiled by the night before at Deep Creek. We parked while we thought about it, and did manage to check out the beach nearby, where we saw a number of wonderful eagles.
So we continued towards Homer, and beseeched the people at KOA at Baycrest, very close to Homer, to let us have a spot for one night. They did, and it was excellent. Again, directly facing the water, though this time from a bluff that was several hundred feet up from the beach. Full services, full price. Slightly difficult to get into the site, and very close to each other, but we were glad to have it.
July 19-23: Homer. We arrived early in the Homer area, and drove down onto Homer Spit right away. There are many campgrounds on the Spit, all full at this time of year, and all the parking lots were also full. Fortunately Homer has designated an area for free day-use parking for RVs only, and we were able to park and walk around and check things out. Bought more fish, this time including some halibut. Mostly tourist shopping, with ample opportunities to charter if one wants.
We had reserved at Ocean Shores weeks before, and were looking forward to it. It’s slightly outside of town, on a slope from highway down to just above the beach, with the RV sites stepped down the hill. Supposedly one should then have a view to the water over the RV below you. NOT. Still, a pleasant place to be. We were able to walk the 1.5 miles to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning. And on one sunny day, the views from the beach and bluff above it were spectacular.
We also stopped at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitors’ Center. Twice in fact. First time we watched a short film about the Research Vessel Tiĝlax̂, a 120 meter vessel that supplies eight remote camps in the Refuge every summer. There are more than 40 million marine birds and mammals that live in the Refuge. On our second visit, we ended up studying the map of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Begun in 1903 by Teddy Roosevelt, it has grown to more than 150 million acres, including 560 National Wildlife Refuges, plus 38 Wetland Management Districts. As well, the System includes four National Monuments in the Pacific (covering more than 418 million acres of coral reefs, submerged lands, deep waters, islands and atolls), and 677,000 acres of wetlands and grasslands known as Waterfowl Protection Areas. You can check out more details in this map.