We left the Marina Park campground and drove to the dump station in Homer across from the Post Office. While Mike dumped our tanks, I drove over to the Post Office to buy stamps for our postcards so I could mail them from Homer. I met Mike up at the Safeway and we hitched up the car in the parking lot and we left Homer at 11:50.
Five minutes later we decided to stop for lunch at a rest area on a bluff overlooking Kachemak Bay and Homer Spit instead of later looking for a pull-off farther up the road. There is a Gold Rush Centennial sign which tells the story of “The Wheelbarrow Nightmare”.
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| From Homer to Soldotna |
Just north of the Ninilchik River we turned off onto Orthodox Avenue (a gravel road) and drove west a little ways to view the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church on a bluff overlooking the village of Ninilchik and Cook Inlet. Ninilchik is Russian for “peaceful settlement by a river” and is an old Russian fur-trading village. The Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church was built in 1900 and is one of the most popular sites to photograph on the Kenai Peninsula.
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| From Homer to Soldotna |
We continued north on the Sterling Highway to Soldotna and the Edgewater RV Resort. We arrived at Edgewater RV Resort at 2:15 after driving 78 miles from Homer. Edgewater RV Resort is a Coast to Coast member and we are using our campground points to stay here tonight. Since we used the points we earned on our Good Sam credit card to “purchase” Coast to Coast points, the points for tonight’s stay are free. There is a $3.18 cash resort fee for the campground.
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| From Homer to Soldotna |
We are in site #34 with full hook-ups (30 amp electric). There is a lot of traffic noise since the campground is at the intersection of 2 major roads, but once we’re asleep I doubt we’ll hear it.
After getting settled in we drove over to Kenai which is 12 miles west of Soldotna to visit the Russian Orthodox churches there. We first stopped at the Kenai Visitors Center and got a Walking Tour Map of Old Town Kenai.
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| From Kenai |
Using the Walking Tour Map, we drove around looking at some of the old homes and cabins.
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| From Kenai |
The main reason for our visit to Kenai was to see the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church that was constructed in 1894. It is one of the oldest standing Orthodox churches in Alaska and is a National Historic Landmark and is still an active church.
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| From Kenai |
Father Macarius Targonsky was at the church and told us about the church and its history. He explained that there are no pews in the church because they stand to express their reverence before God although sick and the elderly may pray sitting down.
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| From Kenai |
He showed us the 19th century Russian Bibles
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| From Kenai |
and explained that the brass chandelier used to have crystal pendants.
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| From Kenai |
Our next stop was at the St. Nicholas Memorial Chapel just down the road that was built in 1906 as a tribute to Father Nikolai who was the first missionary in the Kenai area. Father Nikolai and 2 assistants were responsible for bringing the smallpox vaccine to the Kenai Peninsula and vaccinating many people there.
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| From Kenai |
As we were leaving Kenai we spied a Don Jose’s Mexican Restaurant and quickly decided to have dinner. We split a Carne Asada Grilled Burrito dinner with rice and beans, so we would have room to share a Fried Ice Cream. So far we have eaten at a Don Jose’s in Anchorage (2 times), Homer and now Kenai – we think the dinner at the Keani Don Jose’s was the best.
On our way back to the RV, we stopped at the Visitor Center in Soldotna and walked out on the boardwalk along the Kenai River and people fishing along the river.
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| From Homer to Soldotna |
Tomorrow we leave Soldotna and go back to Anchorage. We're planning on staying at the Black Spruce FamCamp on Fort Richardson which is next to Elmendorft AFB.
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