DrewE's Alaska Trip Travelogue
I returned about a week ago from a marvelous ten-week trip to and through Alaska (and back) with my dear mother. I went in a 32' class C, actually about 35' overall with a bicycle rack on the back, w...
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August 16th -- The day started out fairly rainy. In the morning we spent some time at the (very nice) Seward public library, which has good wifi, and got thoroughly wet walking the block from the nearest suitable parking we found, which was at the SeaLife Center. The weather did clear up as the day progressed, which I appreciated.
Moose Pass is a little burg that is along the Seward Highway not too far from Seward. There is a cute little water-powered public grindstone setup there. While I did have a hatchet that could use grinding, the speed of the stone led me to believe it would be a good while before it was in shape. There's further description of the water system for the wheel, which for a number of years supplied a small hydroelectric plant that powered some buildings in the community.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
We turned onto the Sterling Highway and headed west, following it around to Homer. We didn't spend a whole lot of time exploring along the way, though we did peek at the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church (Russian Orthodox) and attached cemeteries.
Click For Full-Size Image.
We camped for the night at the Homer Spit Campground, at the very tip of the spit. The campground (and Homer in general) has an impressive setting and views across the bay. This was a decent commercial campground in general. The facilities were functional and generally clean. The showerhouse and some of the other facilities would benefit from some general sprucing up, however. As I recall, the laundry room had some ironing equipment available for use, a nice touch.
Click For Full-Size Image.
This is the view across Kachemak Bay from the rest area on Homer Hill, outside of the city. The spit is the gravel bar visible in the water at the left edge of the picture, and the city center of Homer (as separate from the spit) is out of sight further to the left.
Click For Full-Size Image.
It's not a bad view from the campground, either.
Homer, and particularly the spit, is a tourist town to a fairly large extent. There are shops and boardwalks along the spit with quaint shops (or at least shops attempting to be quaint). That's not to say it's unpleasant by any stretch, or that everything's tacky.
On the outskirts of town there's the Alaska Islands and Oceans Visitor Center, which has a fairly large and very well-done exhibit hall (with fairly high-tech displays incorporating video projections, audio environments, and the like). They do a nice job of having parts that are appealing to children as well as adults.
August 17th -- After visiting the Islands and Oceans center and spending a little time seeing the town (and doing laundry and other mundane things), we headed back up the Sterling Highway. We followed the Kalifornsky Beach Road where it branched off of the Sterling Highway, and stopped for a bit at the beach access in Kenai by the mouth of the river. There is camping available here on the beach for tents or I gather for intrepid RVers who drive up the beach a good distance, which really only seems wise if one has four wheel drive and good sand-driving tires.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The Kenai beach, with other people's tire tracks
We also stopped by the Soldotna visitor's center, which has a quite impressive exhibit hall (and a few outdoor exhibits). Among the indoor exhibits is a most impressive model of a gas rig.
We camped for the night at Discovery Campground in the Captain Cook State Recreation Area. There is a beach access at the recreation area, but it's a litle bit separated from the campground (which is more or less on a bluff overlooking the beach). The various roads and trails in this area were not the most clearly marked or mapped out. It's a pretty area, still.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The beach, featuring small stones, big rocks, and very fine sand that's almost clay--a rather eclectic mix. The mountains across the Cook Inlet are barely visible if you look closely.
(I guess I have a lot of beach pictures. Growing up and living in Vermont, beaches--and especially ocean beaches--are somewhat of a novelty.)
August 18th -- We traveled back from the Kenai peninsula, and camped at Elkatna Lake in the Chugach State Park, just north of Anchorage.
Moose Pass is a little burg that is along the Seward Highway not too far from Seward. There is a cute little water-powered public grindstone setup there. While I did have a hatchet that could use grinding, the speed of the stone led me to believe it would be a good while before it was in shape. There's further description of the water system for the wheel, which for a number of years supplied a small hydroelectric plant that powered some buildings in the community.
We turned onto the Sterling Highway and headed west, following it around to Homer. We didn't spend a whole lot of time exploring along the way, though we did peek at the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church (Russian Orthodox) and attached cemeteries.
We camped for the night at the Homer Spit Campground, at the very tip of the spit. The campground (and Homer in general) has an impressive setting and views across the bay. This was a decent commercial campground in general. The facilities were functional and generally clean. The showerhouse and some of the other facilities would benefit from some general sprucing up, however. As I recall, the laundry room had some ironing equipment available for use, a nice touch.
This is the view across Kachemak Bay from the rest area on Homer Hill, outside of the city. The spit is the gravel bar visible in the water at the left edge of the picture, and the city center of Homer (as separate from the spit) is out of sight further to the left.
It's not a bad view from the campground, either.
Homer, and particularly the spit, is a tourist town to a fairly large extent. There are shops and boardwalks along the spit with quaint shops (or at least shops attempting to be quaint). That's not to say it's unpleasant by any stretch, or that everything's tacky.
On the outskirts of town there's the Alaska Islands and Oceans Visitor Center, which has a fairly large and very well-done exhibit hall (with fairly high-tech displays incorporating video projections, audio environments, and the like). They do a nice job of having parts that are appealing to children as well as adults.
August 17th -- After visiting the Islands and Oceans center and spending a little time seeing the town (and doing laundry and other mundane things), we headed back up the Sterling Highway. We followed the Kalifornsky Beach Road where it branched off of the Sterling Highway, and stopped for a bit at the beach access in Kenai by the mouth of the river. There is camping available here on the beach for tents or I gather for intrepid RVers who drive up the beach a good distance, which really only seems wise if one has four wheel drive and good sand-driving tires.
The Kenai beach, with other people's tire tracks
We also stopped by the Soldotna visitor's center, which has a quite impressive exhibit hall (and a few outdoor exhibits). Among the indoor exhibits is a most impressive model of a gas rig.
We camped for the night at Discovery Campground in the Captain Cook State Recreation Area. There is a beach access at the recreation area, but it's a litle bit separated from the campground (which is more or less on a bluff overlooking the beach). The various roads and trails in this area were not the most clearly marked or mapped out. It's a pretty area, still.
The beach, featuring small stones, big rocks, and very fine sand that's almost clay--a rather eclectic mix. The mountains across the Cook Inlet are barely visible if you look closely.
(I guess I have a lot of beach pictures. Growing up and living in Vermont, beaches--and especially ocean beaches--are somewhat of a novelty.)
August 18th -- We traveled back from the Kenai peninsula, and camped at Elkatna Lake in the Chugach State Park, just north of Anchorage.
