The Beautiful Kenai Peninsula

Hi-Yo Salmon, Away!!

We have spent over 2 weeks in the Kenai Peninsula, and the weather has been perfect! We spent a few days in Cooper Landing before moving on to five days in Soldotna, the salmon fishing capital - or otherwise known as combat fishing in July! Check out all the boats on the Kenai River!

and the fishermen side by side

We were here for Dad's 70th birthday so he could fish, however, his tennis elbow was so sore that he wasn't able to.  So instead we had a barbeque and feasted on fresh King Crab and filet mignon, yum!

Our next stop was Homer, at the tip of the Kenai peninsula. 

It was so beautiful here that we stayed for a week. We had a great view of the ocean from our RV. 

 I loved to sit and look out the window.

The best day was when I got to go with mom and dad on the ferry to Seldovia. I was so excited as this was my first trip on a boat. I even had my own seat!

Although I did get a bit worried when mom left me to go up on deck 

so I begged her to take me outside too

but that ocean scared me a bit and I was happiest  looking out the window at the great views.

We spent some time looking at all the birds on Gull Island.

I even saw an eagle!

But my favorite was the sea otters - I loved watching them float by me.

 Unlike other marine mammals, they don't have a layer of blubber to keep them warm. So they spend much of their time washing themselves in the ocean to help their fur remain waterproof and insulated against the cold water. 

 They even sleep floating on their back!

After about 2 hours we got off the boat in Seldovia.

We took a nice walk around the island, checking out all the sights.

Hey, no fair, give me some privacy please!

Seldovia is an old community, but only a few of the structures survived the 1964 earthquake.

Another day we drove to Ninilchik, an old Russian fishing community.

Mom and dad took an all day fishing charter boat to go fishing for halibut. They couldn't believe how much hard work and muscle it took to reel them in. They caught their limit, two each (actually dad caught three).While they were hoping for some 40+ pounders, they were happy that they only had to pull up these. This was the first time fishing for mom and most likely her last!

Homer, besides being famous for halibut fishing, is a beautiful town, nestled on the shore of a glistening bay, glaciers and mountains rimming the shoreline and active volcanoes looming in the distance.

The popular area of town is the Homer Spit, a 4.5 mile strip of sand and gravel brancing out from the mainland. Can you see it in the distance?

Homer has a protected deep water harbor for all the sea vessels. 

Mom and dad had fun walking on the boardwalks on the spit and eating great seafood.

Dad was wishing this was the fish he had caught!

All in all, a beautiful town...fantastic scenery through the lens of fireweed, the state flower. 

We enjoyed our stay in the Kenai Peninsula.

Adios, Yuki