7-14-2014 Kenai River, Soldnotna and Kenai City

Post 7-14-2014 Kenai River, Soldotna and Kenai City

Seems like it is always raining when we start  to leave a place and today was no exception. It seems that there are just so many clouds hanging around the mountains all the time. It usually isn’t a heavy rain, just a pesky, misty type.  But, as we got farther away from Seward, we left the rain behind and it cleared up to be a beautiful drive across the peninsula,  by Kenai River, Coopers Landing  and on into Soldotna.

Before leaving, we found the city RV dump station and emptied the holding tanks and filled up with fresh water. Stopping at a gas station to top off the diesel tank was a surprise. It was $4.64 a gallon. There was a sign in the window that said that the city added .28 a gallon to the price. I should have waited till we got to Soldotna. It’s only $4.29 a gallon here. However, we were advised to keep the fuel tank at least half full since gas stations can be far apart.

As we passed over the  Kenai River, we saw boat loads of fishermen in the river as well as rafters. The river is wide and allows plenty of room for all.
Additionally, almost every pull off was full of cars, RV’s and small trailers, the men/women were along the river casting their lines for salmon and Rainbow Trout. Obviously, this is the fishing capitol of the peninsula that we have heard about.

Arriving in Soldotna, we spotted the Fred Myers Store that had several motor homes parked in the back lot, so we joined them. Fred Meyers allows RV’s to park free in the back lot as they know RV space in the area is limited and they know the area is swamped with fishermen. Plus, they have an RV dump station on the rear of the parking lot. The RV’s are lined up to get in there. The line never stops. Apparently, it the only one available in the city. Thank you Fred Myers.

Naturally, our first outing is to the local visitors center to find out what’s in the area we would enjoy. The Soldotna Visitors Center is almost a museum and heritage center. There is a showcase of art work mostly Scrimsaw  collected and/or  crafted by a long time resident who now lives on his 70 acre farm in PA. I believe he is one of the few who move away. Most move here and stay. The work is inscribed on  Walrus Tusk Ivory or made out of ivory. To have that type of ability would be a great blessing from our creator. There are record size  fish and animals displayed in showcases and mounted to the walls. One is a record holding, largest ever caught in the area  97 lb King Salmon, the second  largest Salmon, a record Rainbow Trout, and several others . There’s a giant moose head, the largest I've ever seen, a bear head and Dall Mountain Sheep. I don’t think I've ever seen such a beautiful visitors center.

The two lovely and friendly ladies who worked in the center, Sara and Annie, complemented the decor and graciously  shared their  knowledge of the area with us , pointing out where we might like to visit and how to get there. Sara was briefing a group (family)about hiking paths  as we went in but joined us later. I just wonder how many "tourists" they help in a Summer's time.   We were welcomed and it made us feel at home. Thank you City of Soldotna for such a beautiful visitors center and such wonderful attendants.

Sara and Annie.

Award winning Rainbow Trout

Another Rainbow Trout

Native Craft

A "Humpy" Salmon--a male in spawning season

                                    A small king Crab


        Native Ivory Carvings from  Walrus Tusk-Priceless

                                  A Small Bald Eagle

Soldotna is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. It has a population of around 5,000 and is the seat of the peninsula. It was created when the government withdrew many of the townships after WWII. A bridge was built across the Kenai River, a road was cleared from Cooper River to Soldotna and it was awarded the borough (county) seat. They had a population of only 332 and was designated as a fourth class city. After the road was completed, land grants were made with the returning veterans getting first choice.Each allotment was 160 acres with some stipulations on homesteading

After a snack for lunch, Nita dropped a jar of pickles and it shattered, spilling pickle juice all over the floor and on one of the rugs. We decided to take them all to the Laundromat to remove the odor from them. Unfortunately, they had a sign  posted “ no rubber backed rugs in the washers”, so we did get caught up on the rest that needed washing. I must say, that was one of the cleanest laundrymats I’ve seen in many a year. The attendant was friendly and helpful. We asked her for a pizza place and she said “Bub’s Pizza” on Kenai spur Hwy.

Bub’s is a relatively new place. It is our type of place, small in size but with some tables for enjoying your meal. They had a variety menu with Stromboli, chicken  wings,   hot  sandwiches, subs, mini dinners, salads and a choice of eleven different pizzas. We chose “The Chef’s Mistake, which was loaded with almost everything and that’s the type we love.

Let me tell you, this pizza was a work of art and one of the best we have had in all our travels. The crust was just perfect, not too thick, not too thin and not over cooked. The toppings were ample with plenty of mozzarella cheese (we love mozzarella cheese), Italian Sausage, black olives, mushrooms, hamburger, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, green peppers, red peppers and a little parmesan cheese to top it off. That was one delicious pizza. Thank you Jamie Beever and Britnay Mencer for wonderful service and for recommending the delicious pizza. Also thanks to the girl attendant at the Laundromat for recommending “Bub’s. We will be sure to recommend you to anyone visiting  Alaska and Soldotna.

The pizza  reminded us of one we had in Port  Fairy, Australia last year. I watched the cook assemble it and after heating the tomato sauce on the crust, he plopped a gob of cold mozzarella cheese on it, swirled it around and dumped a few other toppings(can't remember) and shoved it to me in a flimsy box. I regret I didn't have my camera with me to prove it, but we had a good laugh about it and yet the pizza was good. Unfortunately, again, I didn't have the camera in Bub’s Pizza either.But, we plan on returning when we come back from Homer in a week or so.

After a good nights sleep, I didn't get up until 10AM and Nita got up at 11;30. Boomer was bursting. LOL . We went to AT&T to get my phone working but they couldn't do anything for us. Next step will be to call “Apple” tomorrow. So we just rode around sightseeing. Every where we looked, there was a full RV park . Everywhere we could see the river, there were people just arms length from each other fishing.

Being curious as to how far away  Kenai City is, we drove over to it. It is much larger than we thought and apparently much larger than Soldotna. We visited a Russian Orthodox Church. The correct name is “Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church”. It wasn't open  to visitors due to the late hour but maybe next time we go there. Driving around we stumbled upon a RV park where there was an excellent view of all the fishermen/women at the mouth of  the Kenai River  and  along the shore of  Cook Inlet . It looked like a festival going on with most standing in the water with fishing reels or huge round nets trying to catch a salmon.

Mouth of Kenai River

The City of Kenai is named after the local Dena’ina (Tannian) word for “Ken or Kena” which means flat ,meadow,  open area, with few trees that describes the area at the mouth of the Kenai River. They had a population of around 7,00 in 2010 according to a census.

On the way out of town we stopped at “Louie’s Restaurant” for dinner. A bit pricey, but when in Rone---. If you can afford to come to Alaska, you can afford to fine dine. Anyway, we had an order of Calamari and the special of the day; Pecan Crusted Halibut with Shrimp Hollandaise, Rice Pilaf and green string beans.. OH MY GOD, was it ever delicious. The Calamari looked like  large  French Fries   and the serving was huge.We were full after only that. We shared the Halibut (we always do that) between us. They put it on separate plates for us and you know, you always get more food that way. Talk about melt in your mouth, oh, WOW. Boy, were we stuffed and I almost couldn't finish mine and Nita brought home a "doggie bag". No room for desert, only coffee to fill in the corners.

Thus ended our day. It was time to return and write on this blog to share our experiences with a special person  whom I dearly love, my sister, who's still celebrating her ______birthday,  and all of .you.