Alaska Day 19 Homer to Skilak Lake

Leaving Homer today with good memories but ready for a new adventure. Destination today is somewhere around Soldotna, about half way to Anchorage. We do not have reservations all I called said first come, first serve so off we go. If worst comes to worst, there are always Target parking lots.
Sightseeing today - 2 planned stops. Anchor Point and Ninilchik - both small villages along the coast. Anchor Point first. This whole area is fishing, all kinds of salmon, steelhead and trout. Rivers and lakes everywhere. At Anchor Point we looked for the sign, "the most Westerly highway in the US". Found it, picture below. Out to the beach t and watched the fishing boats in and out for awhile. On our way back to the RV we found our first geocache of the trip!! Easy to find - really always amazes me that you can play that game anywhere in the world. Then saw a gal taking a picture of something up in a tree. And there were 2 bald eagles!! Have been looking for them, saw one in Homer but at a distance. These were very close and content to stay put through all of our picture taking. A fun stop.
On to Ninilchik. The draw here is an old Russian Orthodox Church. The church was on a lovely bluff overlooking the sea with a volcanic ridge of mountains across the cove. Just beautiful! This area was first settled by the Athabascan native Americans. They were booted out, first by the Russians there for the fur trading, and later by the Americans. A lot of native Russian interbreeding resulted in a mixed race of which there are still folk living in the area today. There are several Russian Orthodox churchs in the area still used today. Then a quick trip through "old Ninilchik" - mostly abandoned homes in a beautiful setting.
A stop at a cute coffee shop and on to find a place for the night. We tried at a large campground in Soldotna but we did not like it. So we took a chance on campgrounds around a large lake about 40 miles away. Lake Skilak. And after 7 miles of gravel road, here we are! Have a wonderful spot - all the sites are separated from the others. And they are free!!! I am a very happy camper tonight. I now know what "dry" camping. No hook ups for water, sewer, or electricity. Alice's RV can do all that without hook ups. The days are so long we seldom need lights anyway. Back to civilization tomorrow - next stop Anchorage.Read more