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Up at 7 a.m....latest I've slept in last 3 weeks!...45deg.,partly sunny...sunrise: 4:57...sunset: 11:12 p.m.
Plan for the day is to head back to Portage tonight, same place we stayed earlier this week, so we'll be close to Anchorage for RV return day Saturday. Distributed extra halibut we had left over to staff at RV campground in Homer & a few bystanders in neighboring RVs...we saved enough for our crew on ice for dinner in Homer tonight. Headed out at usual 8 a.m. hour for 175 mile trip back to Portage. When we reached Soldatna, we decided to take side trip to Kenai City, about 12 miles off our route. Kenai has a population of 7,132 as is one of the larger cities on the peninsula. Kenai is situated on a low rise overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River where it empties into Cook inlet. The area affords majestic view across Cook Inlet of 3 major volcanic peaks in the Alaska Range: Mount Spurr (elev. 11,100), the largest, which erupted in 1992; Mount Iliama (elev. 10,016 feet); and Mount Redoubt (elev. 10,197). Mount Redoubt erupted again in 2009. Both eruptions had significant impact on aviation and oil industries, as well
as the people of the Kenai Peninsula. Offshore in Cook Inlet are numerous drilling platforms, all with underwater pipelines bringing the oil to the shipping docks on both sides of the Cook Inlet for loading onto tankers. We stopped at the Visitor Center, which had a great museum display of the settlement of Kenai and historical artifacts which include an original second edition of one of the Journals of James Cook printed in 1778. Cook was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer. In the late 1700s Cook explored and mapped the coast all the way to the Bering Strait, the way to identifying what came to be known as Cook Inlet in Alaska. In a single visit, Cook charted the majority of the North American north-west coastline on world maps for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska. At the Beluga Whale Lookout in Kenai, we searched the horizon for beluga whales. We had been told that because it was high tide, we might see the beluga whale, but no luck. Al, Sue, Dorrie, & I stopped for a sandwich at Veronica's, while Tom napped to catch up on sleep. We had to stop back at the Visitor's Center
for Dorrie to exchange shirt she had bought which didn't fit. Al, Sue, Tom, & Peggy decided to head out for Portage while Dorrie & searched other stores for Kenai Peninsula tee shirt for her. After 1/2 hr. search, Dorrie found what she was looking for and we were on our way back to Portage. Arrived in time for cocktails and dinner of remaining Halibut. Game of crummy rummy cards and into bed late at 11p.m. with sun still shining bright.
Miles today--200
Total-4,859
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