(June 24-29, 2018 – Kenai Peninsula and Kenai)

From Portage Valley RV Park, we headed on down the Seward and Sterling Highways towards Kenai. Scenery along the way was stunning with mountain vistas seemingly wherever you looked. After just a short distance we transitioned to the Kenai Peninsula and the scenery, if possible, became even more spectacular.

On the Road to Kenai

Travel Itinerary 2018 – Alaska Part II

Along the drive we passed several still lakes – Lower Summit, Summit, Tern, and Kenai Lakes. Several of the lakes were still enough to see reflections of the magnificent glacier-carved mountains looming in the background.

For awhile, the highway ran beside the Kenai and merged Kenai/Russian Rivers, whose rushing waters were milky blue with glacial sediment. Many fishermen waded the shallows of the river or float-fished from boats and rafts.

Arriving in Kenai, we checked into the Kenai Elks Lodge #2425 for five nights. The lodge has a small area for members RV parking with six water and 30 amp electric sites for $25 per night.

More Truck Repairs

The day after we arrived in Kenai, I took the Toyota Tundra and returned to Anchorage for our truck service appointment (about 150 miles & three-hour drive). We had received a call from the Toyota dealership that the parts required to repair our vehicle had arrived. The service appointment was for 7 AM and repairs to the rack and pinion assembly and drive shaft carrier bearing would take most of the day. I chose to book a hotel room for the night and drop the truck off in the morning, do some shopping and hang out until the repairs were done, and then return to Kenai. Good news – the repairs went well, were finished by early afternoon, the truck drives great, and I was back to Kenai in time for Tamale Night dinner at the Elks Lodge.

Around Kenai

The rest of our stay in Kenai was uneventful. We had overcast skies and rain most of the time. We went out to dinner one night and took a few day-trips around the area, but the grey skies limited visibility. We had hoped to see the mountains and volcanoes across the Cook Inlet, but overcast was too low.

One afternoon we stopped at the public boat docks on the Kenai River, expecting a lot of activity for the salmon run. Surprisingly, the parking lot was empty and no fishermen were around. We learned later that the Kenai River was closed to salmon fishing due to the very low return of salmon. Later in July, dip net season would open, but fishermen were not to keep any of the King(?) Salmon they might catch.

Despite the grey skies, we had a nice time during our stay in Kenai, but would probably just bypass it and go on to Homer on our next visit. That’s all for now. Safe travels and enjoy the journey!