6th Alaskan Stop - Kenai

We left Wasilla on Monday, the 20th, and drove down thru Anchorage and then around Cook Inlet to get to the Kenai (pronunciation:  Key-nye) Peninsula.  One of the benefits of moving to a new location is the scenery along the way.
We traveled the highway around the bay, saw some Dall sheep, and, of course, more mountains.  At first we could only see the Kenai Mountains in the far distance.

But, as we got around the bay, they were alot closer.

If you double-click on the map, you can see it more clearly starting from Anchorage, then around the Turnigan Arm of Cook Bay to Portage and then over and down to Moose Pass.  From there go accross to Cooper Landing, Soldotna and Kenai, which is where we are now.

We are set up at the Kenai Middle School for two weeks.  In case you haven't heard what we are doing, we met a couple from Allen, Tx a couple of weeks ago, and, in talking with them, found out that in the state of Alaska, the schools are looking for RV'ers to stay/camp out at their schools and be a security presence.  They provide electric and water.  During the day we can do whatever sightseeing we want to do, but at night they want us at the school to report anything unusual that we might see.
Anyway, here we are at the back of the school:

This is the football field behind us.

We had a little barbeque in our "backyard" a couple of days later.  Notice jackets - the temps here are usually in the low 60's during the day and around 50 at night.

We have done some sightseeing while here, including "old town Kenai."  This is the Holy Assumption Russian Orthodox Church that has been the principal and most enduring representative of Russian culture in southcentral Alaska from 1841 to the present.  Alaska became a diocese in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1840, and the church's popularity in the  Kenai Peninsula region grew, particularly amongst the Kenaitze, the native people of the peininsula. 

We went inside and talked with the priest who told us alot about the church and its furnishings.  Built from 1895 to 1896, the church was the second Orthodox church at the site, replacing the 1849 structure. The church was built from logs in the Pskow style—in the shape of a ship. The bell tower was completed later in 1900. The interior contains an elaborate iconostasis.  (In  Eastern Christianistry an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church).

The rectory was built in 1881, the oldest building on the Peninsula.

 This is the chapel but is no longer used.

Walking around proved to be quite tiring, so we stopped for lunch at this cafe in old town and had soup and a sandwich.

One thing we have noticed in our travels here and in Canada as well as the West Coast is the number of drive up coffee shops, like this one.

More later...