Kenai Week 2

Well, let's see - it's been awhile since I last wrote anything.

We are still at the Middle School in Kenai.  This week has gone by fast even though we didn't do too much.
On Monday I think we tried to recover from Sunday's fishing trip.  And on Tuesday I was feeling the affects of leaning over the side to reel in my fish - my back hurts!!
Anyway, one afternoon this week we drove up the coast line to the end of the road - Captain Cook State Park - all of about 26 miles. 

We didn't get much of a look at the park but did see a nice lake along the way.

It was a fairly clear day and we could see the mountains/volcanoes in the distance on the far side of the Cook Inlet.
Here is the map again:

Unfortunately, by the time we found a place to take pictures, the clouds moved in, so we only got this one:

This is Mount Redoubt which is an active volcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range.  It towers 9,000 feet above the surrounding valleys.  and is the third highest within the range, with nearby Mount Torbert, at 11,413 feet, being the highest and Mount Spurr at 11,070 feet being the second highest.
Mount Redoubt has erupted five times since 1900: in 1902, 1922, 1966, 1989 and 2009. The eruption in 1989 spewed volcanic ash to a height of 45,000 ft and caught KLM Flight 867, a Boeing 747 aircraft, in its plume (the flight landed safely at Anchorage). The ash blanketed an area of about 7,700 sq mi.  I hope we get out of here before it decides to erupt again!!

We also made a trip to Sodoltna which is a town about 8 miles away.  This is one of the areas where they fish the Kenai River when the salmon are running.  We always go to the Visitor Center first in each town to get the latest information.  Some good carvings outside:

Behind the Visitor Center was a great fishing spot; unfortunately no one was fishing.  The salmon are very late coming up the river to spawn.

We found a very nice park for the kiddies:

This sign was nearby and on the way toward the river.  We thought it was interesting that you could actually borrow a life jacket!

 While driving around, we saw this car - 56 Mercury, I think.

On another day this week, we were about to leave the school.  I was behind the truck doing something while Judy was getting in the truck.  She hollered at me and I came to the front.  Here were two female moose trotting across the field behind us.  They stopped for a second (for us to take their picture, I suppose!) and then continued on.

You just cannot predict when you will see them!!

When we drove to Homer to fish, we saw this sign before we even left Kenai:

In one year  252 moose were killed - can you imagine how many were on the road, but DID NOT get hit?  We actually saw some skid marks on the road, a truck along the side, and, on the other side was a dead moose

More later...