The adventure continued as we said a fond farewell to Homer and headed north on the Kenai peninsula towards Soldotna, Alaska. Of course the views were spectacular as usual and we were on the lookout for Moose. We passed our first Moose and could not stop to get a picture and were very disappointed…Wait..
Moose to the right of us,
Moose to the left of us WOW!!! In all we saw 6 moose (pictures of 5, the reason we say this is because one of the RoadTrek group, Ruth, says no picture you can not claim you saw it).
We arrived in Soldotna and signed in at the DiamondM Ranch, our home for the next 6 days. This is a meeting point for the RoadTrek’s on our journey. DiamondM is a 160 acre working ranch with a RV resort, the owners live on the ranch (Grandparents, son and grandchildren). The patriarch is Carroll,
he and his wife arrived at the Kenai Peninsula in 1963 with his 9-year-old son pulling a barge with his tugboat. The barge contained the wood he had purchased in Tacoma, Washington, that he needed to build his home. We do not know his age, probably close to 80, but he told us stories of hunting and fishing and adventure in Alaska during cocktail hour and while he took us on a walk around his ranch.
While in Soldotna we tried our hand at Salmon fishing on the Kenai River. We had a grand time, John looked very professional, Janice thought she had caught one until she realized it was snagged on a rock. The place most fish to catch salmon is near Cooper Landing where the Kenai and Russian River intersect, the locals call it “The Combat Zone”, we showed you that picture in a previous blog entry
Our next trip was out to Captain Cook Point and the state park, what another beautiful drive past Stormy Lake out to the point.
The tide was out, with beautiful vistas everywhere.
Back at the DiamondM Ranch there was an adventure to go clamming which we signed up for, we went on the hunt for Razor clams.
Over 200 clams were found during the dig, and those clams were shucked and put into a clam soup which we shared on Friday night.
Oh, we almost forgot..Patrick and Phil, two of our RoadTrek friends, hired a guide and went Salmon fishing they caught 3 – 9 pound salmon each. Phil said it was one of the top two best fishing experiences he has ever had!
Thursday morning Carroll took us on a tour of the ranch. They raise Lamas, cows, horses, pigs, goats, geese and more. While touring we saw his ranch house that he started in 1963, he had expanded it into quite a large home. The most spectacular view was the Eagle nest. We spent almost 20 minutes watching the parents fly in and out and feed the eaglets. It was a beautiful sight. The lead picture was one of the parents soaring to the nest. These pictures speak for themselves. How do you like it so far?
