Boondock–
We and about ten other RVs stayed overnight at Fred Myers in Soldotna. The store closes at mid-night so it’s very quiet here at night making it doable. This is a centrally located base for exploring the area. We saw many things in Soldotna when we came through here last week but missed some so we’re trying to see those places this return trip. The temp was about 50 degrees F. this morning at 6:30 am, a little brisk but not too cold and the sun is shinning.
Kalifornsky Beach Road–
We had been told that driving this loop road off the Sterling Highway along the Cook Inlet was lovely. Not so much with the lovely. Most of the views of the Cook Inlet are completely obscured by homes and businesses with “No Beach Access” and “No Trespassing” signs. Also the road is mostly one lane, very busy, with speed limits of 45 to 55 MPH.
We turned off Kalifornsky road and went down some side roads only to find them ending at a couple of houses and no beach access. Near the south end of the Kalifornsky loop we decided to explore and again turned off to a side road called Kasilof Beach Road. This is a long dirt/gravel road and goes down to where Cook Inlet and the Kasilof River come together. There were a lot of fisherman camped in this area. We talked to some of them that were returning to the water from a break. Almost all of them were “gill net fishing”. Gill net fishing is allowed as they are Alaska residents and are approved for subsistence fishing. The gill net fishermen said they’d caught lots of fish and some of them proudly showed us their coolers filled with ice and fish fillets. One man told us he has nine mouths to feed at home. The non-subsistence fishermen we spoke with, using rod and reel, said they had not caught any fish yet.
Kasilof Regional Historical Museum–
Stopped to explore this free, five year old museum after lunch today. This place is a work in progress all by community volunteers and they’ve made a lot of progress. The museum has numerous homestead cabins plus displays of various tools and pictures of the early homesteaders, along with the history of the area. A volunteer who had lived in the area since the 1960′s, took us around explaining the history and significance of some of the displays. An interesting visit on a beautiful day.
Propane–
Our stove, refrigerator, heater and hot water heater run on propane so, since we were running low, we were due to buy more. Got propane gas for $3.59/gal. While getting propane I always stay far away from the propane source and the RV but the person filling the tank appeared to be done so I went to get the amount owed so I could go inside and pay. Suddenly, the technician who was fooling with the nozzle sprayed me with a high pressure blast of propane including spraying me in the face. Yup, they were sorry. Luckily, I didn’t get hurt. Just got a bit of a shock and a slightly greasy face but my practice of staying away from the propane refill effort has certainly been validated.
