Road Trip to Homer

 From my house, Homer, Alaska, is but 130 miles down the Sterling highway, at the end of the Kenai Peninsula.   You pass through a few small towns on the way down.

We had a couple errands to tend to in Soldotna, the first town of any size, and the next stop was the village of Ninilchik.  During the fishing season, Ninilchik is a popular place to launch boats into Cook Inlet for salmon and halibut fishing.   The boats are set into the sea with huge rubber-tired tractors that back the boat and trailer into the water at high tide.

IF you're just passing by on the highway, this is the most photographed building in Ninilchik.   It's a Russian Orthodox Church that sits on a bluff overlooking the village and boat launch.

Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Chapel, built in 1901

Today, however, fishing season isn't open and the creek that flows through the village is still frozen.   We drove around and stopped at an old cabin.

As soon as we got out of the truck, Leilani heard a song sparrow.   Sure enough, a couple of these little birds were singing their beautiful songs from the spruce tree next to the cabin.

I wonder if that's an outhouse just a few steps from the cabin door?

I can't tell you how good it was to hear these songs that promised spring after a long and harsh winter with lots of snow.   That snow, by the way, is still there in eight-to-ten feet deep  piles in places around my yard.

From the wood shed to the fence line at right, snow is stacked in a 40-Ft deep by 50-ft across area.

For size comparison, the orange pylons are 42" high.

"I wish the song sparrow would land on the cabin, "Leilani said.   And it did.  Right where she wanted it.

We continued a short distance down this road and found a couple more buildings to photograph.

This cabin has Cook Inlet in the background.

A new RV trailer parked in front of a beautiful old barn.

A detail of the loft door and its richly-colored lumber.

With no other old buildings accessible, we headed up the hill and back to the Sterling highway.   Just up the hill is a view that most people recognize as Ninilchik.   It's a Russian Orthodox Church that sits on a bluff overlooking the valley.

This photo was taken a a couple years ago.

A few miles down the road, we saw our first moose, this one a cow.

She would not be our last!