Our reservations ended this morning in Homer, AK and thankfully the Sterling Highway was open. This is the report we received before we started on the road. Highway OPEN – Pilot cars -Expect Delays – TRAVEL IS NOT ADVISED – status can change at any time-DRIVE WITH HEADLIGHT ON – NO STOPPING along the highway, watch for firefighting personnel in the area.
It was a beautiful, sunny day all the way to Soldotna. In Soldotna, we stopped at the local Fred Meyer for groceries and then continued driving towards our destination, Seward.
Soon, we began to see and smell smoke. The mountains were filled with smoke. We drove through smoke and saw a couple of sections where the flames were right next to the road. At times the smoke was so thick that we could barely see the road ahead. We encountered construction zones with workers on the road, but, we did not see any firefighters on the roadway. I was expecting to see firefighters, trucks, and equipment!
As we drove nearer to Seward we began to second guess our travel decision. But, we continued into Seward and discovered that the smoke was actually worse than it was in Homer. Hoping that the smoke would blow away and we would have nice weather, we paid for a waterfront RV spot for only one night. (I guess we weren’t that hopeful). Even though we had secured a RV site with a view, we could not see across Resurection Bay! On a clear day, we would have been viewing the beautiful scenic bay, snow capped mountains, glaciers, and boats. What a disappointment!
After we got settled into our site, we went down to the docks to watch the fishing boats return with their fish. We saw several Charter groups with some good-sized fish. Someone even caught a shark!
We selected a local seafood restaurant and had another great meal! I had Halibut & Chips and Ken tried the Salmon & Chips. Both meals were excellent! I expecially loved the fries(chips)…just like my mom’s!
We returned back to the RV and decided that we would leave early tomorrow morning. Sadly, the smoke had ruined our plans to take a glacier cruise and do more fishing. There was no reason to stay.
We need to get out of the smoke and air out the RV!