The Kenai

We spent two days touring the Kenai Peninsula, which had some of my favorite parts of Alaska (so far). The drive along the Turnagain Arm on the way out of Anchorage to the Kenai is gorgeous, even on a cloudy day. Here's my favorite shot from that part of the drive:

On Monday we drove down the Sterling Highway to Homer., making a bunch of stops. One of them was at this little overlook near Kenai Lake. The water was such an amazing color-and we even had some sun!

Here's a beautiful fireweed that I saw growing near the lake. I think this might be one of my overall favorite pictures from the trip so far.

This is the Russian Orthodox Church in the town of Ninilchik. It has such an amazing view.

We were also able to see some of the volcanoes in the Aleutian range. This is Mount Iliamna.

We also saw tons of eagles, both bald and golden. I got a lot of pictures, but this was one of the best.

On the way back up from Homer, we took a detour into Kenai. That was a really neat town, and I think if I ever moved to Alaska, that might be where I'd want to live. It's in a good location, with gorgeous views. Here's a shot of the Russian Orthodox Church there.

We stayed at a beautiful lodge called Summit Lake on Monday night. The next day we drove down to Seward, where we took a boat cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park. It was windy, rainy and grey, so we didn't see as much scenery, but it was still awesome! We also went to the Alaska Sea Life center; here's a harbor seal at that aquarium:

The next three shots are all from the cruise. Here are some Stellar sea lions:

This big guy was definitely in charge on this rock:

The water there in Resurrection Bay was also an amazing color, and it was so starkly beautiful.

The captain of our boat was great. He took us pretty far out in the Gulf of Alaska to try and find some whales. We didn't see any, but it was still an awesome time. We had some great pizza in Seward and then stopped at Exit Glacier, also in Kenai Fjords National Park, on the way out of town. We hiked a trail called "Edge of the Glacier," which I had thought would enable me to actually touch the glacier. I was so disappointed when I got to the top and found out I couldn't actually touch it. But it was still nice.

Tomorrow my dad and I are heading up to Healy and then to Fairbanks on the weekend. My awesome friend Tasha is flying in late Saturday night to drive home with me, and we're going to spend a few days in Denali National Park before starting to head home on Tuesday. Not sure where we're going yet, so stay tuned. I'm having an amazing time, but this adventure isn't even half over yet!