Soldotna AK - still a homesteading mentality

An easy 80-mile drive from Homer to Soldotna AK, another point on the Kenai Peninsula.

In 1941 Congress created the nearly 2 million acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to protect moose, and left a sliver of land for a future city or two.  In 1947 returning veterans were given priority to homestead, and the town of Soldotna evolved. 

We arrive at the Diamond M RV resort in Soldotna.  Like many large RV parks catering to caravans, we are placed in an area of our own, but this time we are not jammed close together. Four rigs are arranged in a square around massive fire rings made from steel bowls salvaged from the natural gas business, and there are several of these squares. Huge Lego-like concrete blocks protect the utility stubs at each site from damage, but also threaten us as we try to park. On the perimeter, more concrete blocks are stacked to create a retaining wall, and the remaining rigs are backed into generous spaces along the walls.  There is as yet no landscaping.  It is a bit like camping in a quarry.

For over 100 years Seattle was Alaska's toll gate to the world, and in some ways still is.

'Smores night hosted by the park.