We had more than one reason to want to visit Kenai (Ken-eye)today. Besides seeing the Russian built buildings and "stuff" we wanted to meet up with a fellow that we met at Quail Run two years ago.
We were to meet Bob at noon but had to call him because we were held up on the road.
We had heard from others that a man had had a heart attack and that the paramedics were working on him. It didn't take too long and the helicopter showed up to transport to him a hospital.
It took them about 15 minutes to get him settled in the helicopter and to take off.
We were finally on our way again and spent about an hour catching up with Bob Timpko, a fellow workamper. He and his grandson, Jake, are exploring the 49th state and having a ball! Jake has made quite the fisherman out of his Grandpop too. I asked Jake if his Grandpop is a good cook. He smiled and shook his no and said, "He just nukes stuff. Did I think to take my camera in with me? No, in fact it wasn't until we were a block away that I realized I didn't take a picture. Darn. Regardless, it was great seeing Bob again.
Not far from where the RV park they are staying in is the first attraction we wanted to see.
Built in 1894-95, the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary, part of the Russian Orthodox Church was our first stop.
This church is a National Registered Historical Landmark.
We went inside and were greeted by Archpriest Makary Targonsky. He explained all about his church to us.
The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. She is Orthodox, but not Jewish. She is catholic, but not Roman. She isn't non-denominational, she is pre-demoninational. She has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago.
When we first stepped inside we entered into a small gift shop.
Lots of the things were handmade by the women of the church, there were also cookbooks with recipes from the community and many that have been handed down from Russian generation to generation. Since these were made for fundraising they were a little on the pricey side so we passed on these things, not that we saw anything we just had to have to begin with.
We then entered into the church itself.
We were told this is still an active church with Vespers held on Saturday evening and Mass on Sunday morning. A couple of dozen attend on average every Sunday. There are families of Russian descent still living in the Kenai Peninsula and the rest of Alaska. Those Russians who were not married to the local Native Alaskan families had an option of returning to Russia when the USA bought Alaska in 1867.
We couldn't help but notice that there were no pews. There was seating around the edge of the room and it was explained that the very elderly or sick were permitted to sit during services. Otherwise, one stood. Why(?) you ask. I wondered the same thing. The reason for standing is because standing while at prayer is an ancient and God-ordained tradition. In the Old Testament times, the congregation of Israel stood in the Temple, the Saints stand in Heaven before the Throne of God and even Jesus Christ Himself said, "When ye stand praying.." (Mark 11:25) Therefore Christians, according to apostolic teaching, stand through the Divine Services, where it is often proclaimed: "Let us stand aright" or "Let us attend." I'm tellin' ya, you just never know what you are going to learn reading this blog.
Our next stop was to see the Saint Nicholas Memorial Chapel. There wasn't anyone there so we didn't get to go inside.
On the same grounds is the little cabin that was built back in the 1700's. One of the three remaining structures built during that time. I'm afraid it has seen better days.
We wanted to see the other Russian buildings that are still standing but found out that they are in the process of being moved and were blocked off by yellow tape. Perhaps they are being moved to one area to make a "village" for the tourists to see everything in one place rather than having to walk all over town.
At this point we were pretty much done with Kenai. On the way out we stopped at the Visitor's Center to make sure there wasn't anything we were missing.
Satisfied that we weren't missing anything of interest to us we moved on. Dianne did buy some goodies for the grandchildren.
We moved on Sodoltna. Again, we stopped at the Visitor's Center. They have a really nice fishing pier here and several photo op's.
Inside we found record fish that had been caught in the Kenai River. I'm sure these are every fisherman's dream catch.
We headed down to the fishing pier.
While there were several fishing, none were catching. The scenery was nice all the same.
We talked to this one fellow who was wetting his hook, and not much else, about living here in Alaska. He actually lives in Homer and is presently unemployed. He says he picks up jobs wherever he can get one and that the slack in tourism is really hurting. He said tourist visits were down 40% last year, 50% this year and they expect the numbers to reach 60% next year. He says he usually gets to work on a fishing boat but because the restaurants aren't nearly as busy as usual there is less need for extra help on the boats because the demand for fish is less. His wife is a nurse so they get by just fine but he would like to work all the same. Its a good thing Bob and I are to help keep the Alaska economy going!
Dianne and Bob pose for me on the deck steps.
It was time to head back to Ninilchik. We were cooking on the grill tonight and we were all looking forward to it.
Dinner was as good as we expected and the evening consisted of TV and DVD's.
We're on the move tomorrow.
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