July 20, Side trip to Anchor Point and Ninilchik

More rain and clouds this morning. The weather forecast said this was suppose to be the best day of the week.  We hopped in Liz's car and headed towards Anchor Point, hoping that the weather would be a little kinder farther up the road.

The sign needs  a little work but says:  Anchor Point, AK, North America's Most Westerly Highway Point.

Anchor Point is a big launching area for small fishing boats.  What makes it unique is that the boats are launched into the water via tractors.  We just happened to be there during one of the boat launchings.

The tractor tows the boat to the water and then the boat floats off the trailer and away they go.  The tractor tows the trailer back up to the beach.  The beach was full of boat trailers, as far as one could see down the beach. There is a charge of $58 for the service, but this methods enables the boats  not have to depend on the tides.

Our next stop was to the small Russian village of Ninilchilk.  The main attraction here was an old Russian Orthodox church located a s short walking distance from the village. Twenty families support the church.  Although he interior is really beautiful, I didn't take any pictures.  It is very small and private inside.

The cemetery is lush with wild flowers.  What better place to be at rest then in a field of wild flowers on top of a hill overlooking the ocean.

The village of Ninilchick

On the way back to the village I saw this old building.  Note the two sea gulls on the roof. Yes, they are real.

Nothing like a few flowers to brighten up the day.

We stopped and had lunch at the Boardwalk Cafe, a quaint little place with beautiful views of the "ring of fire", which we couldn't see due to the clouds.