Relyea'sAdventures: 7-27-2013 Headed to Soldotna

Kenai Lake

The band of gypsies packed up their tents and continued farther down the Kenai Peninsula, a short drive of 60 miles to Soldotna. After arriving at the RV sites and getting set up we headed out to see what the city had to offer.

Wow!! Did we happen in on a fun day in Soldotna!! This weekend celebrates “Progress Days” in Soldotna.

Our first stop was at a local car show. There were many vintage cars that brought back fond memories of past decades. One of the highlights for us was a 41 Ford pickup. We bought one just like it in 1973 shortly after we got hitched. At that time Sharon was still going to college at TWU in Dallas and it became her daily driver. Also during that time we were raising chickens for the eggs. She would deliver eggs in the trusted old truck to our friends. We still have that truck today and enjoy remembering many great times we had driving it around. We have many old cars in our warehouse back in Dallas. My Dad got me started collecting them. They are like pieces of art. Unlike much of the normal art that is collected by individuals, you only get to see it if you are invited to their homes. We like to share our art collection with everybody, so when you drive the classics around town everyone gets to enjoy. It’s a mobile art collection. When folks see those vintage cars it takes them back in time to some of the most memorable events of their lives.

Some of ours even look like this

We then went on to the Progress Day Festival at the local ball park. I’m not sure what the population of Soldotna is but I can tell you everybody was at the Festival. The weather was perfect and everyone was enjoying being out in it. By the way this is one of the very best summers that the locals can remember in many years. One lady told us, last year here in Soldotna, they only had 6 days that were not raining or overcast!! It appears that 2013 will go down in the history books and we were here to experience it.

After wandering around to all of the displays of handicrafts and exhibits we had to have one of the Reindeer sausages that were being grilled on the barby. They were still sizzling when they placed them on the bun and smothered them in grilled onions. You don’t know what you’re missing until you have bitten into one of the tasty links. Hungry Yet?

During the Festival they have the Sawfest. This is where the local chainsaw artists compete and show the handy work.

During the day they had a 1-hour saw off. The subject they had to carve was a bear. Each of them start with a 4-foot log, crank up their Husqvarnas and go to work. There was saw dust flying everywhere and the noise was deafening.

It is quite a site to see. Each of the artists has his or her vision (there is a women carver in the completion, which is very rare), and to watch it come to life is amazing. They are also carving Totem Poles throughout the 2-day event. The winner will be voted on to see who wins the completion.