#305 Nomad Diary. 22-28 August 2026. Week #16 Summer in Alaska. Stay in Sterling, Alaska at Church Friends Airbnb. My Thoughts on Alaska.

 

View in Alaska Kenai Peninsula

Delicious Lunch at Lucy's Market in Soldatna

Walking Trail in Kenai Peninsula

Kiara and Caleb Sharing Brian and Jackie Holland's Large House with Us. We Arrived and then They Arrived from Their Week and a Half in the Lower 48. Preacher at Funny River Church of Christ.

Saturday. 22. Check-out from our Homer airbnb by 10am. 2 hour drive to Soldotna. Spend some time in Soldotna going for a walk at the Nature Center, get some groceries, have lunch, go to the Visitor Center, then go to our airbnb owned by friends from church. We arrived at our very nice Airbnb house in Sterling, near Soldotna. Our friends, the Hollands, built this large split-level house in the 1990s and raised their children here. They are grandparents now. When they built, Brian’s parents also built a large house across their shared small plane airstrip. There was more land they had in this location that was parceled to family members who also built homes. A few years ago, Brian and Jackie moved across the landing strip, and in with his parents to help care for them. They set their own house up as a vacation rental. For now, this is still the arrangement. For the last year, they have had a young preacher and his wife renting the place during the winter helping them to live here and work with the church. In the summer, the couple, Caleb and Kiara, move into an RV while the summer vacation rental season happens. We were invited to share this rental house with Caleb and Kiara for our final week-plus here, and they have just moved back into the house from the RV. We all had a big dinner at the house across the runway tonight. There’s Mom, Pat and her brother Tom who are the seniors members of the family. Then there are Pat’s two ‘kids’ who grew up here in the 1970s, and their spouses. They are Brian and wife Jackie and Brian’s sister, Barb and husband Jeff. Also a friend Judy came with some delicious lemon cake and a zucchini casserole to add to the huge spread put on here. We had beef ribs, salad, fruit salad, pinto beans by Jeff, chocolate cake and more. We ate very well

Sunday. 23. Darrell preached this morning. Caleb conducted a Bible class on Leviticus. We worshiped and enjoyed our time together. Several of us went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The afternoon weather was mild, in the 60s. Darrell and I took a mile walk around the neighborhood street loop. 

Our Sunset (Yes, we have sunsets now!) View From Our Stay in Sterling, Alaska. View Across the Runway to Pat's House, Brian and Barb's Mom. 

On Call with Grands Esther (3) and Owen (4) in Alabama.

Looking Down the Runway at the Hollands in Sterling, Alaska. Mom, Pat's House to the Right.

Brian and Jackie's House with Their Runway to the Left. Rented Through Airbnb During the Summer. Sterling, Alaska Near Soldatna. 

Some Gathered in Mom, Pat's House in Sterling, Alaska. Pat is Farthest to the Left, Working Around the Island with Jackie and Barb. Darrell is Standing behind Uncle Tom, Pat's Older Brother age 91.

Monday. 24. I went across the landing strip and down the driveway and across a street to Barb’s house to get a haircut. She has a salon inside her house and has been cutting, styling and everything else for hair for decades. I got a nice style and cut while we were able to visit and learn more about each other. Kiara cooked dinner today and that was really nice and delicious. They told us about their honeymoon trip to Croatia. While they were there, they drove into Bosnia and missed getting their passports stamped and then got stopped by police and detained and fined. The story didn’t end there and it had elements that were scary and uncertain with also trust being built and friends made too. They ended up getting a personal tour into some beautiful mountains in Bosnia, and they have an unforgettable honeymoon story too!

Tuesday. 25. Darrell made pancakes today. We are sharing with Caleb and Kiara as long as they want some! Lol. Today we made a variation by shredding zucchini and apple instead of apple only. They are very good and we are looking forward to having pancakes again tomorrow. 

9am, I called my sister Linda and enjoyed a visit with her. 10am we had our online Bible class with our English church friends. Our friend, William in Fairbanks, logged on and that was nice to enjoy hearing his voice again! Jeremy (a South African immigrant to England) taught Genesis 37-38 today with a thoughtful presentation. I do enjoy his perspectives and attention to the story details. I’m trying to get some computer work done because I could really avoid it! But I’d like to accomplish moving forward with my diary and also with labeling my digitized photos. Labeling all of our digitized pictures is a large ongoing ‘house-keeping’ chore. I will get it accomplished an hour at a time. We are invited to ‘Mom’s’ House for dinner again. This is definitely a cushy and over-the-top airbnb stay! Amazing hospitality.

Highway from Kenai to Anchorage

Scenery Between Kenai and Anchorage

Beautiful Drive to Anchorage from Kenai

Almost to Turn off for Whittier Driving North.

Darrell Putting Bikes Together for the Blue Ice Trail at the Turn off to Whittier

Getting Bikes Ready for Blue Ice Trail

On the Blue Ice Trail at Turn off to Whittier

Taking a Break on the Blue Ice Trail

More Glaciers at the Turn-around on the Blue Ice Trail. There's a Park Visitor Center with Limited Hours so it is Closed Today.

Darrell Getting My in Action on the Blue Ice Trail

Checking On Me to See If I am Keeping Up. No, Taking Your Picture! lol.

Wednesday. 26. Took our hosts bikes to ride a trail that Caleb told us all about being mostly flat and spectacular called the Blue Ice trail. It’s almost a two hour drive to get to it, but we decided to do it. The skies are clear and blue and about 60 degrees. After getting through a rough start with my bike and a brake issue, I could keep up with Darrell. We took a picture at our first stop in the woods beside a lake with a big glacier above it. We continued our ride for 5 or more mile to the visitor center that was closed. The Center is next to a larger lake with mountains all around and several glaciers showing their signature blue ice. We got a few pictures and enjoyed the awesome view. Biked back the same way we came to our car. Darrell drove the long and beautiful drive back to Sterling. Kiara had made dinner that we sat right down to. She made a grilled chicken salad with her gourmet touches of mandarin, walnut, feta and homemade raspberry dressing. We all finished and headed to the church building for a monthly singing. We were happy to see the family with the three young boys because we thought that they had already moved. They are moving next week. Those boys enthusiasm was catchy and made me smile! Our group enjoyed singing for an hour or more and then visiting more afterwards. Brian read Psalm 139 with so many details about how God knows each person in detail. It was written in ancient times by King David of Israel. 

Unloading Groceries in Our Stay in Sterling, Alaska.

Thursday. 27. Morning exercise routine, pancakes with all our fixings. Through the morning I decided I’d like to make tacos and share a meal with our friends and hosts across the runway at the ‘Big House’. I group texted Jackie, Barb and Kiara. They all agreed even though Barb was in Anchorage and couldn’t get back in time. Darrell and I went to the Soldatna museum and then to the grocery and back to prepare dinner. I knew that we could still have a great time even if it was just with Jackie and her mother-in-law and uncle Tom. We also had Barb’s husband, Jeff and Caleb and Kiara. Kiara brought a rice casserole and guacamole. I made our favorite black beans in an instapot and Darrell cooked the taco meat. We loaded it all into the car, drove across the runway and unloaded it for dinner. Jackie had made chocolate cookies for dessert. We all had a feast and Jackie measured out meals for Brian who was still out working and for David, a man at church who she takes meals to regularly.

Pat Holland and Daughter Barb

Beautiful Sunset in Sterling, Alaska

Call with Quinn (5) and Chomp in Moscow.

Friday. 28. Today the morning and into the afternoon was cloudy. By 4pm the sky is clear blue and all day it has been windy. Darrell made a fresh batch of pancakes today for breakfast. Kiara had breakfast with us. I spent some of my morning doing laundry and writing a thank-you card to many of the church members here who have been so kind to us and sharing during our stay. Kiara and I decided that dinner will be left overs and she’ll cook salmon tomorrow. We did make some smoked salmon spread for lunch from the salmon that Brian gave to us. We took a mile walk around the neighborhood and I could do it again. I got through some of our stuff that I need to clean up and leave with Kiara or donate. 

Nomad Notes.

The Holland family moved to Alaska from Texas with small children. I think it was the late 1960’s. In the 1970’s they moved from Anchorage to Sterling. Barb, born in the 1960’s, told me that she started high school in Soldatna or Kenai and it was so nice and different from the school in Anchorage. The family thrived through working hard, and running multiple businesses including the small runway to accommodate their planes and others. In the 1990s they built these nice houses across from each other. Brian had been in the Army and was back with his wife, who had also been in the Army and they raised their kids here. All of the family members still live in Alaska. Barb and her husband, Jeff, built a nice house across the road from her Mom and Dad’s house. Jeff worked on the North Slope. Barb was home raising their kids and some years with grandkids too while she kept a thriving hair salon going at her house. As their parents and Uncle Tom have aged, these two couples have become the main caretakers. Brian and Jackie turned their house into a summertime airbnb for fishing season and moved in with the older generation. Barb and Jeff are super active in the care and social time with the family. Pat, the mom, is super active. She doesn’t sit still much from what I observed. She has a large garden, and still cooks a dish here and there to supplement what Barb and Jackie are planning. She also continues to clean her kitchen as she’s done for decades. While I was getting a haircut from Barb, Pat walked in to visit and did a little straightening up in the house for her daughter. Darrell and I spent a couple hours helping a friend from church clean up some property she had sold. We were hauling trashed items from a storage unit, mainly, to a flatbed trailer for Brian to haul to the dump. Pat and Barb were there for double the hours we spent and more than two days of that too! 

My thoughts about Alaska for the summer of 2026.

What Alaska is like?

A huge campground. Many RVers. Many people have RVs as their spare room, rental and vacation vehicle at their house. There are a lot of dry cabins which means you have to haul in water. It’s a thing here!

Lots of summer tour buses. When I say ‘lots’, it’s still not a lot! Lol. The traffic is here in it’s own way, but it isn’t like a city in the lower 48 with that kind of traffic. 

People here love winter and look forward to the activity and pace of that season here. Dog sledding is the state sport. They also have ice skating, cross country skiing, skijording, four wheeler fun and more.

The dress is casual and ready for hiking and fishing. 

Incredible scenery is everywhere. There are a few roads and every road is going between mountains or passes. There are some roads between towns that are straight Alaska woodsy lined and flat. That is temporary and you will soon see mountains and rivers and lakes again. The summer blooms fast and big. The rain comes and goes changing the scenery as you travel. Clouds cover mountains 100 percent on some days, and then there will be a clear blue sky with the mountains right there! The snow on the mountains varies between the melting in May to the greens in summer to the snow dusting at the end of August again. 

There are mosquitos to think about. Sometimes and some places they are more active and more annoying. 

There are wild animals to think about and learn how to respond when or if you have that situation. 

Extreme activity with loads of activity for sustaining life through the winter: gathering fish when they arrive; Collecting and growing foods and berries in the short summer with super-long days; working multiple jobs to show up for each other's needs and to keep their tourist industry served too.

A variety of services in larger towns of Anchorage and Fairbanks with single highways connecting and bringing smaller town people in for supplies and stocking up.

Sharing, bartering and watching out for your neighbors is how Alaskans relate. They include visitors in their watchful care too.

Vast areas of wilderness with pockets of small towns and limited services. You find the lunch spot, the gas station, the grocery, etc.

Seasonal closure. We arrived in May when many tourist things were being repaired for the summer. We are leaving Sept 2nd and the open hours are being adjusted to the fewer tourists still here. 

Weekday closure. One of my favorite bakeries is in Girdwood and only opens on weekends. Sometimes they work on Fridays, but this last drive through, they were down to Saturday and Sunday only.

Great immigrant food! Thai, Russian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Mexican, Italian, etc!!

Alaska has a lot of drive through coffee shops. One Alaskan told me that they have to have their warm coffee. 

We enjoyed tasting local flavors of Birch Syrup, Fireweed and Honey mixed into ice cream and other sweets, elk or reindeer sausage.

A place that leaves me feeling gratitude in response to the unpretentious and big-hearted sharing people in Alaska!