Running away

We ran away for the weekend!  We got a very nice room in a fairly new hotel for $89 a night - quite a difference from $200 for the same room a month ago.  During the peak of tourist season we couldn't find a smelly room in a dirty hotel for less than $140 a night so we're enjoying a nice room for a decent price.  We've spent most of the weekend being big lazy bums!  We did some back roading, viewing some amazing scenery and finding a couple lakes along the way and, of course, picked up a few necessary items at the local stores while we had the chance.  Every time we leave the village I think we won't have a bunch of stuff to bring back with us, but we always seem to return with right at our limit of 100 pounds.  This weekend was no different, but we'll be set for some serious camping now and will hopefully have a much more comfortable night's sleep with our new memory foam mattress pad.



Jackie, the owner of Crabbie's next to
Pirate Pete

We're still exploring our new surroundings to find all the good places to go and have found a couple new favorite places to eat while out of the village along the way.  Soldotna has a nice little Mexican place, but we're guessing the super yummy white cheese sauce is a southern thing because they had no idea what we were talking about when we requested it.  Kenai has an ice cream place similar to Marble Slab that is fast becoming a favorite for this ice cream junkie.  Homer is home (is that a pun?) to a new favorite special occasions restaurant.  Being mud-puddle ducklings we like our good food to come with a casual atmosphere so we are very happy with Crabbie's.  It's a neat little seafood restaurant, with great decorations, music, and a fantastic little light show.  The owner has been our server both times we've eaten there and is very friendly, down-to-earth, and has a great sense of humor.  I'm not sure eating there would be nearly as much fun without her.  All of the food is amazing, but a single dish may be responsible for my devotion - the Death by Chocolate dessert is to die for! (sorry, I couldn't resist)  It has a brownie base, with a chocolate mousse type layer, followed by chocolate cake.  It is then covered with chocolate icing, fudge, chocolate chips, and chocolate and carmel syrup - mmmm yum!  I'm wondering if they will let me work for food . . .