Bon Appetit!

So, dear readers, I'm sure you've all been dying to know one important, often unreported, thing about our trip: what on earth have we been eating? I know you're curious--I always am--so I've decided to blog about that delicious aspect of our trip: FOOD.

In some ways, the dining on this road trip has been caveman-like: we never really know what we're going to get. One day we'll eat the finest steaks Alberta has to offer (in Calgary), while another day held only peanut butter: peanut butter granola bar for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich (no jelly) for lunch, Reese's peanut butter cup for snack (the most un-delicious Reese's peanut butter cup I've ever eaten). One day in Fort St. John, B.C., lunch was dry tuna directly from the can. Dinner is a little bit better, but even that has gotten repetitive at times. We've had Ramen noodles three nights (with a green vegetable) and chili mac twice. But I have no complaints about that one--I'm pretty sure I could eat chili mac once a week for the rest of my life and be happy about it.

What is really notable about our diets on this trip, however, is their magnitude. Readers who know only one of us should be aware: we ALL eat like that. For instance, if you think that I eat a lot, you should see Sophia. One night at a BBQ restaurant in Whitehorse, YT, Ms. Tkac ordered a full rack of ribs. When the ribs arrived in all their glory, a man at a nearby table leaned over and said, "wow, that's a lot of food. I guess you'll be taking home leftovers!" We all stared in disbelief at this ignorant man. Sophia replied, "no, I think I'll be eating it all right now" and he chuckled, disbelieving. I'll have you know that Sophia ate every single one of those ribs, right to the bone. On his way out, he told her that he was impressed. That's Sophia, debunking the myth of the petite female appetite everywhere she goes.

Because we all have appetites essentially like Sophia's, we were starting to get frustrated with our road diet of Ramen and peanut butter. Finally reaching Homer was like the holy grail of deliciousness: we've eaten out a luxurious number of times (partially because many of Sophia's fond memories of the town are related to the local cuisine). The first night, we partook in salmon burgers and burritos at Cosmic Kitchen, followed by dessert at Sourdough Express (Dessert was a brownie sundae and a strawberry rhubarb crisp à la mode. When the waitress returned to fetch our clean plates, she remarked that we finished in "record time." Not very shocking). Sunday we had brunch (BRUNCH!) at The Duncan House. Sophia and I split sweet and savory: an amazing omelette and French toast stuffed with cream cheese and berries. That night, we had gourmet pizza at Fat Olives: broccoli, spinach, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, onions, and ricotta cheese. The next day--that of our halibut fishing adventure--we came home and cooked up 2 huge fillets with corn on the cob and zucchini. Yesterday we really indulged, enjoying sandwiches and decadent sticky buns at Two Sisters Café, followed (not too long after) by an amazing dinner at Café Cups.

I should say now: Cups was a gift from Mama and Papa Tkac (for Sophia's birthday), and we all want to say THANK YOU!!! It was incredibly delicious and we are so grateful. You could not have provided food to happier bellies.

So, the quality of cuisine has picked up over the last week, but now we're bracing ourselves for more PB and Ramen--and 64 lbs of Halibut. Tonight is our last night in Homer, so we plan to indulge one final time, before packing everything into the Blue Avenger and hoping that the grizzly bears don't follow the scent of fish all the way back to Denver.