Harry Potter and the Vegetable Patch: oO~~GLACIER~~Oo

A couple of days ago, one Ionian offered to take us out to dinner to a "cute cafe" in Soldotna. We thought there would be muffins. Actually, Suzie's Cafe sells homestyle provisions like "Chicken Fried Chicken." What the hell is chicken fried chicken? We went with the fish and chips.

We returned to Soldotna on Saturday to assist Eliza and Gregory with the Farmer's Market. The turnips they grow here are DELICIOUS- the kids walk around eating them like apples. But turnips have a bad rep, so we put out tiny samples and those babies sold themselves. Later, we walked around the area with the DC WWOOFers, amused by the Ferret Waste Deodorizer in the thrift shop and positively enchanted by the delicious sandwiches at the Fine Thyme Cafe. Whoever thought of adding honey mustard to a grilled cheese? We also bought a hilarious spoof magazine- SLC readers, keep your eyes toward the mail.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all the WWOOFers moved to our own cabin; moving from the communal space is interesting- now that we are in tune with the rhythms of the community, it's nice to be a little bit more on our own time. Also, it's like a sleepover every night. The Ionians decided to move as well: we now cook in a GIANT tipi instead of the longhouse kitchen, and many of them have begun sleeping in the tipis as well.

GLACIER.

Early Sunday morning, we set out on our trip to Seward Park to climb the Harding Ice Field trail next to Exit Glacier. It made Rose miss her geology professor, Jack Ridge. Great name, eh? The climb was pretty strenuous- every mile was another 1,000 ft elevation- but it was more beautiful than the photos can portray. The fog kept rolling in and out, periodically revealing the glorious vista of the glacier and Chugach mountains. We saw giant mountain goats and whistling marmots, and the difference between the top and bottom of the hike was a huge contrast- at the bottom, rainforest-like vegetation, and at the top, snow caps and glacial rivers. Now Rose's legs are sore (she played soccer in addition to the hike) and Melanie's feet are covered in blisters, but it was worth it.