Tags
2011, brunch, Homedale, Idaho, last day of the year, Orchard House, Oregon, road trip, rural west, Succor Creek
Craving a fresh perspective on breakfast, Don and I embarked on a mini road trip on the last day of 2011. The sky was brilliant blue. The sun danced with myriad ice crystals—leftovers from the previous day’s torrential rain and hail storm that had scoured the valley air. We headed west toward Caldwell to dine at the Orchard House where we’d enjoyed a lovely brunch during our Sideways by Bike tour in 2009.
Wise ones that we are, we checked the website to verify the restaurant’s Saturday hours. Our stomachs were rumbling as we pulled into a miraculously empty parking lot. Yup. Closed for the holiday season. Thirty four miles from home and deep into rural Idaho, notable breakfast spots are as sparse as hair on Bruce Willis’s head. In Homedale, a bucolic farming community, it looked like the only game in town would be the quick mart gas station, not quite the way we had envisioned closing out the year.
“Where the heck do the farmers eat?” Don pondered.
Good question. Every little town has its gathering spots: the Post Office, the feed store, and the diner. My smart phone listed Owyhee Lanes as a restaurant. Hmm. A bright little neon sign chirped “open” in the window and pickups parked nearby looked promising.
We’d stepped right into the middle of Homedale’s Saturday morning focal point. We threaded our way through tightly packed tables to the one vacancy in the far corner. An alert waitress followed with menus, glasses of water, and coffee at the ready.
“Chicken Fried Steak is our Saturday special,” she informed us cheerfully.
The cafe was clean and inviting. Blue oilcloth covered the tables and home town kitch hung from the walls. Glancing around, it was easy to see that everyone knew everyone else—and their business. There is no room for pretense here. People come as they are, often having just finished morning chores. Employees and patrons address each other by first name. Our clean Ford Escape and tidy city clothes marked us as foreigners. The single fellow holding court at the four-seat table beside us proclaimed that we had come to the best place in the state for breakfast. He eagerly jumped up to guide Don to the rest room—assuming, I suppose, that a foreigner might be incapable of navigating. You gotta love home town pride.
The menu is larger than the restaurant. Daily breakfast specials range from Triple Porky Platter (1 pork chop, 2 slices bacon, 2 sausage links, plus 2 eggs, toast and hash browns for $7.99) to Biscuits and Gravy for $4.99. My side of ham was a third of an inch thick. The biscuits are hefty enough to double for baseballs in a pinch.
The daily dinner specials include Ginger Lime Pork Chop, on one day, Salisbury Steak and Shrimp on another day and Mandarin Shrimp on yet another day. And those are just the “daily specials.” Standard beef, chicken, and pasta dinner items wrestle for space on the menu along with Prime Rib on Friday and Saturday nights.
Lunch options are typical diner fare plus a list of sandwiches longer than my arm. The pie case, clearly visible behind the cash register was impossible to ignore. At the Owyhee Lanes Restaurant, your food won’t arrive stacked into a skyscraper atop a fancy-shaped plate, but the food is the real deal: no fillers, no shortcuts, and no prepackaged sauces or soups. The audible chortle from our neighbor as I positioned my camera over my plate attested that these folks don’t consider food a work of art. Meals are hearty, plentiful, and designed to fuel working bodies. . We spent under twenty dollars and waddled out with bellies sagging.
We digested on the scenic route home. Driving west of Homedale, state highway 201 dips across the Oregon border. We turned south onto the dirt Succor Creek Road and meandered through private ranch and BLM land, stopping frequently to gaze at intriguing rock formations, and coming out ten miles east of Leslie Gulch before heading back to pavement on U.S 95 which returned us to civilization. The 35 miles of dirt road is loaded with potential desert hikes. Rather than bore you with more jabber, I’ll post the photos I took before my battery died.
How did you spend the last day of 2011? And was it a good year for you?
Farm cooking for no-longer farmers, eh? I had a great aunt in Iowa who used to cook for the men on the farm back in the day and then never lost the habit. Whenever we’d visit she’d serve a platter each of ham, bacon and sausage, eggs, pancakes, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, and cinnamon rolls, with a pitcher of orange juice to wash it all down. Of course farmers who get up at 3:00 in the morning and work hard ’til dark need calories like that, but here we were, five little kids scared and confused since we’d been taught to clean our plates and she’d loaded ’em down so high and heavy, they weighed more than our heads.
BTW, did it look like there was any snow in Leslie Gulch? I’d love to get over there one more time before winter. 🙂
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That’s a hilarious picture you paint of you kids at your aunt’s table!
No snow ANYWHERE. The road along succor creek was a bit muddy in one area, but no more than about 1 city block’s worth.
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Hometown wonderful! Bet you were glad the place you aimed for was closed.
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Actually the Orchard House, where we thought we were going, is also a treat…but a very different kind of treat. 🙂
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Now this is another place I want to try. It looks quaint, warm and homey. My mouth is watering at the sight of the pie station. Did I ever tell you I have a penchant for sweets and pastries? They’re my kryptonite.
Hilarious how you used Bruce Willis’s head as a metaphor for sparseness. That got me chuckling.
P.S. Your header photo is attention-grabbing. Magnifique!
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Tee hee! Glad the metaphor landed. Hey, sweets are my downfall too, you noticed that French toast slathered with maple syrup?
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Yes I saw the toast drenched with maple syrup. 😉 I do the same with my pancakes (the ones we make at home). It’s more of maple syrup or honey with pancakes; not pancakes with maple syrup or honey.
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I haven’t figured out how everyone reaches posts so quickly, gets around to so many blogs and still have time to do lots of posts! I suspect I’ve got too many other things happening on my computer. I was flabbergasted to see I was behind by three of your posts.
Anyway, this was a delightful read, RW. I enjoy how you portray the people and their “down home” habits.
My Gosh! Do people really eat all of that food for brekkies? Phew!
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Yes, Amy, you’ve heard of America’s weight problem? It starts early. Everyone in the place was…ahem…large, except for one old relic who sat in a corner gumming his food. I wanted to take candid people shots, but I just wasn’t able to accomplish that.
Hey…I got on a little roll there yesterday. I read/write in fits and spurts, depending on what’s rolling around in my head and what else is going on. I’m not at all capable of sticking to a set posting schedule like some people do.
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Reading your story and seeing the pictures ignites the wanderlust in me once more. I do miss roaming new places and finding out what I like about them and what not so much. Food has always been a great way to connect to local lifestyle for me, and actually meet new people. Especially when travelling alone which I did quite extensively back in the days.
My last day of 2011 was unfortunately somewhat dreary, what with hubby ill in bed and the little one having one of his (rare, I have to admit) bad days. On top of that, my brother and sister-in-law had separated the day before after 19 years of marriage which was particularly tough on my mother-in-law who lives with us. So all in all a rather dreary end to an otherwise mediocre year.
I take consolation in the few great things that happened in 2011, like the trip with my Mom and Dad to South Africa (even if hubby was – déjà vu – ill in bed for the best part of the 2 weeks), my graduation ceremony at Essex University, or me starting my blog. Not to mention the countless times that my little monster made me smile or even laugh out loud. He is a treasure I would not want to miss in my life!
Sorry, this ended up being longer than your post but I guess I just needed an outlet. Thanks for your magical tales, Linda, and a wonderful 2012 with loads of adventures for you and Don.
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Oh, we share that. I do love to travel alone. I find that I connect with people in a different way. People seem to be more open to a single person than to a pair. And food seems to be the heart of culture, so I love to try new cuisines…as long as they don’t come from a chain.
2011 was not kind to you, right up to the end. Geez. I hope the even numbered year will be a lot nicer to you and yours. I can’t even imagine dealing with a sick man (most are such babies) along with a grumpy kid. That requires a fortitude I don’t have. And, don’t worry about a long comment. I’ve been known to do that also. One of the things that has amazed me so about this whole blogging revolution is the way in which absolute strangers from various places around this big sphere get to know one another in almost intimate ways. There is something about the written word that cuts through the clutter and caution of every day life. I find it quite magical. That said, I wonder what sort of thrashing I may get for that male bashing statement above. We’ll see who’s reading comments….or not!
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Well, I surely am, and since I can read between the lines I can also see the tongue-in-cheek tone of said male ‘bashing’. Thankfully, mine (my male I mean) will still try and spend some time with the little one but most of the time he is just asleep when he’s ill. Which is good I suppose…
Thanks for cheering me up, and as I said earlier, I completely share your sentiments about the connectedness emerging from being fellow bloggers. Which is the main reason why I consider starting a blog one of the highlights of my 2011. Made me meet people like you, if for now only virtually. I am convinced 2012 will get better!
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The horse and the tree took my breath away…..Leslie Gulch is a must see in the spring……a trip worth exploring………the food yes.
This type of reporting is your forte and the camera shots too. thanks kd
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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, KD. I’ve been to Leslie Gulch and love it. We are so lucky to live in an area with so many different ecosystems.
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My last day of 2011 was quiet and peaceful, spent with my wonderful sister and our dear pets. Pretty darn perfect actually. I love to stop off in small towns and explore and the dining is so often a delectable experience. Your trip sounded delightful and I can at least live vicariously through you!
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I have a lot/hate relationship with small towns. On the one hand, as I grow older, there’s a certain nostalgia aspect to these timeless old places. But on the other hand, I always think of how awful it would be to actually live in one or worse yet, to grow up in one. I crave anonymity, which is impossible in a place like this.
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The horse in the slideshow! He’s magnificent. And that tree in the middle of dry grasses? It’s beautiful.
Don and you did one of the few wonderful things left to do these days, Linda — indulge in rural wanderings.
P.S. I’d love to go with you. Not just for the sights, but also for the food. Yum is the word!
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Yes, Priya, you are a horse lover. I had to put him in. We also went through a small cattle drive and it would have made an interesting shot to have those beef cows streaming past us in the opposite direction. But my battery was dead by then. (The road trip was sort of spontaneous)
I’d love to show you around Idaho. I think you’d be a marvelous traveling companion. Who knows…the world keeps shrinking. Maybe someday I will see you face to face…and all the rest of you too. 😉 It would be a kick to take you to one of the Indian food restaurants in Boise to see what you’d think of the food. The first one in town was established by an Indian couple who had come here to work at Hewlett Packard. There’s a small enclave of tech workers from India living in the valley. I am so glad to have them here, supporting their native cuisine. Talk about yum…!
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If you ever get to HoodRiver,OR on the way to Portland. You will need to stop at Besty’s on Main St. The scratch made cinnamon rolls are to die for. My favorite the crab benedict is just above the German pancakes. Caldwell can be a fun little town.
Here is a tip for the next time you are over in Eastern WY. The Miners & Stockmens Bar & Grills in Hartville services as good a steak as there is west of the Mississippi. You won’t spend much time look en at the menue as there are only three ideas. Comes with garlic mashed, veggy of the day and salad. No kids, no smoking and open 4:30 p.m to close Thur, FRi, Sat-Sun. Best call ahead 307-836-2008
or http://www.WyomingsOldestBar.com
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Why you’re just a fountain of wonderful suggestions. All these links and ideas will be stored on my Droid for easy and random referral. Thanks!
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