The workhorse of the Ontario Airbase

This baby has seen more action than a water well pump handle in Ethiopia.

They take their grillin seriously.

Donations for its replacement gladly accepted.

Whose your daddy?

When in doubt go back to the basics: Boise, Idaho

Its late, i'm pooped and need to find a motel in a town with a County fair that starts tomorrow. The first 2 places say no vacancy, and now i'm getting a bit cranky. What chance do i have to score a room in a town where rooms this weekend are at a cowboy premium and then have the nerve to ask for "government rate".
I'm convinced i'm sleeping in the pickup or push on to Ontario, yawn....
I need food, probably more than i need a room. When the pressure is on, rule #2, resort back to the basics.
Meat & potato's.
Ah, the sign says Big Boy Burger. Boise standby comfort food. Sit outside and watch the traffic.

Mushroom Swiss w/ tomato

I just can't help myself, Twin Falls, Idaho

I'm a sucker for a restaurant that proclaims hey Manski lookie: "Chinese Buffet"

Although I don't know why.

I am frequently disappointed when the buffet turns out to be marginally crappy. Ho-hum soup, greasy steam table, tasteless noodles, chewy overcooked meat........you get the picture. 
But hey, the tea was hot & good. So it wasn't a total waste.
Close though.

This is starting out as a VERY good day! Gooding, Idaho

Chi-town in my living room

Another visit to Manskerilli's tonight with a homemade deep dish Chicago style pizza. The second round was as good or better than the first visit, this time with added baby portabela mushrooms.
Drool on.

Breakfast, Indian Casino style

Breakfast this morning with Chandler, was a tossup. We were looking to join the Desert Riders, but alas they must all be out of town having fun in the wind. We ended up at the Old Camp Casino. We were the only living soles in the place. Could that be a sign?

Never-the-less, Denver omelet for Deb, Spanish omelet for me, biscuit & eggs for Chan. The portions are big and the price is CHEAP! Coffee = .50¢  (200% cheaper than RJ's)

All in all, decent, although not memorable. But you can feed 3 people for less than $15.

Spanish

Denver

Here honey have one more bite!

Late lunch in Jordan Valley

Lunch time rolled around in SE Oregon and I was torn by a decision to eat in Jordan Valley or push on another 20 miles to Rome. Several members of the Vale fire crew suggested Romes burgers, but an insistent Ops Chief told me about a fantastic bacon double cheeseburger at JV cafe & club. Decisions, decisions, urg.

Well an active crowd was eating at the quaint JV cafe & club, (bar on one side, cafe on the other) even at 1415 Mountain time.
My order included hamburger,  home-cut fries, & a coke. Good choice. Hand thrown buger must have been 1/3 pound or better. Juicy. Wish I had a few more pickles.

Next time i'll try the Rome Cafe.

The guard dogs at Shell, Jordan Valley, OR

These 2 each get there own lawn chair. Father & son, they keep the rif-raf at bay.

Cabin Butte Fire Camp, Jordan Valley, OR

 The chow shack at the Cabin Butte fire camp, was catered by the Outpost. When I arrived on Monday dinner was underway and the crowd seemed pleased. I pulled up a folding chair with my plate of grub, 2 steaks, baked potato, green beans, and dinner roll, milk & lemonade. Steak was very good, although already cooled down from its ideal internal temperature. The potato, however, was destined for the garbage from the first bite. I dont know how you get a potato cooked to the point that there is no solid meat inside, but my potato had a sponge like texture inside, like the potato was cooked right out of it.



The next night improvements were on tap. Chicken fajitas, beef taco, rice & beans. Ole~



Breakfast, well, breakfast during my stay included eggs, hash browns and meat, (sausage, bacon), chocolate milk. Now, I have to admit I have never seen bacon this thin. I bet they get 136 slices of bacon from a pound of pig. You can see right thru the bacon, and the grease is plentiful. Even Bobs bacon isnt this greasy.

My handsome young model, Dave, who also doubles as the teams IC, poses with a order on Tuesday, with the added benefits of biscuits & gravy. Oh isnt he cute.

Looks to me like he is pretty proud of that plate. I give him a couple hours to digest that and then we'll see.

Overall rating:
Service: fantastic
Bathrooms: typical pine smell porta-johns
Milk: ice cold
Camp crew: outstanding
Food: I hope the fire ends soon.

Folks, its  fire camp, not the Outpost in John Day which serves a fantastic meal.

Bobs, Yakima, WA

Bobs is just a clone of a Red Robin type joint. Food is adequate, but not remarkable.

Best reason to visit, awesome pink cadillac BBQ grill out front. Now that is cool.

Yakima Speedway, Washington

How low can you go?
Have you ever ate race track food?
Have you ever sat on a hard paint peeling bleacher seat trying not to chuck a "Speedway sausage"? Eleven inches of pork by-products deep fried , grilled, then mated to grilled onions and peppers, jalapenos and pickles. Oh dont forget the 3 slices of American cheese, I passed up.
I packed that bad boy around in my gut for the entire 75 lap final main event. 75 laps around that 1/2 mile track by 16 hopped up cars. Oh the pain. The menu at the track read like a hillbilly bar-mitzvah, soft pretzels, nachos, burgers, dogs, greasy fries, snow cones, mountain dew, slim jims......you get the picture.
Oh my, wheres the tums?

Burrito Boy. Eugene, OR

Well on my way home from Eugene, stopped to fill up the van and low and behold right next door was an infamous Burrito Boy stand.

My order: Carne Asada burrito, guacamole, a bunch of other things made this quite tasty. 2-Thumbs up!

Driving with my knee, it was gone before I hit Springfield. Oh, when I got to Marcola, I discovered 2 goobers on my shirt. Leftovers!

Southern Style Soul Food

Quite the cool scene at dinner tonight. Papa's Soul Food Kitchen, Eugene, Oregon. Highly rated, at least thats what the reviews on the internet say. In a neighborhood of Eugene's hip crowd, a busy bar scene across the street, homeless guys in sleeping bags in the back yard and amplified musac just down the street.



The menu was pretty cool ...... with a southern pictograph flare.

Now my guests Steve, Brett, and Ryan had powered thru about 136 free beers at the hotel, so they were game for something southern without much coaxing. Not much for providing clear directions it was better that they sat back and just talked about which way to go.

Brisket Plate: sides Mac n cheese and collard greens, oh that bbq  smelled good, this plate was left pretty clean

Oyster Basket & fries:

Nawlins style Gumbo & hush puppies: Steves dinner.
This was an awesome looking dish, but it missed the photo op some how. This dish was licked clean, trust me.

Fried Chicken, mac n cheese and coleslaw:

Now the pictures are crap, we sat outside and the lighting sucked, but take my word for it. This is a stop on the food wagon train for sure.

The south shall rise again!

Dickie Jo's, Eugene, Oregon

A huge billboard along the Eugene Hwy claims that Dickie Jo's has the best rated burger in Eugene. Sounds like a challenge. So as we were cruising town this afternoon looking for a lunch hot spot called Burrito Boys, a place the gal at Home Depot claims to eat there 7 days a week, we came across Dickie Jos near downtown Eugene.

Lunch: Basic burger, fries and a pop. This a place you order at the counter. Interestingly, the burger/fries comes with fry sauce, but you have to pump your own ketsup. The burger jockey brings the food to your table sporting along a huge pepper mill. "Pepper on your fries?" "Dam right,  grind away dude!"

Summary: kinda a cross between 5-Guys bugers and DQ. Pretty good. Awesome pepper.

Sweet Basil Thai, Eugene, OR.

I discovered this with my wife on a trip to Eugene last year. Unfortunately, here by myself, I'm eating here in her honor. : >)

Fresh rolls w/ peanut sauce:

Dinner entree, Red curry pork, eggplant, thai basil medium hot. With black & white rice. Oh yah!

BEFORE

AFTER



 Hippies to the left of me, yipsters to the right of me. Thai food in front of me. Screw the Hippies & Yipsters!