Well this blog post is wickedly out of date. It’s something I meant to put up weeks and weeks ago, but what with one thing and another I’ve just not gotten around to it. And then, rummaging through my clogged up camera, I happened across these photos and figured that I might as well shove it up.
Several weeks ago we made the drive down to Boise. For those of you not familiar with our dear old state, the road from Moscow to Boise is 300 miles long, and it’s the only north / south highway that there is. In the course of that 300 miles, you go through two actual towns and a handful of seriously small little units. If we had a classification system like England this might be simpler. In England you are a village unless and until you have a cattle market . . . at which point you obtain to the official status of town. And you’re stuck indefinitely as a town until you get yourself a cathedral. Quite basic, and easy to keep a hang of really. Everyone knows if they live in a village or a town – and cities are easy enough to spot since they get their own bishop. Anyway, going by that unit of measurement there would be no cities whatsoever on Highway 95 from Moscow to Boise, and there would really be only two (maybe three) towns. The villages would rack up to about five I think.
Anyway – that is neither here nor there. I merely bring it up as a means of illustrating the fact that when you drive to Boise, you’re zooming along through the wilderness. There’s no cell phone coverage to speak of for the entire way, saving the brief moments in those two towns.
Here is a picture of a spot along the road. It looks much like every other spot along the road, but I bring it to your attention here for a particular reason.
Are you with me here? Pasture . . . barbed wire fence . . . mountains. Pretty much par for the course on this road. This shot is looking directly out of the east side of the car. And directly out of the west window, we see this amazing sight:
Yes. The Buffalo Gal. So far that would seem to be relatively un-astonishing. A buffalo gal truck stop near one of the villages is just what one would take right in stride. The thing that jumped out at me about it this time was first of all the question of whether or not the Buffalo Gal knew how to spell “Diner” or whether she actually meant dinner. “Dinner” of course would be an appropriate thing to put on the sign – it would save people the hassle of stopping for lunch, only to find out that the restaurant was closed. Maybe she meant Dinner in the truest sense of the word. But I can’t help wondering if perhaps she was endeavoring to communicate that this was in fact a Diner. But either way, this dinner-serving-diner offers not only World Cuisine, but also Sushi. What more could you ask? A lovely view . . . and some sushi . . . with World Cuisine thrown in! Served up by a Buffalo Gal.
One of these times we’ll have to stop in and find out what it’s like in there. I’m awfully curious. And there’s another one on the edge of the Hoo-Doo mountains which is called (applicably) “The Hoo Doo Cafe” and I’ve always wanted to check that one out as well. And of course there’s “Eddie’s Chinese” in Colfax. Now that I think about it, there’s a whole host of restaurants in our vicinity that are just begging to be tried!
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Haha, nice post. Our family has driven so many times that same 300 miles, and yes…pretty much nondescript territory. But the sign really cracks me up – please go in sometime, take pictures, and write about what you find. 🙂
On my very first weekend in Idaho (way back in 1993 now) my family and I visited old friends in Colfax and had lunch at Eddie’s Chinese. This was the first time I’d ever had an order of Almond Chicken with white gravy on top – which seems to be the norm around here!
Years ago, I saw a Beetle Baily strip where Sarge and Beetle come upon a doughnut shop where the proprietor spelled doughnut as dougnut. Sarge and Bettle start razzing the owner, buy doughnuts and leave. In the last frame, the proprietor says, “I’ve had more business since I put that sign up.”
I thought “dougnut” was an anti-Wilson website…. 😉
I see the Buffalo Gal is also marketed as 5 star…
This makes me think of an incredible restaurant in Chimayo, NM. The town is nothing, nowhere. It is very close to another town where, if you park your car and walk away for 6 minutes, it is likely that you will never see your car again. Or if you do, it will only be the frame, as all the parts will have been sold. Nonetheless, the restaurant — Rancho de Chimayo — is one of the best restaurants on the planet and truly has a “5 star” award (although that is not on any sign outside).
Maybe Buffalo Gal is one of these random jewels. Then again, maybe not. I’d love to know if you ever go there.
Ahem. *vicinity* Thank you:-)
Uh, and *restaurant* too.
Good Gracious! Thank you to Pat in TX! That should teach me to write posts late at night in which I criticize other people’s questionable spelling!
Don’t ya just love rural America! The scenery may be different, but there is something the same about folks out in the country. I have literally lived from coast to coast. Everytime I get out of the city there are just certain fun quirky truths to be had! 🙂
Not to mention how long it takes to get down those 300 miles of road over hill and dale…it’s a good patch if you can travel 55MPH. And if your child tends to get carsick, well…
What beautiful scenery! Ah, and what fun writing.
I just made the 120 mile or so trip to Manhattan, KS, twice recently as my son is going to school there. There were two villages and one town (they have a cattle market there though the population is around 2500) on the way north to get to I-70.
However, there were the beautiful Kansas Flinthills to enjoy.
Your picture of driving through Idaho is making me homesick for the days when Mom and Dad would bundle five kids and a truly impressive number of legos into the RV, and we’d go trundling around the country for a week at a time. Some of the best times I’ve ever had.
My Great-Uncle Bill used to work as a waiter at Eddie’s Chinese in Colfax for over twenty years! I always thought his job was to put the little paper messages inside the Chinese cookies! 😉
My wife and I own and operate Buffalo Gal Restaurant in Donnelly, Idaho. You really should stop in for dinner(yes, we know how to spell, and are a dinner house), I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Our menu, which is posted out front, is constantly changing, and includes both a full sushi menu and a menu of foods from all over the world. We were recently positively reviewed in Friction Zone motorcycle magazine and on yelp.com. You can also see comments from our fans on our facebook page.
Bekah, I think you’ll have to go now as a point of honor. We expect a review! Here’s the one on yelp and here’s the Facebook fan page.
Mr. Steinberg, you made my day by commenting. However did you find this post?
I know that drive well, and am sorry to say, I completely missed Buffalo Gal every time.
Try that drive on a school bus for state FFA from Twin Falls area(: About 10 hours!!!