Traveling across our beautiful country has always been fun for Dan and me, but when unexpected surprises happen along the way, it just makes it all the better! A few weeks ago as we were making our way through Boise, Idaho, we needed to stop for gas. It was about two o’clock in the afternoon, so we decided to pull into a little strip mall behind the gas station for something to eat.
We spotted a large banner waving in the sun for a new Teriyaki restaurant. We aren’t too adventurous when it comes to eating, but it sounded like a good place to get out of the 100 plus temps. As we approached the door, a white piece of paper said they would open at four that afternoon. Too long for us to wait, so we made our way along the sidewalk to try Mancino’s Pizza and Grinders. Would you believe another note greeted us saying they were closed for a family vacation from July 29th-August 5th!
Good grief! How hard could it be to find a little lunch on a sweltering afternoon? We spotted an Albertsons Food Market just a little ways down the street, so we decided to just grab some snack food and head on our way toward Oregon. But then we smelled it! An aroma that just drew us in. As we glanced in all directions, we noticed a tent set up outside the grocery store, with a large outside cooker smoking away. We stopped to check it out, and the guy that was grilling was eager to talk and share. He had tri-tip beef roasts and also ribs cooking over an open fire of Red Oak wood. He told us he did this every weekend while promoting meat from Albertsons. He was retired after owning a catering business in California for 33 years, came to Idaho to help care for his mother-in-law, and now totally enjoys this new venture every weekend.
Well, anyway, he asked if we wanted to taste a sample. For sure, as it smelled so delicious. Oh, it was so tender and juicy, and just melted in your mouth. But of course we could not buy a roast or ribs when we were traveling! We told him we were just looking for some lunch, and he looked thoughtfully at us with a smile. He lowered his voice, came toward us, and said, “I’ll make you a deal. Go inside to the deli, pick out a serving of salad, get a bun, and pay the price for a chicken dinner. But…then come back out and I will make you each a sandwich in place of the chicken.”
We proceeded inside and explained it to the people at the deli. They looked a little confused, but they followed through because they knew the man behind the grill. When we got outside, he made us a sandwich we will never forget. He put at least six slices of the grilled beef into each bun, and sent us back inside to enjoy our great meal in the air conditioned store. We were still chewing away when we saw this same man coming running up to our table. He exclaimed with a big smile, “ I forgot to give you a little dessert to finish off your meal!” He plopped down two fresh, raisin cookies in front of us.
When we had finished, telling ourselves that we wouldn’t have to eat again at least until the next day, we wandered back outside to say thank you! We told him again how scrumptious that meat was, and asked about the wood that he was using. He grabbed a plastic bag, filled it with some Red Oak, and placed it in our hands. We hope to fire up our old charcoal grill with this wood, and grill some of our homegrown beef. I can’t wait to see how good that is going to taste!
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