Thankful Thursday

vacation edition...

We recently took a family vacation for 10 days. It was such a blessing to be able to take such a chunk of time off and go on a road trip together to the Pacific Northwest. There were many things I was thankful for.

I am thankful for the innocence an joy my little boys have.

Corbin enjoying the fall leaves at the James Cant Ranch in the John Day Fossil Beds

I am thankful for fossils we got to see at the John Day Fossil Beds and that this is proof of the ice age and that Noah's Flood actually happened.

I am thankful for our trailer that we got to camp in. I am grateful for the heater and the comforts of home we had in it. I am also thankful for the memories we have made using our trailer. ** This is the first road trip that I have actually packed a fruit and vegetable basket to take along and homemade broth to drink throughout the trip!

I am thankful for waterfalls. Sunsets and waterfalls are two of my favorites in God's creation. We saw A LOT of waterfalls at the Columbia River Gorge on our trip. I was in awe of the beauty. I took over 80 pictures of the waterfalls!

I am thankful for new discoveries, like this leaf that is as big as Corbin's head. I am thankful for the quiet peace that the hikes up to each of the falls had to offer. 

I am thankful for my family of boys. They are so curious and full of energy. I am thankful they have a Daddy who is willing to teach them how to grow up to be men and give them the wrestle time now that they need. 

I am thankful for sweet treats! We had several treats on our vacation and since the boys are Gluten Free and I am Paleo we had to hunt for treats a lot of the time. We were thankful to find Kyra's Bake Shop. It is a 100% Gluten free bakery! She is the two time winner of Cupcake wars on Food Network. She won with some of her Gluten Free Cupcakes.  I did not partake in a cupcake but did have a small bite and they were delicious. The boys were in heaven! 

Speaking of food, we found some amazing places on our trip that were Paleo Friendly and had many Gluten Free options. One of the places we stopped was Cultured Caveman - a little food truck in Portland. I am thankful for Clean, Whole Paleo food that is prepared for me. We had coconut crusted chicken tenders (fried in beef tallow), braised collard greens with bacon, bacon wrapped dates, macaroons, chili, and homemade garlic aioli. MMMM...I can taste it now. I am thankful for good food! 

I am thankful for the power and majesty of God. We visited Mount St. Helens and it had a way of making us feel real tiny. Like small little peons. It is amazing how this 8,000+ high foot mountain could literally blow thousands of feet off it's top devastating everything (for miles) in it's wake in a matter of three minutes. There is nothing like being at the foot of this mountain in person. It is HUGE. It is active. It is mind blowing. God is big! God is all powerful. Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

I am thankful for laughter. We visited the fish market at Pike Place in Seattle and it is always so much fun there. The fish Corbin is standing by moves when the fish monger pulls on a chain it is connected too. I knew this (because we had been there before but Corbin was really young) and so I told the boys to go up close and look at the fish. They did and when they did the Monger moved it and scared the bejeebers out of them. Corbin thought it was funny and Cody did not! He wouldn't go near that thing. It gave us a good laugh.  Such fun memories.

I am thankful for animals and for Corbin's love of animals. I have always loved animals too just like him. They are so fun to watch and learn about. It is amazing how much we can see that we have an intelligent Creator through the study of animals.  The intricacies of all animals is astounding. There is no way they could just have formed from a blob. When we visited the Seattle Aquarium it was like a field trip for our homeschool. We learned so much about aquatic animals (which happens to be what we are studying in science right now anyway.) We saw Octopus being fed and very active, otters, harbor seals, fur seals, jellyfish, starfish and more. It was a great time!

I am thankful for my husband. To have a complete family is a blessing I don't take for granted. God has blessed us tremendously. He was the one to do all the dirty work on the trip like jack up the trailer and make sure we had the spare tire. Get the "lines" hooked up to make sure certain things - eh-hem, went where they were supposed too. All the loading and unloading. I am thankful to literally have the man-power. Also I am thankful that God has allowed my husbands back issues to heal and God has given him relief and ability to be able to do these tasks without pain.

I am thankful for time away from the normal routine and all the many sites to see on this earth. I am thankful for renewal and refreshment at the perfect time of the year. It was much needed and what better time that to go see the fall colors!  This is the Puget Sound in Seattle from the top of the Seattle Great Wheel. We were in a Ferris wheel that was 200 feet above the ground over the Puget Sound. We got so see an amazing sunset which I am thankful for and view all the sites of the town from way up high.

I am thankful for the means to take a much needed family vacation like this. God has provided in abundance! 

I thought this Psalm was a fitting end to this thankfulness post...

Psalm 145
A Praise of David. I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.

~Blessings~

Diner's Drive in's and Dives

I have watched Food Network pretty much since its inception with Emeril and his "Bam!" saying self.  I have always loved watching cooking shows and I think the Food Network has just gotten better and better.  There are quite a few shows I like on the channel that I wish I could watch on a regular basis but life, priorities and discipline prevents me from spending the time. On occasion I do watch the channel though. It makes me happy! 

 

My favorite person on there is Paula Deen by far.  I also love the show Diner's Drive In's and Dives.  I like it partly because it features Guy Fieri who I watched win The Next Food Network star years ago.  I can't believe how much he is doing now (honestly, it makes me wonder about his family and their well being. How does a Dad and husband do all that he does and still truly be there for his family?)

 

I digress..... I still like DDD because I love to find new restaurants with really good, unique food or just a hole in the wall that all the locals like. It makes me hungry every time I watch it! I end up wanting to go all over the US to visit some of these places.  In fact on numerous vacations Steve and I have made a point to stop at many of the restaurants highlighted on this show. Thankfully my husband loves food just as much as I do!

 

While we were in Boise, I had a list of 9 places that were featured on DDD that I wanted to go to. We were able to visit three of them while we were there. I thought it would be fun to give you a review of what we thought of them.

 

Be careful with Diner's Drive-in's and Dives though because you never know what you're going to get when you actually go to the restaurants.

 

The first place we stopped was the best of the three (should I start with the best? - I guess I will.) 
Westside Drive-In

This was a fun place because it was a drive in.  You could go up and order and eat outside or drive through and park and eat.  We walked up, ordered and then ate in our car because it was 32 degrees outside with snow on the ground.  It was fun to eat in the car though.

 

This is what we all had (there were quite a few people): 

• Jr. Cheeseburger (average)
• Mac & Cheese (really yummy, homemade and VERY cheesy)
• Chicken Strips (OK)
• Rib N' Cheddar Dip (so good, I am craving it as I type this)
• Westside Signature Sub (half size) (excellent and full of flavor)
• Coffee Cooler (rich and decadent)
• Onion Rings (good but nothing spectacular)

One of the things that was really fun was their menu.  Check out the picture below and you will see that they have a discount for being bald, they have young at heart days, and they even have pet treats!

Yes - they serve Prime Rib at this drive in!

 

 

 

 

I wish I had taken pictures of the food but we were so excited to get it and eat that we devoured it.  I would definitely get the Prime Rib sandwich again and I will go back to visit Westside again. Excellent food and a fun atmosphere. Click here for the DDD episode featuring Westside Drive-in.

 

Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine

This place was a lot of fun.  From the trailer park inspired decorations to the spaghetti o's served in cans, it really was memorable.  We didn't get the spaghetti o's but seriously, some kids would love this idea!  This restaurant is in a renovated Good Year tire building and it truly makes you think of trailer park.  The plastic flamingo's, shower curtain hiding the side bar, old Chevy car with diner seating inside and the rolling bus seats for booths were all a crackup! 

This is what we ate at Donnie Macs:

• Tucker Mac N' Cheese with sweet potato fries, I ordered it this time (the Mac was average but the fries were really yummy with their special dipping sauce.) 
• Southern Fried Chicken, this is a sandwich (it was good but again nothing noteworthy.)
• Kids Chicken fingers (these were really yummy and nicely fried)

I would like to try breakfast here sometime. I bet it is excellent. Even though what we ordered was just good not ohsogoodiamgoingtodieifidontgetthatagain I would visit again and order something else.  Some of their other food that is featured in this video makes me hungry just watching. The atmosphere is so funny it makes me want to go back.

Pizzalchik

This is the last place I want to "highlight." This was the most anticipated place for us to go because they made pizza and we all love pizza. We thought we saved the best for last.  We planned to go here for Steve's birthday celebration.  We were SO disappointed.  This DDD video made this place look so warm and inviting with wonderful oven fired pizza creations.  In the video it looked like they had nice service and a nice atmosphere. What a surprise.  It was in a strip mall and we actually knew that.  You can find a good restaurant in a strip mall though. 

Negatives:

• We walked in and had to seat ourselves in the one booth that was by the bathroom. 
• To order we had to walk around the other side of the restaurant, through the bar and place our order.
• Menu prices were not clear on some items
• The atmosphere was cold, dumpy (should have been called a dive on the show), run down and cheap feeling.
• The WORST part was when I walked into the bathroom and saw Marijuana leaves all over the place as well as the Rasta Colors - Hmmm....
• The food was extremely overpriced for what you got I couldn't believe our tab in the end. Seriously $1.25 for one soggy stuffed jalapeno popper?

Positives

• The people we did encounter were nice 
• The food tasted good. 

I would not go back here again and lesson learned - if you are going to go to a place for a special occasion that you have never been to before then check it out before hand and don't trust the TV show. Sometimes it is not what it seems.

We had quite a few items on the menu:

• Jalapeno poppers (tasted terrible and couldn't tell what they were stuffed with)
• Bubble Bread (pretty good but some burnt pieces)
• C-38 pizza (pretty good tasting)
• Some other pizzas I don't even remember
• Half Original Chicken (tender but Caesar salad was not good)
• Root Beer came out in a bottle - no refills and totally expensive.
• (I could go on but I'll stop)

Here is a photo of my family making the most of the situation:

(It is a good thing I am not in the photo.  I was not happy and felt sad and disappointed that this was Steve's birthday dinner that cost so much and was at a totally cheesy place.  Thankfully we were with family.)

So now you know if you are ever in Boise Idaho where to go and not to go! I bet your day will be so much better because of this.

Blessings