Seven Miles in the Mountains, a Double Dose of Burgers and a Fondue Feast

Road trippin' it is always fun, especially when you're banging out an annual tradition. Fall means big game hunting season and since my son Jace is no longer my in-state hunting buddy, we headed out-of-state to his place in Washington so we could go out on opening day. 

We left Montana on a late Friday afternoon meaning we'd be driving when the dinner bell rang. We just didn't know if it would ring at our final destination, two states over and a two and a half hours later, or along the way. Silly question! We weren't even 45 miles from home when the right blinker clicked on and we found ourselves exiting the interstate highway in St. Regis, Montana.

Now, we've stopped off in St. Regis many times over the years, not because it's the halfway point on our Frenchtown-to-Spokane route, but because it has a one-stop shop for everything the traveler wants/needs. The St. Regis Travel Center has a couple of stations of gas pumps, a convenience store, a massive gift shop including a fresh fudge section, clothing, toys and even a large fish tank full of native Montana trout. It's also home to Huck's Grill with its menu of burgers, fries and the self-proclaimed "best shake ever" - a huckleberry shake that is indeed to die for.

He said: Having said all that, instead of turning left at the light toward Huck’s Grill, we turned right to Winki’s Diner, an old-fashioned family restaurant with a throw-back, nostalgic interior of booths and tables. Time was not on our side due to a previous commitment that was still two hours away so we hit the drive-thru. The order board was mounted to what looked like an old-time, homemade miniature pickup with its makeshift headlights, bumper and tire rims as wheels. The menu covered everything you’d want from a diner – burgers, baskets, sides, sandwiches, kid’s menu, soda, ice cream and shakes and sundaes.

I went with the tried-and-true order of a burger, fries and a chocolate shake. We got our shakes first and immediately went after them. “They’re the best, aren’t they?” came a tongue-in-check but positively-stated non-question from our server just inside the drive-through window. We couldn’t disagree. Our shakes were very tasty indeed. And the burger and fries are what a diner should be – all-American in flavor and satisfaction. My fries were so good, they didn’t need to be accompanied by ketchup.

She said: What are you even saying? Fries ALWAYS need ketchup. Ketchup is to fries as dressing is to salad. I ordered a lettuce burger—meaning lettuce leaves instead of a bun. It did me right. The tomato, the onion, the lettuce, the avocado, the pepper jack cheese, the bacon, and the quarter pound beef patty were a scrumptious combination. And the fries….perfection…with my 20 tiny packages of ketchup laboriously opened and ready for dipping. And I agree with the server— unarguably the best hot fudge shake I’ve ever had.

By the way…Hunting season is a tradition in our household. Even though both of my parents were hunters when they were young, I was really never exposed to it – not big game hunting anyway. When I moved to Montana in 2003 and saw guys at church showing each other photos on their phones out in the foyer, I took a closer look and saw that many of them were hunters. It looked challenging, fun and intriguing. At the age of 38, I had to figure this thing out, so my then-young son and I headed outdoors and tried to do just that. Over the next 15 years or so, we headed into the mountains to try to fill our tags. We had decent success, harvesting four elk and more than 20 deer resulting in freezers full of ground meat, steaks, roasts, stew meat and jerky. Then he moved to Washington to go to graduate school, bought a house and I lost my in-state hunting buddy. However, for each of the last two years, he asked me to accompany him to hunt in his state. And this was year number three.

Jace and I got up on Saturday morning before 5 a.m., hopped in his truck and headed north of Spokane. We made what amounted to a seven-mile trek in the mountains. We ascended ridges, walked, glassed openings below and hiked some more. Eastern Washington is a bit more challenging than Montana because there is more vegetation on the forest floor and it’s just plain more difficult to spot animals. We did see a couple of deer but neither afforded any kind of shooting opportunity. We also saw about a dozen wild turkeys and a grouse that seemingly burst into the air from beneath our feet jolting both of us. But our best discovery was a new chunk of land he’d previously not seen before. It offers a good point of visibility from atop a knob with a decently open 360-degree landscape below. Hopefully that opens the door for success on his future outings.

She said (part II): While father and son were hunting, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and grandson/son went fondueing. For the last few years, I’ve made a fun goal list. If I get those things done, great. If I don’t, no worries. Eating fondue was still on my list. We have a fondue pot, but it doesn’t have a cord. We lost that in our house fire in 2017, but that’s another story. 

Spokane is home to The Melting Pot—the original fondue restaurant. So off we went. I had no idea this would be a three-hour experience but our two-year-old did amazing! We went with the four-course dinner for two: cheese fondue, salad, entre, chocolate. The food was delicious but equally delicious is the experience. Piercing the food item, dipping into the melting pot, the ooey-gooey deliciousness dripping, then into the mouth for some mouthwatering flavors. We chose the Classic Alpine cheese fondue with veggie and bread choices for dipping. 

The California salad with mixed greens, candied pecans, gorgonzola, tomatoes, and raspberry vinaigrette came next. 

Followed by the Land and Sea entre which included garlic pepper steak, herb-crusted chicken breast, shrimp, and Atlantic salmon. It was a little intimidating cooking the meat in the hot oil, but we had a little timer card with heating suggestions so we didn’t eat undercooked meats. We chose the Mojo cooking style: Caribbean Inspired, garlic, cilantro, citrus. The meat also came with six sauces for meat dipping. 

Finally (as if we had any room left!) we ordered the Flaming Turtle: melted milk chocolate with caramel, flambeed and topped with candied pecans. I could have eaten this with a spoon. Unfortunately…I mean, fortunately, it came with fruit, marshmallows, brownies, cookies, cake, rice krispy treats, and waffles for dipping. So many choices to make during this meal, but since they all tasted delicious, I’m inclined to think you can’t go wrong. Then we rolled on out of there…literally. Would I do it again? Definitely, yes! If you need (or want) a reason to eat yummy food and be with your favorite people, run, don’t walk, to your nearest Melting Pot. If I didn’t need a long drawn-out meal, but had a craving for some fondue, I’d just go for the chocolate fondue. It was heavenly.

As for Mark and Jace, after making our way back to the truck, we drove to the small community of Deer Park and wandered into the Salty Dog Eatery, a Quonset hut-like, half-moon shaped family business that caught my eye the second I walked in. 

Why? Because it was like a hockey fan’s mancave. I asked the waitress what was up with all the hockey love, especially since I’m a hockey fan. She pointed to a team photo and said, “That’s my grandpa, Larry Palanio. He used to play for the Spokane Jets.” In the 1969-70 season, the Jets became the first America-based team to win the Allan Cup, awarded annually to the top senior amateur team in Canada. Just so you know, Spokane went on to win three more titles. 

The hockey memorabilia went a lot deeper than a local team that made a legendary run. Behind our table, there was a photo signed by the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. And at the far end of the restaurant, there was a signed jersey of Boston Bruin great Bobby Orr and another signed by the “Golden Jet,” Bobby Hull. There were plenty of other photos, hockey sticks and cool hockey stuff.

And then there was lunch! Jace and I hadn’t eaten for more than eight hours so we were H-U-N-G-R-Y! I’m a sucker for barbecue so when I saw a western burger on the menu featuring BBQ sauce, onion rings, bacon and cheddar cheese, I was all in. I also ordered a half-side of fries and homemade coleslaw. Now, I have a thing for coleslaw but it has to be juicy and flavorful and I downed this slaw about as soon as our server put it in front of me. Yeah, this slaw was dandy. My straight fries were good but one bite of Jace’s waffle fries and I wished I went that route. They were similar in flavor to Arby’s curly fries, for which I have a weakness. (Note to self: go waffle fry next time.) As for the burger, just look at that photo. I mean, look at it – yes! First, I picked off the onion rings and ate them separately. The beef was cooked perfectly and loaded with BBQ sauce, lots of cheese and a couple of thick slices of bacon. Yes, bacon! (Just writing about this meal makes me want to head west to the Salty Dog and sink my teeth into another western burger.)

So even though Jace did not punch his deer tag, this son-father season-opening hunt was anything but a failure. It was a beautiful day. We had an exhilarating hike in the Washington high country. We got to spend the day together. We ended up with a first-hand hockey experience. Our hunt for a filling, delicious post-day burger was one worth eating. And one worth and writing about. (By the way, Jace got his buck one month later!)