Gathering Wood, Disappointment and the Leaning Tower of Cheeza

There's something about comfort food, especially when you sit down to get it at a long-time, comfortable Ma and Pa Shop. That's why our wood-gathering trip to the small western Montana town of Drummond started out as one of anticipation but ended up being so disappointing.

At our house, we burn wood in the winter. To stock up, you can either head into the mountains and cut down/haul/split/stack your own trees (which is heck of a lot of work), pay through the nose to have it delivered already cut and split, pay for an 18-wheeler to dump a load of logs at your place (still a heck of a lot of work) or you can do what we do. We take an annual hour-long drive east to the small town of Drummond to visit Pfendler Post and Pole, which has a pile of already pre-cut firewood on the back portion of its property. You just need a trailer and a couple of hours to load it.

Lori and I brought along a couple of grandkids, Kyler and Lyla, to join us. I was excited to take all of them to the Wagon Wheel, a restaurant where I'd eaten more than a dozen times over the years. It's our go-to spot after we scale the nearby mountains to hunt elk. Just thinking about the biscuits and gravy, mounds of pancakes, mountainous omelettes and hashbrowns, burgers and fries, shakes, and on and on always got my taste buds going. But as we drove past the Wagon Wheel to get wood, I just couldn't believe it! Not only were there zero cars around the always-crowded popular gathering place, but it was vacant with a for sale sign out front. I texted my elk hunter partners and they were shocked like me. Their responses: "Wow" and "NOOOOOOOO! How could this happen?!?!" 

Stripped of its sign, the former and now-vacant Wagon Wheel Restaurant

I talked to a lumber yard worker and was told the owners sold it to a new group who gave it a go but couldn't sustain enough momentum to keep it open. Now, it's vacant and for sale again.

Disappointment aside, we got to work. Luckily, it wasn't a hot day. Even though temperatures were in the upper 50s to low 60s when we started, it was hot, hard work. Kyler and Lyla accepted and answered the challenge to fill the bed of my truck while Lori and I tackled stacking my son-in-law's 25-foot trailer. Trains blew their horns as the screamed past us in both directions while we loaded. Some three hours or so later, we called it good and headed back into town.

All loaded

Our first stop was the Drummond gas station to get the kids slushes and candy. (Hey, it's what I bribed them with to get them to come, like they did the last time I was there.) Then we drove past the Wagon Wheel to the town's other main place to eat, Parker's Family Restaurant. 

He said: Even though I'd hunted outside of Drummond for more than a dozen years, and eaten at the Wagon Wheel every time, I had eaten at Parker's but only once. This time, I soaked it in. Surrounded by throwback Coca Cola collector items, I gazed up at an overwhelming menu board. At my previous visit, we were handed a thick binder full of burger possibilities. This time, they had them printed out on a multiple-page, laminated menu that spelled out all 133+ burger options. 133+! Yeah, still overwhelming. 

Scanning over option after option, I went with the Leaning Tower of Cheeza - three 1/4 pound burger patties with ketchup, mustard, pickles and onion. Just plain impressive to view, leaning an all, eating it offered a little bit of a challenge. The only want to do so was one layer at a time. Yeah, it was messy but also tasty. I pounded down the first layer followed by the second layer as well but kept the third for another meal, another day. #bonus

I also ordered a basket of shoestring fries. And these fries are the way fries should be made - thin, crunchy and flavorful, especially when dipped in a combination of fry sauce and ketchup. 

She said: Overwhelming! So many choices and it would be fun to try them all. But I got overwhelmed by all the possibilities and also trying to help Lyla and Kyler figure out what they wanted to order. Lyla originally wanted to order The Ba-Da-Boom. A $23.50 double burger patties, double pepperoni, pizza sauce, six cheese sticks, and more melted mozzarella cheese. I was imagining her taking two bites and being done with it, but hey…I was willing to let her order it…she earned it. Eventually, Lyla and Kyler both ordered their usual. Lyla a single burger patty with cheese, ketchup, and pickles. Kyler ordered a single burger patty with ketchup, pickle, and mustard. Once I had that figured out, it was get down to business for me. So many sounded appetizing: A burger with a grilled cheese sandwich tucked between two patties; a caprese burger; crab meat and avocado. 

And some that sounded not so appetizing: a burger with peanut butter, bacon, and bananas?!?

Reading the menu was giving me heart attack vibes, so I ended up ordering a bunless Havarti Cheeseburger: one patty, Havarti cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, grilled onions and mushrooms. It hit the spot, tasted delicious, and was very satisfying. I would have loved to try something more outrageous but I knew many of the other burgers would be too filling.  And I know where my priorities lie—the French fries. Pretty sure I finished everyone’s off.  

By the way: Leaving Drummond didn't put a capper on things. After all, the job was only half done. We still had to unload, split some of the wood and stack all of it. And we needed to get it done since our historic outhouse of a woodshed, which is a story in and of itself, was empty. Lori and I were gassed so we relaxed/recovered the rest of the day. Instead, we tackled it the following day and finished our labors a couple of days later on, wait for it...Labor Day. 

Before = Empty

After = Full

Bring on winter!