Breakfast in America

Biscuits and gravy, short stacks and tall, choice of meat, hash browns, scrambled eggs, omelets, whole wheat, sourdough, white toast, chili rellenos, fry bread stuffed with scam, pork hash, and bottomless cups of coffee. It’s the most important meal of the day not just for you, but for the TBEX Road Trip. We stumble out of our beds, have a snack, pack the car, and then, we drive. We’re looking for breakfast.

The first day, we dine at Minnie’s in Thompson Falls, Montana. “I’ll tell you one thing about our food,” the adorable and very efficient waitress said. “It’s BIG!” She wasn’t kidding. Peter’s cinnamon role was the size of a loaf of rye bread, my pancakes sprawled to the edges of the plate. Kelly went for the half order of biscuits and gravy, it was a farmer’s breakfast, enough food to get you back out into the fields.

Day two, a perfectly fine diner meal in West Yellowstone. There are lots of diner style restaurants there, we just picked one at random and ate more of the same totally predictable and filling food – hash browns and scrambled eggs, bacon, fried eggs with sides, biscuits…
Day three, Lisa’s in Graybull, Wyoming. The menu says the serve the best breakfast you’ll have on your vacation and so far, the menu has not been proven wrong. There’s lots to choose from, fluffy eggs wrapped around green chilies, frybread stuffed with scrambled eggs, polenta topped with pork chili and eggs however you want them. The plates were generous, the food was fresh and delicious, we headed out fully fueled again.

Day four, another diner. Right now, I’m sitting in the van outside Tally’s, my belly full of hash browns and scrambled eggs. The coffee – my first in two days—was decent, the hash browns crispy, the cheese on top of my eggs a slice of barely melted processed American. You win some, you lose some.

I love a big breakfast, late in the morning. It’s a great thing to do while traveling – go out for a big morning feed. You’re full up for hours and hours, it’s usually quite affordable, and often delicious. Breakfast joints are friendly, easy going places, people are sleepy, the waitstaff is indulgent, breakfast has no attitude. We sit in diner booths, Peter, Kelly, and I, silly in our morning moods, planning our day, talking about what happened the day before, and generously tipping our waitresses – they’ve all been perfect and oh so cute – before tumbling into the day ahead.