Jimmy Cheesecake – Gas and Gourmet Dessert

We ended up leaving Joseph, Oregon a day ahead of our plans since our camping neighbor’s kept us up very late. Once again we got lucky and ended up next to the only family not in bed at 10pm or asleep by midnight. Instead, our neighbor’s decided to start dinner at 10 PM. This family talked in loud voices without considering that the entire camp was already in bed. They chopped wood and added more fire to the already large one they had burning. Not a good sign! When Johnny the ranger drove passed our site we thought for sure he would stop to remind our neighbor’s about the camp rule. This was not to be! He just kept on driving. So much for the camp rules that fires should be out at 10pm and quiet time was in effect; we would not get much sleep until they decided to turn in. We fell asleep to the bedtime story, “The Cat in the Hat comes Back”, after listening to our neighbor’s read to their two young children in their tent sometime around midnight…not sure if it put the kids to sleep, but it seem to work for us. I think I’ll load it on my iPod when I get back.

In the late morning, we both decided it would be best if we moved on. While I went to take a shower, Kevin realized for sure that we had made the right decision when the “loud” mother, yelled out across the camp to her 6 year old son—“ Michael Dustin, are you going poo poo behind the tent?” , as the father stoked their campfire and added more wood to it. Mind you, the outside temperature was about 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We were so happy to drive away! At this point Kevin realized that scream therapy works for him as he let out a few choice words exiting the camp site. This seemed to be the only time the local population of mule deer felt in danger, as all 250 of them moved quickly away from our car.

We stopped for gas just outside of Joseph in Enterprise, Oregon, where Jimmy Cheesecake (named for all the delicious desserts he bakes) pumped gas for us. Within 3 seconds of being there, he told us that this was the only gas station in the nation where you could buy gas and gourmet desserts all at the same place (yum yum, gas and desserts?). Jimmy was quite the character! As he spoke to us in his Oregonian cowboy drawl, he told us that at least 8 women had proposed to him over the years—one woman had proposed 3 times. Finally, when she couldn’t get him to marry her, she told him, “Jimmy, why don’t you just move in with me. I’ll pay all the bills, and you can do all the cooking”. Within the time it took to fill up, three different women drove passed the station honking and waving to Jimmy. As he continued to pump our gas, he gave us his entire recipe for Keylime pie which included a very animated description of how he squeezes the limes. The description included Jimmy jumping up and down while mashing his two hands together. As he continued to wash our windows using an extra long sponge on a pole, he smiled at Janet through the driver’s side window and said, “pardon my big stick miss” and winked! He was quite the player. Driving out of town, we were both hit by a strong craving for a slice of Keylime pie. Jimmy Cheesecake is a fun character that we won’t forget anytime soon.

We drove out of Oregon and into Idaho through some serious steep terrain. There were plenty of hairpin turns and twisting rivers to see along the way. Late in the afternoon we made the decision to drive all the way to Mary and Dave’s home in Athol, Idaho, which is 15 miles north of Coeur d’Alene. Heading through Idaho, we passed by miles and miles of wheat, barley, and rapeseed crops. On the way to Athol, Kevin drove us down a dirt road and we found a beautiful field with this incredible bright yellow rapeseed crop to photograph.

We arrived at the Spraktes home around 8:30pm. They have a home on 16 acres and are really tucked back in the woods. Mary, Jessica, and Matt drove out to meet us at their electric gate to unlock it for us. Once up the long road to their driveway we were met by Dave and their two dogs, Bo and Buddy. Bo is a huge Black Great Dane and Buddy is a black sheep herding/labador mix. Jessica gave up her bedroom for us, and we sat and talked until about 10:30pm before all heading off to bed. It was finally a good night’s sleep for us. Thankfully there were no loud children, campfires, ATVs, or radios to contend with; however, we did miss our bedtime story.
Closing note: For those of you concerned about our addiction to Starbucks, we did manage to go the entire day without stopping at one…it was difficult to watch Janet’s hands shake uncontrollably without her daily fix of a Venti Black Ice Tea “unsweetened”.