Today, it was all about the deli.... I mean there I was hungry for lunch and there was Ben's, just waiting for hungry ol me. So this time, instead of driving past, I went in.
They have a great selection. One customer who was eating saw that it was my first time here and told me he goes there often... loves the food, and that is really fresh. He was right. It is good.I had a veggie wrap....with cheese and avocado.. and all the veggie fix-ins... "To Go."
Ben's is great. It's clean, friendly fast and fun.... (I happen to think of frozen yo cream yogurt with toppings as "fun.")
I had driven past many a time in my travels around town and I had heard rumor too that this was a great little spot. I just had to try it for lunch, and as advertised, it was very good! But the best to me, is the frozen yogurt.... just ask Geo Yo Cream frozen yogurt is become a once a week adventure for us.Yo Cream is 25 calories per ounce, made with real fruit ingredients, uses no rBST and contains live cultures.... so it is good food!
Ben only has six flavors (as compared to some yogurt shops that have maybe twelve or ten, but he has toppings galore! The fresh fruit stand even offered blackberries that day, yum! And I noted too that he has good sanitation practices. He has signs requesting for parents to assist younger children and he keeps a hand sanitizing station right next to the self serve machines. I liked that part a lot.
I found Ben's to be a friendly neighborhood mom-and-pop type of food stop with the added plus of offering self-serve frozen yogurt.
Paul Bunyan, as you folklore buffs may know, was a very large lumberjack who traveled with his Blue Ox named Babe. There are some photos of lumberjacks around the restaurant inside. Evidently, the owners in the past have had connection to the logging industry, and those loggers work so hard, they probably needed a great little sandwich shop to eat at. back in the 1950's when this place got it's start.
It's your typical burgers and fries kinda place....
We had burgers. Geo had the Paul Bunyan Burger... on the right.... and I had the "Deluxe."
The Bonsai Asian Bistro is located in Coeur d'Alene, ID. I have blogged them before, but when out with friends enjoying a beautiful day by the lake, it seemed like a good thing to revisit them when we got hungry for lunch. This time, instead of going to the Bonsai at nighttime, it was midday! 
Outside seating is a possibility too... when the weasther is like it was on this day, and there is a lovely little brooke that makes its way past your tables when you do, but if you eat inside.... upstairs you have a great view of the water... and downstairs....
you get to
They had an extensive menu... making it hard to select, so we went with the three dish special, and so did our friends.
Among our selections were the Carmelized Garlic Noodles, General Tso's Chicken, Tempura Vegetables, Kung Pao Chiclen, and Mongolian Beef and Carmelized Garlic Noodles with Prawns... with rice, both sticky rice and brown rice. 
and just when you thought that dinner was over... you can pick whether or not to have dessert!
Okay, so maybe there is one more thing. Trucks stops have to be ready to serve trucking customers anytime day or night. I tell ya, this is just what Geo and I found at the Flying J's Broadway Diner in the Flying J Travel Plaza, 6606 E. Broadway, Spokane.
They have specials daily too.
Geo ordered the Grilled Cheese Sandwhich Special.... This was a Grilled Cheese Sandwich made with... get this...
I enjoyed being around the truckers, overhearing them talk about their travels... and I enjoyed reading the humorous signs posted around the restaurant.
Thanks Mark (and Theresa!)
