Bob,

I love that story! Thanks!

There is a corner gas station about a mile from me in Fort Worth that used to have just the little office and the bays in the back, but they enclosed the bays and turned it into a store, still running the pumps. It's your usual filthy floor, dusty groceries, an ample and well-stocked set of coolers for beer, wine, juice, milk, and pop, and then there is the food. People mill around the front waiting for their bag to appear over the top of the food display area. They sell a variety of sandwhiches, burgers, fried chicken, burritos, quartered potatoes that are fried and seasoned, egg rolls, and they have the best gyros. The meat is roasted on one of those upright grills like I've seen in cities back east, and they heat it up on the grill quickly with veggies and the whole thing probably has at least a half-pound of lamb when they finish. It costs $1.99 ($2.15 after tax) and is a favorite for a quick lunch on the weekend. If I've had a rough day and want to kick back for dinner on Saturday night, I stop and get an inexpensive bottle of red French wine next door and then pick up the gyro. It's a very civilized quick meal!

My out of town friends always get the whoozy impact of the inside of the store (pretty marginal) but then there is this great food. They're always amazed at the food that comes out of there. It's run by a couple of Lebanese families, and the cook is from Jordan.

Years a go I used to love to stop to eat at Zeke's in Gold Bar, Washington, on the way back from climbing in the Snoqualmie Pass area. I see them still listed in the online directory. Is it still in the caboose, and is it still huge burgers and gigantic real ice cream milkshakes?

SRS