Homemade Pancakes in Missoula, A Scary Drive Through Idaho, & A Great Dinner at Glow Live Food Cafe in Ketchum

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Written October 1, 2012

My mom’s first night sleeping in the van was a success! :) She claims it might even be more comfortable than the bed at home. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that foam mattress is pretty dang comfy. Proof! :)

We brushed our teeth and washed our faces in the Walmart restroom and then headed to Megan and Michael’s place for breakfast. Mmmmm homemade pancakes. It had been a while since I had some homemade noms and these pancakes, with strawberry and banana, soy butter, and blueberry agave syrup hit the spot! We had a lovely conversation over our pancakes and then my mom and I hit the road for Ketchum, Idaho. Not before snapping a few more pics though!

Thank you so much to Megan and Michael for the great company, sincere and enlightening conversation, and excellent pancakes. Your hospitality is top notch and I do hope we run into each other again down the road. xo

Momz and I hit the open road for our five (turned seven) hour drive to Ketchum, Idaho. We stopped a handful of times to use the “facilities,” trade off driving, and take pictures. At some point, without warning, the GPS told us that she was *recalculating* despite no warning ahead of time of a turn that we supposedly missed. Looking at the map Ms. GPS was having us turn around and go back over the tracks we just covered. Hrm. Something wasn’t adding up. I had just enough service to double check the route via Google Maps and surely enough there was another road we could take more directly to Ketchum. One that the GPS initially refused to recognize. We were on a bit of a time crunch because the restaurant closed at 5PM and with our reroute the GPS said we’d get there at 5:15. Noooo. So, we decided to put our faith in the Google Maps route. And boy did it turn out to be a thrill ride!

We turned on to Trail Creek Road, an unpaved dirt road that appeared to lead us directly into no mans land. It started out super flat and straight with speckles of farmed land and a few cattle on either side of the road. Cattle that were not fenced in. We gradually made our way up a creeping gradient where the road narrowed a bit more. Then, seemingly out of nowhere the road dropped off on one side and the next thing you know we were scaling the side of a mountain, down an extremely rocky, gravely, one lane thru road. For about fifteen miles my mom and I were both in awe of the massive valley that was to our immediate right and the sharp, upward slant of the mountain to our left. I thought that driving through the twisty turning mountainous roadways of Wyoming were nerve wracking but THIS… no, THIS has been THE most heart pounding, palm sweaty-ing drive of the trip to date. The pics below hardly do this portion of today’s journey justice, but trust me when I say that this DIY roller coaster ride is a thrill of a lifetime. And I’ve been skydiving. Just sayin.

See that narrow road, to the right side of the pic? Yeah.

We eventually hit pavement and the road began to level out. We were back on “land.” Phew! Mom and I literally high fived each other and screamed, “woooooo!!” With this more direct and terrifying route we made it to Ketchum just after 4PM. Yes! We even beat our original estimated arrival time. We were up on our thrill endorphins and as they were calming down we were definitely feeling ready for food. It would also be our first full meal since the delicious breakfast this morning.

Side note: the movies Tremors, The Hills Have Eyes, and The Land Before Time were all referenced at one point or another during today’s drive. Here’s a short video from the scariest road I’ve ever driven on. :)

As we entered Ketchum and the Sun Valley resort area it was as if we were transported to another universe. From dirt trailin’ steep roads to a luxurious golf course and resort. It had Stepford Wives written all over it, and made for a gorgeous change of scenery. The reason we drove to Ketchum is because there is an all-vegan, raw restaurant here. As far as I knew it was the only 100% vegan restaurant in all of Idaho.

Glow Live Food Cafe – raw, vegan
380 Washington Ave
Ketchum, ID 83340

This restaurant has a great vibe. It’s quaint and clean with health food and raw books throughout the cafe. There’s also a small section stocked with to-go foods.

I got a green juice and mom got a power smoothie. Then we split a Glow Roll – almond hummus in hand rolled nor with cucumber avocado and carrot. Served with orange ginger sauce for dipping. The orange ginger sauce was off the hook! So rich and flavorful. And the almond hummus was just brilliant. So delicious!!

For our main courses mom had the Southwest Greens & Grains bowl  – refried beans, jicama, avocado, bell peppers, carrot, and a warming chipotle dressing. I had the Marinated Kale Salad – kale lightly marinated with cold-pressed olive oil, sea salt, and lemon, served with a creamy cashew dulse dressing, quinoa, tomato, and avocado.

Everything was absolutely delicious and exactly what we needed after a long, stressy drive. Both meals were fresh, filling, and packed with individual flavors. YummmmMMmmm!!!

From the restaurant we went to a coffee shop with free wifi so that I could do some writing and check in on social media. The sun was beginning to set so we decided to figure out where we’d sleep. I recalled reading about Craters of The Moon National Park on the Buffalo Road blog. This is a cool blog run by Lisa Jarvis who is married to Paul Jarvis, author of Eat Awesome. Lisa and Paul spent three months touring parts of the US this summer and wrote a bit about it. Thanks, you two! :)

Turns out, the Park was only an hour from Ketchum. Score!

We pulled into the campsite around 8:00PM, paid our honor system Park entry free and campsite fee which totaled $18 ($8 to get in $10 to camp). Not bad! This area looks really cool too. We plan to go on a short hike early tomorrow morning before heading to Salt Lake City. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to visit SLC. I’m super excited!! Can’t wait to tell you all about it.

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PS –

As I was posting photos from Missoula and Ketchum I heard from a few Instagram followers – @poundkakes and @eat_more_veg – who had recommendations for vegan eats in Boise, ID. Since I’m not scheduled to visit Boise I at least wanted to include the recommendations for those of you who might pass through, vacation, or live there. :)

Mai Thai – vegan options including gluten free cheesecake
Shangri-La Tea House – mock tuna sammies and soups
Bombay Grill – veg lunch buffet
Raw Sushi – “radass” vegan sushi
Boise Fry Co. – vegan burger
Archie’s Place (food cart) – “Unicorn (aka vegan) meat” sloppy joes, sliders, and grilled cheese

And one in Montana:
The Green Tea House – White Fish, MT

Thanks so much to @poundkakes and @eat_more_veg for telling me about these awesome places! :)

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Goodnight all.

Eat well and travel often.