Breaking for breakfast at noon makes sense

After a morning's work, I invited friend Michele Neely to lunch at the J. Marklee Toll Station on Main Street in Markleeville, unaware that only breakfast is being served in summer.

Owner Sandy Matlock was watering the flowers and shrubs in the strip between the sidewalk and rock wall, but she invited us into the small country café for coffee. The three of us sat at one of her new "ice cream" tables, as her mother and waitress, Joann Moody, asked, "Caf or decaf?"

Looking at the chalk-written and tempting selections on the blackboard, Michele and I timidly asked if it would be too much trouble to cook us breakfast so late in the day. Matlock assured us that she wouldn't mind and disappeared into the kitchen.

Omelets, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and bagels were written on the menu, but the breakfast burrito became the winner. And what a champion it turned out to be Ð hot flour tortilla, stuffed with black beans and avocado slices, topped with cheese and spicy hot salsa. Now that's my ideal way to break-the-fast, no matter what time of day.

Jingle-jingle, and the bells on the front door announced the arrival of two more hungry people. "We only serve breakfast," Moody firmly declared. "That's OK with us," said Nadine and Carlyle, who were on their way to Santa Fe from San Francisco.

Jingle-jingle, and another two came through the door, to be told, "We only do breakfast." As they sat down, Cynthia and Duncan agreed, "Fine with us." They too were from San Francisco and were headed for Arizona.

Jingle-jingle, "We don't serve lunch."

"But can we have breakfast?" Ken and Linda asked, "We live in Cameron Park, and we're on our way to Angel's Camp, via Reno, and we're hungry." It is, after all, Hot August Nights in Reno.

The next jingle-jingle was accompanied by a grandfather and grandson duo from Carson Valley and Spokane, respectively. Rex had taken Trevor fishing for the first time, at Silver Creek, and the score for round one was zero for grandpa and three trout for 15-year-old Trevor. These two also opted for breakfast in the p.m. and when Rex jokingly asked Moody if he only got one napkin for his pancakes, she shot back, "You're wearing Levis, so wipe your spilled syrup on them."

Mother must have passed on her sharp wit to daughter, because Sandy loves to laugh and possesses a great sense of humor. When asked what she enjoys about owning and managing the J. Marklee Toll Station, Matlock replied, "The work never ends!"

"What do you like the least about your work?"

"It never ends!"

A divorced mother of three, during the summer Matlock's children, 15-year-old Macy, 13-year-old Tanner and Landon, 7, her parents and a couple of local kids help run the café and the motel, complete with five rooms and a cabin.

Sandy Matlock, who has lived in Markleeville for 16 years, says, "I absolutely love living in Alpine County. It's a lot of work being a business owner here, as we really only see people for three months out of 12. But you get to experience all four seasons, and it's worth it. I'm sure that the other 160 people who live here in town would agree with me."

n Contact Gina Gigli at ginagigli@

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