Potato Potatoe

July 16-20, 2019

North Bingham County Recreation Park, Shelley, Idaho

Day 32-35

Woke up to frig not working! Turns out that I had switched off my reserve gas tank. (The frig works on power when plugged in, and gas when you're dry camping.) I have two tanks and if you turn the 2nd one on, tank #1 will automatically go to tank #2 when empty. A good mistake to learn from and a great opportunity to see how long a tank of gas lasted...about 1.5 months. I turned on tank #2, but the frig was still not working, so I asked my neighbors for help (such good neighbors!). They couldn’t figure it out either, so I opened the manual (note to self, always check the manual first). It said just turn on and off the frig, and the pilot will relight! Voila! We all learned something new!!

The drive from Bellevue to Shelly was very scenic. More green, brown and purple mountains (majesty)…this doesn’t get old. The views are amazing. I pinch myself. Radio is not bad either, can’t remember what they played, but 88.5 is what I tuned to.

My neighbors recommended I stop into Craters of the Moon National Park on the way out. Wasn’t sure if I had time, so I was so happy to find out I had to drive thru it!!! Super cool lava rock formations. Funny, it kind of looked like huge chunks of Oreo cookies without the filling. Traffic was light. Again, speed limit in most parts is 80mph here, but I go 65mph. Anything faster on these rolling roads doesn’t feel safe. I bounce a lot. I let people (curse) pass me. It’s midday and a dear appears out of nowhere at the side of the road. Great reminder to keep that in mind too while driving, otherwise that could have horrible consequences.

The last 20 minutes of this leg is on I15. I don’t like it. It’s a superfast two-lane interstate. I am staying in Shelley because an old friend (Terry) is there. She and I worked together at The Mark Hopkins Hotel in the, eh-hem, 80’s. She now lives in Salt Lake City and stays with her parents in Shelley, regularly. Terry is literally waiting for me at the camp and it’s great to see her!!! This county campground is a wonderful, small. clean and green park with about 15 full hook-up sites. I unhitch, we drop Sparky off with her parents (and new friend Crissy the Corgi) and head off to the Idaho Potato Museum,

Much like the Trees of Mystery in Klamath, CA, this is a combination of history and shameless tourists stop. It too is worth the trip. You learn about the history of the potato (the russet was developed after the Irish potato famine), the importance of this industry on Idaho and, of course, you can enjoy some French fries at the café too! Later I visited with her family then went back to clean up and go to bed early. I’m exhausted.

Day 2 – There's another Airstream here at camp and it's nice to visit with my tribe! Terry picked me up around 9:30am for our field trip to Mesa Falls, about 1 hour north. What a gorgeous day and thankfully the weather was much cooler. We took some nice pics from the upper and lower falls, then stopped in Ashton for lunch for a burger and, what else, Idaho fries. Got dropped off and was able to squeeze in a nap before returning to Terry’s parents for dinner. It’s her sister’s birthday, and I get to meet more of her wonderful family. They were so great about accommodating my diet and even made a beautiful salad and had extra cooked veggies. I brought a main course for me, while they enjoyed a very nice-looking chicken cordon blue! They have such a wonderful yard and garden. It’s huge and the grass was gorgeous too! Great yard for throwing the ball. The grass was just tall enough that Sparky sometimes had to hop to find the ball, that was fun to watch. They also had raspberries, which we got to taste some of the first of the season. No comparison to Driscoll’s.

Terry drove me back to camp just in the nic of time before it was locked up at dark. The lady in the golf cart was just about to leave. 😊 I would have had to jump the fence or stay at Terry's.

Day 3 – We left Sparky behind and Terry drove me around Idaho Falls (yes, there are a lot of falls around here). The falls are in downtown Idaho Falls aren't tall, but their still pretty. Most of the buildings in downtown are short. We drove down a few of the historic streets and it was nice to see only a few for lease signs. Small downtown; aside from potatoes, not sure what the other industries are here.

She dropped me off back at the trailer for lunch. Today I have my first Airstream Customer Council video chat meeting. Present were the management team, including President of Airstream and the other 11 members. Basically, they went thru the history and quality of Airstream, the mission statement and our contribution to their next chapter. Really exciting group and something I feel especially proud to be a part of. They want our ideas and I already have a few! Especially for making the kitchen even better. They will be putting our bios and pics on their website too! This new chapter for me keeps getting more and more interesting. I can’t wait to see where this takes me.

After the meeting, Terry picks me up and we go see Rocket Man. The cinema is about 45 minutes away. We are both surprised - it is a little two room movie house, a little dumpy, BUT the tickets were only $3 each!! It would have been $2 if we came the day before. This movie is still out in the major cineplexes…crazy. The audience was all women, about a dozen all our age. I enjoyed it. I like the lead guy – he’s in the Kingsman franchise. This is really a musical, he sings a lot!

We go back to Terry’s (what hospitality, she won’t let me drive!) family’s house for dinner. Her mom made a nice beef stew. By now, Sparky has charmed both her parents; I think they will miss him! They really made my stay extra special. So glad I made this stop.