The Aristocrat in Burlap

We drove south from Yellowstone right into Grand Tetons National Park. The Grand Tetons’ snowy peaks and abutting Jackson Lake made for a gorgeous drive to Jackson, Wyoming.

Jackson, a base for many summer and winter outdoor activities, is both a cute and manicured ‘western’ town, and a well-executed tourist trap at the same time. As this is shoulder season however, there weren’t that many tourists - just us and some Chinese tourists (who really caught the attention of a group of elementary school kids on a city park expedition).

After a lunch in Jackson, we drove into Idaho, whose license plate “famous potatoes” made me look up Idaho potatoes on the internet. Thanks to the Idaho Potato Commission website, hilarity ensued: They have a monthly newsletter called “Tater Talk,” a book on Idaho potatoes titled “The Aristocrat in Burlap,” various hot Idaho potato swag for sale, and many excellent infographics and children’s games on the health benefits of Idaho potatoes (which are only 110 calories a piece). I would highly recommend it next time you’re at a doctor’s office waiting room. You can play a game called “what kind of potato are you?” 

We stayed at a KAO in Pocatello and continued to drive west through Idaho the next day, to Boise. The drive through Idaho does not defy stereotype at all - it is a continuum of somewhat mind numbing and boring flat, hay-colored farms as far as the eye can see, dotted with industrial irrigation equipment. A haze of potato dust descends on your mind. Corey was bored enough to start making up tunes and lyrics to the Google map directions and highway exits. 

We passed by the Mountain Home Air Force Base and learned online that a Singapore Air Force detachment is based there, training with the American pilots. This in turn led to more googling resulting in these astounding facts: You can fit 300 Singapores on the land occupied by Idaho + Singapore’s economy is 5 times the size of Idaho’s.

The weather in Boise was nice mild fall weather though and we enjoyed setting up our table and chairs and lazing outside.