uh... anyway... losing track of days...

Tuesday, June 26: Seattle, Wa to Missoula, Montana

my memory is fading a little, i haven't been keeping up with my journal the way i should have! but i remember a lot of beautiful territory; washington state, the panhandle of idaho (personally exciting for me, being such a big potato fan, to actually enter the state of idaho), and on into montana.

it got warmer as the day went on, starting with cool grayness in seattle, warming up as i crossed the cascades.

mostly, i remember that montana is really beautiful, and there aren't very many people there, which is probably the way it should be.

missoula is a college town, and we got along just fine. i even caught a little college radio while i was there. the thai food isn't very good, but i was just happy to find it. montana is no place to be a vegetarian. i think i came a little closer to understanding why my uncle bill, who is from montana, can't quite ever get past the fact that i don't eat meat. it's just... the way of life there.

i parked next to an antique car, got a picture of my futuristic pod alongside it, and when i went back out for dinner, the owner was sitting in it, and we complimented each other's choice in vehicle.

Wednesday, June 27: Missoula, Montana to Driggs, Id, via Blackfoot, Id

i looped down through montana-- a little less direct than just going straight from washington to idaho-- but well worth it, i am very glad i saw montana.

but finally, i was in the land of the potato, and i was there with a purpose.

first stop: blackfoot, home of one of the world's largest potatoes, and the Potato Expo.

actually, right before blackfoot i stopped at the Hell's Half Acre Rest Area and Geological Observation Point. This particular Hell's Half Acre (there seem to be several) features a mass of lava rock, rather unexpected amongst the green fields of idaho. I had a good tromp around on the interpretive paths (not reading much of the interpretation, however, because the stilted language reminds me of being hot and bored as a child), and it made me feel ok about missing the Craters of the Moon National Monument, which i am guessing is probably more of the same.

Anyhoo... along came Blackfoot, and i stopped for a late lunch at a subway where was parked a sedan covered in Jesus stickers; "In case of rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned", and the like. It was extraordinary enough that i snuck a picture out of my car window. The car wound up belonging to two well rounded young women who looked barely old enough to drive.

I tried to follow the signs to the Potato Expo, but got lost around the fairgrounds; a surprised looking but very friendly young woman set my on the correct path and soon i was gazing at what MIGHT be the world's largest potato. The world's largest styrofoam potato, anyway, complete with a styrofoam dollop of butter on top.

Another surprised looking but friendly young woman was manning the front of the Expo, which was sort of like a giant state fair exhibit, complete with pictures of pretty girls holding massive, all too phallic looking potatoes as part of a 1940's potato harvest; a potato signed by Dan Quayle (looking a little past its prime); the world's largest Pringle; and the story of the Potato God:

"Once upon a time there were two tribes: a good tribe, and a bad tribe. The good tribe's land was destroyed, so they had to go live with the bad tribe, who enslaved them. The good tribe prayed to the potato god, who sent them potato seeds with this message: "Plant these seeds and eat ye that which grows under the ground. Feed the parts that grow above the ground to the other tribe, and they will sicken and die." Because the potato is related to the Belladona plant, and the leaves are poisonous, the other tribe did indeed sicken and die."

As I was leaving, the young woman at the front asked me if I would like a baked potato. It was very hard for me to imagine that they actually had baked potatoes on hand, but i wasn't hungry, so I turned her down and went on my merry way to...

Driggs.

Well, the mystery is solved. Which has the world's largest potato? Driggs or Blackfoot?

Blackfoot. 'cause Driggs doesn't have a world's largest potato anymore.

Driggs is a little tourist town at the foot of the Grand Teton Mountains. The road to Driggs is stunningly beautiful. Driggs itself is not. It seems to be populated largely with rednecks in very large trucks, many of whom like to play basketball in the courtyard of the "guest haus" where I stayed.

As you come into driggs, you pass the Spud Drive-In, which used to be where their World's Largest Potato was located. Now, however, the old truck that held the potato holds two smaller, rather anthropomorphic potatoes. Believe it or not, they actually have a web site: www.spuddrivein.com. I'm pretty sure I saw hard liquor on the menu at the snack bar, but I didn't thoroughly check it out.

It was pretty stunning to have a sunset and mountains as the backdrop for the beginning of the movie, but road fatigue was starting to get me, and I'd actually already seen the movie while i was at the movie manor in colorado, so i made a discreet departure and headed back to ye olde guest haus.

my room there was pine-panelled (including the inside of the shower-- rather novel), and while kind of cute, was on the whole a little depressing. connecting my laptop to the internet in this room was also kind of an odd experience; odd enough that I took a picture, which I think will explain better than I can in words.

i was not sorry to leave in the morning.

Thursday, June 28: Driggs, Id to Casper, Wy

the drive through the Tetons was-- you guessed it-- stunningly beautiful. I guess I never really tire of mountains. Jonathan and I talked a little about mountains. He said the people in Seattle tend to deride the Appalachains a little... "They think they're wimpy? Too 'soft' and 'rounded' compared to the western mountain ranges?" "Something like that. What they don't get is that they're old. Really old. That'sI powerful. None of these young, four million year old whippersnappers like we have out here." "Hell yeah!!"

Jackson and Jackson Hole, Wyoming are serious tourist business. I found a real supermarket to restock my little ice chest, and headed up on 26, which loops past yellowstone, and then heads east. It's amazing country. I could certainly see doing the whole tourist thing there-- flying in to Jackson Hole, renting an SUV, and staying in a rustic lodge in the park. (I know people who know me are reeling that i just said "rent an SUV", but i tell ya what-- there are some situations where an SUV could be a good thing to have, and I can see such situations arising in Yellowstone. In fact, out here I have no beef with people who drive SUV's and other large trucks. I have yet to see a luxury SUV like a Lexus or a Mercedes, like I do back home. These people really have a use for them.)

After the forest ends, the beautiful desolation begins. Why this stuff reaches me when the southwest doesn't, I don't know. Could just be ten degrees difference-- I'm a lot less freaked out about 99 degrees than I am about 109. I passed through some beautiful painted looking hills, then on into more of the flat scrubby stuff. The temperature rose steadily and I was glad I'd switched back to sleeveless and sandals today.

I stopped in Dubois for a sandwich and saw a red '98 NB with an arch in the back, quite an anomoly in a little Western town. I also saw a Reflex back in Jackson, gave him a big wave, he gaped at me. And, oh yes, on the panhandle of Idaho a few days ago, I spotted a Mojave Beige, much to my surprise. Keep in mind that NB's are a rare thing out here; to see a brand new color and a limited edition color in the space of two days is something to write home about. Or post to the internet about.

i started seeing signs for Wall Drug today. also, people's accents are decidedly different from mine. i'm marked as a tourist as soon as i open my mouth.

the SP got some special attention in Casper tonight; as i was pulling out of the DQ, i heard a kid say, "look, look!!" and then another kid yelled, "nice car!!"