Chronicling my solo journey to the Sturgis motorcycle rally

Chronicling my solo journey to the 70th annual Sturgis motorcycle rally

Welcome!

Thank you for sharing in my road trip to the Mecca of American Motorcycling, the Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, SD.

You can read all the entries by clicking on the links in the Blog Archive below.

Please feel free to leave your comments as well.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Niagra, they ain't - and the Great Potato Tour

As promised here's a photo of one of the more scenic parts of the falls...


Now to today's ride...

I decided to stay in Idaho Falls another day and do some exploring in the area.

When one thinks of Idaho, one's first thought is likely of potatoes, in fact the slogan on the ID license plate clearly says "Famous Potatoes."  With this in mind, I took a ride down to Blackfoot and the Idaho Potato Museum. Yes, they really do have a potato museum. It's located in the old Blackfoot railroad depot.



It's small but kind of fun and like all museums a place for learning.

Example: Until today I had no idea that back in 1952, Marilyn Monroe posed for a promo for 20th Century Fox wearing a dress made of a 100 lb. potato sack.




Legend says a studio exec wanted to prove that Marilyn didn't need diamonds and furs to look beautiful, insisting that she'd be glamorous "in a potato sack."  You can judge for yourself whether or not he was right.

Of course the real star of the museum is none other than the Famous Potato itself, specifically the Number 1 Burbank Russet.



Then again, what tribute to the noble spud would be complete without an appearanceby the master of potato disguise himself, Mr. Potato head and his entourage.


By the time I was finished at the museum, I was pretty hungry so I headed back to
Idaho Falls for lunch at the Snake Bite Cafe.



Their signature burger is called the Blue Snake, and is loaded up with bleu cheese and green chilis. If you're ever in the area, it's not to be missed. They don't take credit cards but they conveniently have an ATM on site.

After lunch I took a run out to the Teton Valley. I had to ride between the raindrops in a few spots and I made some unscheduled stops to avoid the scattered t-storms in the area.


The Teton Valley is home to the Spud Drive-in and the World Famous Giant Potato.

Here's Mariah posing with Old Murphy and the Spud.

 

Now, I'm not sure whether Old Murphy is the antique Chevy truck or the driver, who seems just a bit shifty-eyed to me.


Well, that's about it for today. Tomorrow it's on to the Tetons and Yellowstone. 

I'll leave you with a look at a beautiful cumulus formation I saw on the way back to my hotel. 

Enjoy!


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