Idaho

Good things about Idaho:  Fly fishing, huckleberries, and of course the giant spuds. It is a beautiful state and does have an interesting shape.

Bad thing about Idaho:  it has street slang built into its name - Who's the ho?  I da ho or u da ho.

This might be my dumbest post ever, but I'd rather go hot tubbing than write today!  Sorry readers, especially Idaho lovers.

A Giant Potato

Recently, a reader asked if I had any postcards of jackalopes or giant Idaho potatoes. Here's the potato!

My grandfather and mother used to go to Idaho every fall for fly fishing and duck hunting. Usually, they would send us a giant spud or jackalope postcard. While this card isn't from that time - those cards have long disappeared - the date on the back of this card is 1979, and I'm not really sure who the Carolyn is who sent it to me. But my name and address at the time are on the back, so I know it's mine.

My friend Michelle used to live in the town of Driggs, Idaho. It is just on the other side of the Tetons from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The drive-in in Driggs is called "The Spud", and parked in front of the drive-in is a flat bad truck with a giant potato on it, exactly like the one in the picture above. (If you look at this YouTube video , you can see the truck and the potato.) On Wednesday nights, The Spud charged by the car, not the person. My friend had an old Winnebago, and when we were visiting, probably 10 or 12 of us piled in, and headed to the Spud. It was awesome.

So, faithful reader, this Spud's for you, per your request. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Idaho

Idaho is probably starting to look like this right now, or if not, will soon. I like it when a state and/or country puts the shape of their geography on a card. And Idaho takes it one step further by creating a card with a shape at least reminiscent of the shape of the state.

We spent a week in Driggs, Idaho once. It is on the other side of the Tetons from Jackson Hole, Wyoming and a lot cheaper than Jackson Hole to live in. My friend, Michelle, and her family lived there.

The highlight in Driggs was a drive-in was called "The Spud". Parked outside the fence of this drive-in was a flat bed truck with a representation of a giant potato on it, one that spanned the length and width of the truck. On Wednesday nights, admission was charged per car rather than per person. Michelle had an old Winnebago one of whose purposes was to be packed full of kids on Wednesday nights, with everybody watching the movie from the roof of the vehicle. Inside The Spud was a ramshackle snack stand surrounded by broken down couches, so if you didn't want to sit in or on your car (or your Winnebago) you could splay out over the couches.