Flippin' Sweet Preston Idaho

                                                                           Taterland

                                                      Tetherball the Napoleon Dynamite Way

                                                                        Pedro's House

                                                                    Napoleon's House
After a fun night in Park City, Utah, I headed north. When I decided to take a vacation to the Utah/Idaho area, I had two ultimate must-see destinations on my list of places to experience: Napoleon Dynamite's filming location and the Idaho Potato Museum. First stop, Preston, ID, home of the flippin' sweet tater tots. Preston is off the beaten path in southeastern Idaho close to the Utah border. Beautiful country with lots of chicken farms. I really expected to see Napoleon Dynamite billboards, or signs, or something when I drove in to Preston, but there was zilch. I stopped at the local gas station and asked the nice Prestonite at the counter if they had any N.D. maps for sale. She turned and screamed to Rita that a tourist needed Dynamite info. Rita told me to go to the local Mormon bookstore for a map. So I headed to the Preston Citizen.
With map in hand, I set out on my N.D. adventure. Everything in Preston is old and clean. I stopped first at the bowling alley, and was giddy with excitement remembering that N.D. had a bowling style similar to mine; then to the high school; then to my personal favorite the tetherball playground. The tetherball scenes were shot at the elementary school, so I had to rely on my handy $1 N.D. map to get me there. There was a school bus idling nearby, and the lady busdriver watched me like I might be a child molester as I jumped out of my jeep and squealed with delight at the sight of the tetherball pole. Her eyes never left me as I took a zillion pictures of the playground. That was fun, next! I got out in front of Perdo's house so I could stand on the sidewalk where N.D. and Pedro performed their sweet bicycle jumps. On my tour around town, I seldom saw any residents. I guess they go on their Mormon missions during August or something. I saved Napoleon's house for last since it was a couple of miles outside of town. I took pictures from my jeep since there were dogs barking and a teenage boy staring at me from inside the house. What! No Tina?!?! I drove back and forth in front of the house like a stalker trying to catch a glimpse of my favorite llama but to no avail. What a fabulous road trip. I encourage everyone to visit Preston, Id, and take the self-guided N.D. tour. What a dream come true. If this was so magical, what will the Idaho Potato Museum be like? Next blog I will report my spud findings and give the low-down on delicious Idaho breweries.

Stare Lake City

School will be starting soon, and I haven't had a real vacation yet since I have no $$$. Have Mastercard, will travel, so I pulled out the map and decided to go west young woman. Utah was a cheap flight, and right next door to Preston, Idaho, the home of Napoleon Dynamite, so I decided that Idaho would be my final destination.
A firm believer in getting by with a little help from my friends, I boarded the plane already high on hydrocodone. I had busted my ass at the bowling alley the day before, resulting in my right arm being placed in a splint to help alleviate the pain. The brilliant doctor gave me a prescription for Celebrex(?) which I said to hell with since I knew my biker/baby boomer friends would have better pain killers for my trip. Definitely better living through modern chemistry. But no amount of drugs could save me from the one year old and her pregnant mommy sitting next to me for the three hour flight. OMG...where's my pills? I survived the flight, barely, then it was off to explore beautiful Salt Lake City. Of course, I knew that SLC was Mormon Town, but I wasn't prepared for an episode of Sister Wives. Everyone was white with at least five kids. No one spoke, they just S...T...A...R....E...D  at you. I can't remember the last time I felt soooooo uncomfortable. I called a friend of mine who warned me that the Mormons were going to take over the world, and to get out of Utah as fast as I could. I think she's on to something, so the next day I hightailed it over to Park City. Upon arrival, I immediately found a place at the bar at the Wasatch Brewery. Susie and Kevin the bartenders and Brady the realtor told me that SLC was freakville and Park City was the place to be. So true! Brady told me that even ex-porn star, Harry Reems, lived a semi-peaceful existence in Park City. This town rocked. Beer was good and people were friendly. All tanked up on beer, I decided I needed some whiskey to take my pills with. The High West Distillery was my next perch. Amanda was my gracious bartender. She was originally from North Carolina but had been in Park City for about ten years. She, too, was a little afraid of SLC, and had noticed that those people have a staring problem. She was great fun, and told me that she really liked her marijuana. I can't remember how the subject even came up, but I do remember Amanda was positively giddy when discussing this topic with me.
Enough of Utah, so next day onward to Idaho the birthplace of Sarah Palin. I highly recommend Park City for a fun vacation. Go see Temple Square in Stare Lake City, then get out of town as quickly as possible. Next blog will be about flippin' sweet tater tot country...I LOVE IDAHO!!!