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.
Thanks for posting this! We just went and your article was very helpful.
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