Baked Potatoes in Blackfoot
Day 1, DeDakis Loop: dinner and a place to park.
July 12, 2024
Can you say trials? Our first day on the DeDakis Loop could have been better. Oh, yeah, we were on our trip, the one we’ve been looking forward to for months, but frankly, our two dogs, Kota and Tex, were a pain.
Neither of them is used to being out and about (our fault, I know) so every truck, every loud noise was a reason to riot. Kota barks loudly, generally in my left ear. That was fun.
Further, we decided to “fasten them in place” in the backseat for the first time ever. You wouldn’t believe how many wraps they can do around each other in a matter of minutes. Then Kota decided the water bowl was his. Tex wanted water. He bared his teeth and made awful noises. And forgive me for chortling, but when we stopped and I left a door open, Tex leapt out and to her great alarm, dangled above the ground in her harness…
Beside our usual first day irritations with each other, the dogs were almost enough to make us turn around. But I’m so glad we didn’t.
We arrived at our first destination, the Idaho Potato Museum, around 3 pm. From Boise, it’s 248 miles and 3 hrs. and 40 mins. away – an amount of time that we found just about ideal pulling the Nash.
The Idaho Potato Museum is a “dry”, boon-docking Harvest Host Camping Membership site (no water, sewer, or electric hookups). Just a place to park and rest overnight. Located downtown Blackfoot, Idaho next to the train tracks, the museum is the old train station located at 130 NW Main Street. Parking was pull through and easy and we found a level spot in the asphalt-paved parking lot. There was just one other rig there – a great, big 5th wheel with multiple slide outs – plenty of room for them too. The dog area is in a park across the tracks from the parking area. It’s an on leash, treed, mostly empty lawn area. The road next to the Museum seemed to be a main street, we had street noise until 10 or so. And there were 3 trains while we were there. Surprisingly, Kota didn’t mind them and since they were going slowly through town (and I have fond memories of hearing trains as a child|) I didn’t mind too much. The last train went by around 11, I think. We felt safe and once the town went to bed, it was really quiet.
No one should come to Idaho and miss the fact that potatoes (and other agriculture) built the state. The potato lobby in the state house is still among the strongest and if you’ve ever eaten at McDonald’s, chances are the french fries that you enjoyed grew here. The Idaho Potato Commission, the organization responsible for the Potato Museum, says that our “growing season of warm days and cool nights, mountain-fed irrigation, and rich volcanic soil, give Idaho® potatoes their unique texture, taste, and dependable performance.”
All I know is that there’s nothing the Professor and I enjoy more than eating a great, big, fluffy Idaho® baked potato with our Idaho beef. And since 9/10 people in the US automatically think “potato” when they hear “Idaho”, if you visit here, you must try potatoes – baked, fried, tater tots, whatever. And try fry sauce with fries and tater tots. It’s what Idahoans think of when they talk about uniquely Idahoan foods. For sure, you really ought to go to the Museum.
After we toured the Museum to learn all about potatoes in Idaho we went to the cafe for dinner and had… baked potatoes! It was late in the day so they were out of many things, but we still managed to have a great meal before turning in for the evening.
Thumbs up!