As we walked through the front doors of this old and renovated building LC and I were greeted by a Marilyn look-alike.
I looked at the face, the body, the short potato sack dress and instantly knew that I was going to like this place.
It didn't take itself too seriously..................
Turning to the left and walking through one more door, an elderly lady behind a counter waved in acknowledgement of our presence and then went back to her conversation with someone on the phone.
As we waited for her to be done LC dug out $5.50, and I looked around the little gift shop.
There were colorful t-shirts and calendars and posters and games all related to potatoes.
Taped to the counter was a recent picture from the Blackfoot newspaper.
This time of year, in this region of the country, it is not only early fall - it is potato harvest time.
Huge (primarily) corporate farms surrounding this town are very busy at this time of year, with trucks everywhere you look in fields and on two lane highways transporting potatoes to gigantic storage facilities just on the outskirts of town.................
Eventually we paid our few dollars and entered through yet one more door, and were immediately greeted by walls filled with maps and informational signs, telling us about Idaho and potatoes.
Click on the pictures to enlarge..............
Truthfully I was only mildly interested in what I was seeing and reading.
In all my life I had never felt a deep yearning to learn more about the potato industry, but I was drawn to the pictures of years ago anyway.
Pictures of smiling women working in the fields.
Pictures of old horse-drawn farm machinery, and old potato-laden wagons driving on muddy unpaved roads to take their crops to the train station.
All dated, and black and white pictures, containing compelling images of a time not-so-long passed in history..................
Beyond the old pictures I smiled when I saw these.
Cartoon boards containing colorful graphics and interesting Idaho potato themes...............
By the time we had been wandering this surprisingly well laid out little museum for 15 minutes I was still only mildly interested in only some of the stations, but when I looked over at LC I realized that he was enjoying himself immensely.
He had help to grow many crops during his childhood, and potatoes were one of those crops.
He ready every sign and constantly exclaimed "Wow! I thought I knew potatoes!" and I smiled.
He really WAS having a good time................
A model of the building that we were now walking through.
The old Blackfoot train station..................
One station contained over-sized versions of international stamps that had potato themes.
When I saw the word Norge I was instantly drawn to look at it more closely, recognizing the Norwegian word for Norway...................
The first of a handful of beautiful water colors that I found along the way................
As I came to a dead end I looked over to the next room and realized that there were many rustic and rugged large and small pieces of farm equipment.
I couldn't access that room from where I was standing, but knew that we would eventually get to it if we wandered long enough...................
Everything you ever wanted to know about potatoes but were afraid to ask............
We headed through the entrance to what was labelled "The Cellar".
Above the sign the facade roof-line was lined with old potato mashers..................
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