So I’ll give ya three guesses as to who is writing this
guest celebrity blog this week. Ok just one; it's me your
friendly neighborhood truck driver, Paul. I decided to
throw my hat into the blog world and give you faithful
followers a driver's perspective of our nationwide tour.
When I decided to give this blog thing a whirl, I didn’t
realize how quickly press time would come, wow this
week went fast; as they say time flies when you're
driving a six ton potato around the country. Oh that's
not the saying at all is it...lol.
Well any who, after getting a quick vacation over
Labor Day weekend, it was off to Walla Walla for a visit
to Super 1 Foods. But before leaving Boise we had to stop
in at the brand new Rosauer's store in Meridian. Hats off
to a beautiful new store and we wish you guys amazing
success. When we arrived at Super 1 the fans were already
lined up and waiting; here's to another successful
supermarket event.
Rosuer's event
the bakery team visits
The Tater Team got to sleep in a little and recharge
their batteries for an amazing Yokes event where the crowd
never lulled at all. Ellis and I took lots of pictures,
shook a lot of hands and answered the age old question
"Is it real?" Ellis and I recorded three separate interviews
with the press and met a plethora of kids on their way home
from school. We definitely were a big hit here. Now I’m sure
your saying to yourself, this "driver's" perspective is not
much different from the usual Tater Team blog... However,
here's a driver side spin to this story. When we pulled into
the parking lot of the Yokes, I couldn't get the truck into
our favorite spot in front of the store, so instead we had
to park in the middle of the parking lot. This made for a
lot of running from one side of the truck to the other for
"E" and me, as both sides made for prime viewing
opportunities. I can honestly say this was one of the most
successful events we have been a part of.
On Thursday I fired up the engine and rolled our
"Spud" into Sprit Lake, Idaho, where the pine trees and
granite scenery reminded me of the northwoods of Minnesota.
I love the clean air and it was so nice to be outdoors
without sweating. It seemed as though the entire town came
out to visit us there. Thank you Miller Harvest Foods for
having us out.
Friday proved to be our busiest day of the week, as
we had three events to truck our way to. We began the big day
in a great way with a stop at yet another Yoke's. Once again
we had to park at the outside edge of the lot and still the
faithful potato fans made their way all the way out there to
see us. Kaiti did another press interview, which has become
second nature to the team. After a morning of questions and
photo ops, the tater team developed a hankering for some lunch.
Lunch time is always an event for the team, as it's not always
easy to find a restaurant that can accommodate our giant meal.
I managed to find a Chinese place that could fit our tater and
since it was on a main drag in Spokane, it caught many an eye.
I ate a mirthful meal as I watched the entire cooking staff all
sneak out to catch a glimpse of the truck. Then of course when I
got out to leave there was yet another crowd around the truck,
taking pictures and asking questions.
On to our next event at Rosauer's in Spokane. Once again
the smiles awaiting our arrival were contagious, and we found
ourselves laughing and joking around with more of our tater
fanatics. We had another visit from the Meals On Wheels people
who are on a "drive" for more drivers for this region. The
program reimburses gas and you get a free lunch too. We’re
hoping we helped get them a little exposure to boost their
volunteers to help with the program. Now after two events
in a day, we’re usually ready to unwind and get settled into
our hotel rooms, but today we had yet another event.
I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to extending
my day, but when our police escort led us into the parking
lot of the Post Falls City Hall the enthusiasm we were greeted with
was contagious. The entire city seemed to be awaiting our
arrival, and all their faces alit with huge smiles. The tater
team would like to thank Kerri Thoreson for putting this event
together for us. It was a huge success. After an hour and a half
of this crowd we didn’t want to leave, but we had to be on our
way to "Silverwood". This is where we parked the truck for our
next days stop.
Saturday morning turned out to be a gloriously nice day,
and so we made our way to Silverwood theme park for the head to
head showdown between Spuddy and Garfield. The park was holding a
cross country track meet, and Kaiti strapped on Spuddy's racing
kicks to join in the race. But before she could join in the trek,
Garfield showed up and Spuddy needed his shoes back. Next time
bring your own track shoes! The team would like to thank Dianne
and all the other nice people at Silverwood for the wonderful
treatment at the park. We had an amazing day riding the
coasters and enjoying the park. In addition to the fun
day we had, the tater had great exposure, as the park
expected at least four thousand visitors that day and
we had a prime parking spot right on the main street.
Lots of pictures were taken.
It was a jam packed week and it's time to relax
and gear up for next weeks trek to Seattle. I hope you
enjoyed my guest appearance here. I tried to throw in a
little of the "drivers" side of the tour but at the same
time share the ambassador experiences I so much enjoy.
Here's to another week in the tater world.
