It was one of my favorite weeks of the tour so far this past week! After a wonderful time in Idaho Falls, we cruised over to Dubois, Wyoming for a few days off. My grandparents live there and it is just 75 miles east of Jackson Hole. Our tour director Laura was amazing enough to plan a stop there so I could catch up with my family! We parked the spud in the town park right off the highway and it was the perfect location. Upon arrival, we had fans pulling over to snap a photo. Some folks even remembered us parking there last year and the year before that. It is only a town of 900 people, so we are definitely the talk of the town when we arrive and they look forward to us visiting so much!
For our days off, my grandparents kindly took the tater team to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park! Melissa and Jessica had never been so we decided to take advantage and see ALL of the sights. We brought our mini-sized Spuddy Buddy along as well as the toy truck for some epic photo-ops. You can check out all of the photos on our Facebook page (@bigidahopotatotour). We even tricked some of our fans into thinking we brought our real truck!
From Dubois, we drove a few days to Wisconsin in search of cheese… and to attend the 15th Annual Truck Convoy supporting Special Olympics Wisconsin! We attended for the first time last year and it was such a touching experience that we had to return once again. The truck convoy is aimed at celebrating the trucking industry and law enforcement coming together to raise funds for the Special Olympics WI. The convoy went from Pioneer Travel Plaza in Richfield to the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh along a 60 mile stretch of I-41 North. Before the start of the convoy, a ceremony was held and one SO athlete was chosen as the grand marshal to present the Olympic Torch. Then, there was an auction to bid on the beginning spots in the convoy. The tater team decided to pull our money together and we bought position number 6!
During the convoy, we had a SO athlete named Noah join us for the ride! He rode shot gun and waved at all of the fans along the route. His grandmother Sharon told us after that he hasn’t stopped talking about riding along with us and that it brought him so much joy! Little does he know that he and the other athletes brought us even more joy. We ended the afternoon in Oshkosh with a BBQ celebration and an awards ceremony. During lunch, we collected signatures from drivers and athletes for our signature board supporting SO. We presented the board during the awards and thanked everyone for having us yet again. Did I also mention that we won two awards for “best in show” and “officers choice”?! It was a heart-warming day to say the least and I’m so thankful we got to go back.
Y’all, we only have ONE MORE WEEK of the 2019 Big Idaho Potato Tour. I am surprised every year by how fast it goes, and I’m going to miss it so much! However, the tater team will be making a few appearances in Idaho during the off-season so stay tuned! Until next time!
-Tater Twin Kaylee
