Provo, Utah – Pocatello, Idaho

Provo, Utah is a pretty little city pushed up against the Wasatch Mountains, which were snow-covered upon our arrival and even more snow-covered upon our departure.  But that’s another story.  On our first full day in town we stopped at the visitors’ center to gather whatever information we needed to make a thorough exploration of the area and were directed to the city library, a seamless grafting of old and new.  Behind the handsome old Brigham Young Academy sits the state-of-the-art new library so that both halves can be utilized together.  A stunning stained glass window separates the two. 
A librarian strongly suggested we attend the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.  She was very helpful and tried to download tickets for us but there was some glitch in the website that prevented it.  So she suggested we just show up and act dumb (not difficult for us) and we’d be escorted right in.  Well, not exactly, but nearly so.  We arrived at the BYU campus, along with everybody else in Provo, and were told by the gatekeeper to check back at noon.
Meanwhile, we scouted the Museum’s permanent collection which leans heavily on “Western art” including a large collection of paintings by Maynard Dixon.  They don’t have much in the way of “modern art” – thank heavens – but we were taken with this featured piece.   Modern art is supposed to remind you of something and this reminded us of the back seat of our car.  Except we just might have more books.  It would be a toss-up.

The  Bloch exhibit, which was nearing its end, had attracted a large crowd, apparently everyone was waiting for better weather to venture out.    BYU owns a number of Bloch etchings but the large altar pieces were on loan from various museums and churches in Denmark.  Some of the smaller paintings which were on exhibit showed a remarkable facility with light; the larger paintings seemed to me to be almost too commercial; perhaps because they’ve been used countless times as illustrations for religious texts. 
After wending our way through the art, we did a quick walk-about on the campus.  Ornamental fruit trees were in bloom and contrasted dramatically with the snow-covered mountains beyond. 
The bell tower was pealing forth music across the campus as we climbed uphill toward the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, a space filled with beautifully mounted specimens of fish, birds and mammals.  An enormous Kodiak bear dominates its space and one hopes never ever to encounter one in real life – they’re scary enough when they’re dead!

Weather continued to be a problem and we had to scrub plans to drive up into Provo Canyon to view Bridal Veil Falls.  Instead we grabbed our Cabela’s gift cards and headed north to check out the goodies there.  Along the way we drove into and out of a number of “snow squalls”, not something we relish, and we were relieved to arrive back in Provo to relatively mild temperatures and partly sunny skies.  The next morning, however, was a total bummer.
We may call our-selves “snowbirds” but that doesn’t mean we actually want to see the stuff!  Thankfully it melted off by noon, leaving us with a relatively pleasant day.


On Sunday we went out in search of a newspaper which led us to a shopping mall south of downtown Provo.  It was a sizeable mall, with all the usual anchor stores.  Most of the smaller stores were closed and if you’d set off a cannon down the middle of the mall chances are you wouldn’t have hit anybody.  It struck me as a fine idea to get a haircut at a franchise salon at this all-but-deserted mall; after all, the two stylists were just sitting there with nothing much to do.  Bad idea.  It’s one of the worst haircuts I’ve ever had and I can only hope that it grows out soon. 
We left Provo on a bright Monday morning and drove northward on I-15 through a broad handsome valley with snow-topped mountains on either side.  It was a stress-free and enjoyable trip, even if somewhat longer than we usually make. 
When we arrive in a city or town for the first time, our first stop is generally the Visitors’ Center and Pocatello was no exception.  A sign on the door indicated the center would be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Unfortunately we planned to leave town on Friday so we were left to our own devices (and our GPS) to find the local attractions.  Because we had grocery shopping to do, we just poked around Old Town, hit the thrift stores in search of books and learned that the best wine prices in town were to be had at…are you ready for this…Ace Hardware.  They even had a wine-tasting schedule for the first Tuesday of the month….which happened to coincide with our arrival.  However, if wine samples were being doled out, we missed it.  Perhaps they were hidden behind the plumbing supplies on one side or the snowmobiling gear on the other. 
The Pocatello Zoo is on the reciprocal list so we headed off early on Wednesday to check it out.  The location is attractive but, as might be expected, they have very few exhibits…some mountain sheep, a lethargic bear and some bison who refused to take their faces out of the feeders.  Not every zoo can be St. Louis!
After the zoo we stopped at the Bannock County Historical Museum and Ft. Hall Replica.  The fort was closed, being open only on weekends during the “winter” months (and winter lasts at least six months in Idaho) but we did do a tour of the museum.  After that we trekked to the Idaho State University campus to check out their Museum of Natural History. 

Most of their gem and mineral collection was in storage with only a few major pieces on display but I was much taken with a 5200+ caret hunk of quartz which had been cut by a master, leaving it with more than 300 facets and enough glitter to shame the finest diamonds. 
As we were leaving the museum, we struck up a conversation with the gift shop manager who gave us tons of information about the area and admitted to his sideline business of coffee roasting.  Hearing that, we took off for the mall to seek out one of his products at a co-op of local crafters.  And thus we came into the possession of a pound of Mexico Oaxaca Pluma Tres Oros prepared by Bill’s Beans (www.billsbeans.com).
On Thursday we got an early start and scoped out the book sale at the downtown Pocatello library  then headed north on I-15 to the Ft. Hall Shoshone-Bannock Reservation.  We’d been told The Clothing Store had a large selection of seed beads and I was hoping to glom onto the size 8’s that I need for a project.  Unfortunately, the sizes jumped from 11 to 6 with no stop at 8 and so we soon wandered across the street to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum.  A small facility, managed by a charming lady named Rosemary Devinney, we were given a crash course in Shoshone-Bannock history and folkways.  It was here that we first became aware of a local celebrity named Randy’L Teton who was the model for the Sacagawea gold dollar introduced in 2000. 
Continuing north, we arrived around lunchtime in Blackfoot, the center of Idaho’s potato production and home to the Idaho Potato Museum. 

Housed in a former railroad station, the museum details the history of the white potato.  First grown in South America, the potato was exported by the Spaniards to Europe and then imported back to the United States.  Initially, the potato was avoided by the upper crust in Europe because it was thought to be poisonous.  Which it is, except for the underground tubers.  The nickname, SPUD, was coined from an English organization,  The Society for the  Prevention of  Unwholesome Diets. 

Our final stop in Blackfoot was the Bingham County Historical Society Museum, housed in a grand old mansion built by a wealthy merchant for his Southern belle bride.  The house became the center of society in early Blackfoot and now contains many artifacts peculiar to that era.  The furniture is all “of the period” and is in remarkable condition, including a rocking chair built by Brigham Young and several pianos and organs with their keys in fine shape given their advanced age. 
We are currently cooling (literally) our heels in Dillon, Montana where the weather is overcast and chilly.  We have our fingers crossed that it will be nice enough in the next day or two so we can make the run to Bannock State Park to see the remains of that ghost town.  Stay tuned for all the details.