Day 11: Napoleon Dynamite and Ogden, Utah

WARNING: Today's is longer than usual due to the severe awesomeness experienced.

Click HERE to see photos from Day 11.

You know how the name of this blog is "Dave and Julia's Baseball (and other) Travels?" Well, our visit to Preston, Idaho today definitely counts as "other." I dedicate it to those of you who find all the baseball stuff to be boring. (For the record, I find you to be Communists, so there, we're even.)

The movie Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in Preston, Idaho. We happen to love this film from the first bar of Jack White's opening credits tune, We're Going to be Friends, to When in Rome's 80s song, The Promise, which plays during the end credits. The movie is stupid. It is plotless and pointless. Thus, it is our kind of humor. Needless to say, once I learned it was filmed in Idaho and that our travels would take us to the general vicinity, an "other" travel was hatched.

I first visited the Preston Chamber of Commerce website HERE when I was planning this 5,000 mile expedition of baseball, national parks and other assorted joy. The Chamber was naturally our first destination within the city limits. Upon entering, we met Penny (I hope I have her name right) and she was ridiculously friendly and helpful. We bought the movie site map for $1, but she was so cool that she told us about something not listed on the map - Tina, the llama's, whereabouts! I'm not sure why (or if she just tells everyone), but that tidbit of info filled me with instant glee. Yes, glee. The location of a semi-famous llama filled a 35 year-old child with glee. It’s not like we were anyone special - Penny had me sign the guest book and there were visitors from as far away as Ireland and England. Even so, she treated us like this was the first time she had ever talked to anyone about Napoleon. Thanks Penny! You helped make Preston sweeeeeeet.

We left the Chamber and went forth on our llama seeking mission. We followed Penny's down low directions to Tina's farm and lo and behold, who was standing in the middle of the pasture before us but TINA! There was another llama with her, so we weren't sure which one was the real Tina at first. Julia cupped her hands as though she had food and then this happened:Sorry that it's short and fat. In my overwhelming and joyous glee, I luckily remembered to film the llama galloping toward us at breakneck speed, but I was holding the camera vertically instead of horizontally. As you can see, that doesn't work so well.

It turns out that this little guy was NOT Tina, but Tina's son. Since we don't know his true identity, we'll call him "Timmy." Tina has apparently been spoiled by her recently acquired fame. She's what some might call, a diva. She doesn't eat ham or casseroles anymore - only caviar and portabella mushrooms lightly grilled with a dash of lemon pepper and tarragon. All of her linens must be of 800 thread counts at minimum and of the brightest, most pure shade of white. She does not sign autographs, nor does she pose for photos. In fact, Penny had to venture out into Tina's pasture in knee high snow to take a picture for a t-shirt and Tina simply turned and walked in the opposite direction. Penny walked three miles uphill (both ways) in that snow before she finally managed to snap the photo. Whatever Tina. You're not all that.

Who needs Tina anyway when you've got an all access pass to Timmy, free of charge? This llama of love bolted toward us like a southerner after sweet tea. Honestly, Julia was a tad bit frightened when he commenced his gallop. I just filmed it and hoped that no injuries occurred. I've never petted a llama before and have heard nothing positive about them - they can be mean, they spit at you, blah, blah, blah. Timmy was the antithesis of these descriptors – he was the friendliest animal I have ever encountered in my life. In fact, I might start collecting llamas instead of cats. After the gallop, he sniffed my face and head, licked me (and probably transmitted the plague) and continually nuzzled me until I petted him. He especially liked his head to be rubbed by the base of his ears. His eyes rolled back and drool bubbles formed at the corner of his mouth as I squeezed his llama head. He kept looking back at Tina, almost as if to make sure he had permission to play with us. He was friggin' sweet and we owe it all to Penny!

We finally left Llamaland and visited the other sites from the movie - Napoleon's house, Pedro's house, Preston High School, the thrift store where Napoleon bought his sweet suit, the store where he and Uncle Rico went shopping, Rex Kwan Dojo, the egg farm where Napoleon made $1 an hour moving chickens and even the playground with the tetherball pole. The playground, by the way, is not actually located at PHS - it's about a mile away behind an elementary school. The joys of editing. Speaking of editing, here's someone's Top 10 Napoleon Dynamite scenes condensed into a five minute video. In case you are unfamiliar with the movie or need a refresher, check it out. You'll also need it to match up some of our photos.
That's about it for our friggin’ awesome visit to Preston. Check out the photos to share in our glee-filled experience.

WARNING: All baseball, mom and apple pie hating Communists may scroll to the bottom now. Boredom commences...now.

From Preston, we moved on to our next baseball destination in Ogden, Utah. No bench clearing brawls tonight even with one of the same teams playing.

The Ogden Raptors play at Lindquist Field and other than Portland, it was our favorite ballpark on this trip and definitely in the Top 5 we've visited overall. Even with a 1-9 record and only 2,811 tickets sold (and maybe half of that actually in attendance), the crowd was in to it from the time the lineups were announced until the last out in the ninth. They, like me, just really seemed to enjoy the game and the incredible view. Here's an example of the view:
Sweet, huh?

As for eats, there was a Tex Mex stand where we got soft tacos and nachos that might have been the best I’ve ever eaten. Ever. In fact, after stuffing the two soft tacos down my gullet, I went back for a third. I devoured that one similarly to the way a velociraptor would attempt to consume a very stupid kid in a kitchen on an “amusement park island” in the middle of the ocean where dinosaurs were replicated from million year-old DNA captured from the blood of mosquitoes forever entombed in amber. But I digress… These tacos were that good. They were even more tasty than the calzones we had back in the monsoon in Casper, Wyoming about nine years ago when this road trip first began.

I was reminded of my friend from work, Mary Colleen, because as these happy fans all sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game in sweet unison; they swayed in much the same way as MCK when she carries on a seemingly normal conversation. Oh, pumpkin.

Okay, enough babbling – Homer sleep now. Just a reminder, even for you Commies, the photos from Day 11 can be viewed by clicking HERE.

By the way, as of 12:34 a.m. on July 2, my Raptors/Chukars brawl video had 1,078 views on YouTube already.

Next stop: Day 12 and Golden Spike National Historic Site, Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake and Orem, Utah.