I decided to take a long drive to Bruneau Canyon by going through Marsing. On the trip, I passed a really long pile of what was either potatoes or sugar beets. I stopped to ask. 4 people in their 60s came out and greeted me. We introduced ourselves and they told me the pile was sugar beets. They then simply explained the process of harvesting, weighing, dumping, beating, and piling the beets. Jack, the head of the operation, showed me around the equipment and explained how the beets get "shook" to seep rate the dirt, rocks, and anything else off. This helps keep the factory happy by not breaking machinery processing "not beets." As he was telling me this, a post from a fence fell out with the dirt and rocks. We looked at each other and laughed. He also told me that the beets turn redder as their sugar content increases. He said the farmers have to balance harvesting before the first hard frost, but late enough into fall that the beets redden. The farmers make their money on how much they produce and how much sugar is in their beets.
Jack's wife then made sure Jack had told me everything. He assured her he had, but she went through it all again. Then, they invited me to stop in Grandview again and to call to see their museum. It's called the "emu-z-um". They said it has nothing to do with Emus which just makes me more curious to see it.
Oh how I love random encounters and adventures.
